Try bumping

src/pds/roundup/_nodejs.py

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from .errors import RoundupError, InvokedProcessError
 from .step import Step, StepName, NullStep, RequirementsStep, DocPublicationStep, ChangeLogStep as BaseChangeLogStep
 from .util import git_config, invoke, invokeGIT, TAG_RE, add_version_label_to_open_bugs, commit, delete_tags
-import shutil, logging, os, json, re, datetime
+import shutil, logging, os, json, re
 
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ def __init__(self, cwd, environ, args):
 class _NodeJSStep(Step):
     '''A Node.js-specific step.'''
 
+    # A version regular expression adhereing to npm's strict semver policy
+    semver_re = re.compile(r'^(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)')
+
     def read_package_metadata(self):
         '''Read the package.json file and yield its contents as a dict.'''
         _logger.debug('Getting package metdadata from package.json')
@@ -231,10 +234,20 @@ def execute(self):
                 argv = ['npm', 'publish', '--verbose', '--access', 'public']
             else:
                 # In NASA-PDS/devops#69 @jordanpadams pefers "beta" to "unstable". This was
-                # corroborated in our stand up meeting on 2024-03-05.  Further, we need a
-                # timestamp on unstable releases; Java and Python release do this automatically.
-                ts = datetime.datetime.utcnow().strftime('%Y%m%d%H%M%S')
-                argv = ['npm', 'publish', '--verbose', '--access', 'public', '--tag', f'beta-{ts}']
+                # corroborated in our stand up meeting on 2024-03-05.
+                #
+                # Also, apparently there's no way to re-release an unstable package to npm.
+                # We have to bump the version number.
+
+                metadata = self.read_package_metadata()
+                match = TAG_RE.match(metadata['version'])
+                if not match:
+                    raise RoundupError(f'The version number {metadata["version"]} in package.json is malformed')
+
+                major, minor, micro = int(match.group(1)), int(match.group(2)), int(match.group(3)) + 1
+                self.write_version_number(f'{major}.{minor}.{micro}')
+                argv = ['npm', 'publish', '--verbose', '--access', 'public']
+                commit('package.json', f'Committing bumped version № {major}.{minor}.{micro} for unstable assembly')
             invoke(argv)
         except InvokedProcessError:
             # For unstalbe releases, we ignore this