fix(release): separate publication time from the release date (#36761)

`published_at` was an alias for `created_at`, so a release created from
an existing tag reported that tag's commit date as its publication time,
and drafts reported one despite never having been published. It is now
stored separately, set when a release is published and null for drafts.

`created_at` in turn means the date of the commit the release points at,
matching what GitHub documents it to be, and the latest release is
selected by it again. Publishing a release for an old commit no longer
takes over the latest badge, and a tag created in the web UI is dated
the same way as one pushed from the CLI.

Fixes https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/issues/11206
Fixes https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/issues/38714
Fixes https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/issues/31789

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

models/activities/repo_activity.go

@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ func (stats *ActivityStats) FillReleases(ctx context.Context, repoID int64, from
 
 	// Published releases list
 	sess := releasesForActivityStatement(ctx, repoID, fromTime)
-	sess.OrderBy("`release`.created_unix DESC")
+	sess.OrderBy("`release`.published_unix DESC")
 	stats.PublishedReleases = make([]*repo_model.Release, 0)
 	if err = sess.Find(&stats.PublishedReleases); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -386,5 +386,5 @@ func (stats *ActivityStats) FillReleases(ctx context.Context, repoID int64, from
 func releasesForActivityStatement(ctx context.Context, repoID int64, fromTime time.Time) db.Session {
 	return db.GetEngine(ctx).Where("`release`.repo_id = ?", repoID).
 		And("`release`.is_draft = ?", false).
-		And("`release`.created_unix >= ?", fromTime.Unix())
+		And("`release`.published_unix >= ?", fromTime.Unix())
 }

models/fixtures/release.yml

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
   is_prerelease: false
   is_tag: false
   created_unix: 946684800
+  published_unix: 946684800
 
 - id: 2
   repo_id: 40
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@
   is_prerelease: false
   is_tag: false
   created_unix: 946684800
+  published_unix: 946684800
 
 - id: 3
   repo_id: 1
@@ -39,6 +41,7 @@
   is_prerelease: false
   is_tag: true
   created_unix: 946684800
+  published_unix: 946684800
 
 - id: 4
   repo_id: 1
@@ -66,6 +69,7 @@
   is_prerelease: true
   is_tag: false
   created_unix: 946684800
+  published_unix: 946684800
 
 - id: 6
   repo_id: 57
@@ -80,6 +84,7 @@
   is_prerelease: false
   is_tag: false
   created_unix: 946684801
+  published_unix: 946684801
 
 - id: 7
   repo_id: 57
@@ -94,6 +99,7 @@
   is_prerelease: false
   is_tag: false
   created_unix: 946684802
+  published_unix: 946684802
 
 - id: 8
   repo_id: 57
@@ -108,6 +114,7 @@
   is_prerelease: false
   is_tag: false
   created_unix: 946684803
+  published_unix: 946684803
 
 - id: 9
   repo_id: 57
@@ -122,6 +129,7 @@
   is_prerelease: false
   is_tag: false
   created_unix: 946684803
+  published_unix: 946684803
 
 - id: 10
   repo_id: 57
@@ -136,6 +144,7 @@
   is_prerelease: false
   is_tag: false
   created_unix: 946684803
+  published_unix: 946684803
 
 - id: 11
   repo_id: 2
@@ -150,5 +159,6 @@
   is_prerelease: false
   is_tag: false
   created_unix: 946684803
+  published_unix: 946684803
 
 # DO NOT add more test data in the fixtures, test case should prepare their own test data separately and clearly

models/repo/release.go

@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ type Release struct {
 	IsTag            bool               `xorm:"NOT NULL DEFAULT false"` // will be true only if the record is a tag and has no related releases
 	Attachments      []*Attachment      `xorm:"-"`
 	CreatedUnix      timeutil.TimeStamp `xorm:"INDEX"`
+	PublishedUnix    timeutil.TimeStamp `xorm:"NOT NULL DEFAULT 0"`
 }
 
 func init() {
@@ -473,7 +474,7 @@ func PushUpdateDeleteTags(ctx context.Context, repo *Repository, tags []string)
 	if _, err := db.GetEngine(ctx).
 		Where("repo_id = ? AND is_tag = ?", repo.ID, false).
 		In("lower_tag_name", lowerTags).
-		Cols("is_draft", "num_commits", "sha1").
+		Cols("is_draft", "num_commits", "sha1", "published_unix").
 		Update(&Release{
 			IsDraft: true,
 		}); err != nil {