chore: skip heroku release target conditionally

[cemreinanc]

Heroku builds randomly fail on release step.
"Lost connection with release dyno. Please retry previous command." -- kind of errors,
and we cant redeploy same image twice, we're forced to change image to redeploy

We already check for awaiting migrations in the deployment steps,

• we can remove release target if there is no migrations pending. As this container only run migration command.
• This should minimize random deployment failing surface, while speeding up deployments if there is no pending migrations.

(tested on dev and skipping release target didn't cause any problems)

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Chores
  • Improved production deployment process with intelligent database migration detection that conditionally adjusts deployment targets, enabling more reliable and seamless application updates
  • Refined Docker build system with enhanced image tag configuration for improved consistency and predictability in containerized application builds

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between f8ac136 and 6e0cafc.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• .github/workflows/deploy_production.yml
• .github/workflows/docker_build.yml

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This PR modifies GitHub Actions workflows to enhance deployment safety and Docker image tagging. A new step conditionally adjusts Heroku deployment targets based on migration detection, skipping the "release" target when no migrations exist. Docker build also explicitly defaults latest tag enablement to false when undefined.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Production Deployment Targets .github/workflows/deploy_production.yml	Adds a "Determine deploy targets" step that conditionally removes the "release" target when migrations are absent, using needs.check-migrations.outputs.has_migrations to guide the logic. Updates downstream "Deploy to Heroku" step to consume computed targets instead of raw build output.
Docker Build Tag Configuration .github/workflows/docker_build.yml	Explicitly defaults latest tag enablement to false when input is undefined by changing enable=${{ inputs.include_latest_tag }} to `enable=${{ inputs.include_latest_tag

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~12 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• Fix multiple action scripts #4154: Uses same migrations detection output (needs.check-migrations.outputs.has_migrations) to modify deployment behavior in deploy_production.yml.
• Improve Deployment Workflows #4095: Modifies both deploy_production.yml for conditional Heroku targets and docker_build.yml for tag enablement logic.
• chore: remove deprecated GitHub workflows and scripts #4365: Affects the same GitHub Actions workflow files (deploy_production.yml and docker_build.yml).

Suggested reviewers

• hlbmtc
• elisescu
• ncarazon

Poem

🐰 A rabbit hops through deployment flows,
With migrations checked and targets set,
No "release" when no schemas grow,
Just truthful tags—no regret!
Smart conditions pave the way,
For safer deploys, hooray hooray! 🚀

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 2

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately describes the main change: conditionally skipping the Heroku release target based on migration status.

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✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment
• Commit unit tests in branch chore/skip-heroku-release-phase-conditionally

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[github-actions]

🚀 Preview Environment

Your preview environment is ready!

Resource	Details
🌐 Preview URL	https://metaculus-pr-4419-chore-skip-heroku-release-phas-preview.mtcl.cc
📦 Docker Image	ghcr.io/metaculus/metaculus:chore-skip-heroku-release-phase-conditionally-6e0cafc
🗄️ PostgreSQL	NeonDB branch preview/pr-4419-chore-skip-heroku-release-phas
⚡ Redis	Fly Redis mtc-redis-pr-4419-chore-skip-heroku-release-phas

Details

• Commit: c2df678ead3b7309abb53ad8af9886c41c88c668
• Branch: chore/skip-heroku-release-phase-conditionally
• Fly App: metaculus-pr-4419-chore-skip-heroku-release-phas

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ℹ️ Preview Environment Info

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• PostgreSQL and Redis are fully isolated from production
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