fix/ci fixes to fail not skip on dependent steps failing (#356)

* fix: make it so that merge queue will fail even if a dependency failed

* fix: make steps fails if preceding one failed, rather than skipping

Author: PLeVasseur

.github/workflows/build-guidelines.yml

@@ -20,8 +20,18 @@ jobs:
 
   build:
     needs: check_rust_examples
+    # Always run so that 'build' (the required status check) explicitly fails
+    # when check_rust_examples fails, rather than being skipped.
+    # Skipped jobs don't block merge queue, but failed jobs do.
+    if: always()
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
+      - name: Fail if example checks failed
+        if: needs.check_rust_examples.result != 'success'
+        run: |
+          echo "::error::check_rust_examples workflow failed with result: ${{ needs.check_rust_examples.result }}"
+          echo "One or more Rust example checks did not pass. See the check_rust_examples job for details."
+          exit 1
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Install uv

.github/workflows/check-rust-examples.yml

@@ -233,8 +233,16 @@ jobs:
   test-guidelines-stable:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [test-examples, analyze-requirements]
+    # Always run so that this job explicitly fails when dependencies fail,
+    # rather than being skipped. Skipped jobs don't block merge queue.
+    if: always()
     name: Test Guidelines (Stable)
     steps:
+      - name: Fail if dependencies failed
+        if: needs.test-examples.result != 'success' || needs.analyze-requirements.result != 'success'
+        run: |
+          echo "::error::Dependency failed - test-examples: ${{ needs.test-examples.result }}, analyze-requirements: ${{ needs.analyze-requirements.result }}"
+          exit 1
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
@@ -334,9 +342,16 @@ jobs:
   test-guidelines-nightly:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [test-examples, analyze-requirements]
-    if: needs.analyze-requirements.outputs.needs_nightly == 'true'
+    # Always run (when nightly is needed) so that this job explicitly fails
+    # when dependencies fail, rather than being skipped.
+    if: always() && needs.analyze-requirements.outputs.needs_nightly == 'true'
     name: Test Guidelines (Nightly)
     steps:
+      - name: Fail if dependencies failed
+        if: needs.test-examples.result != 'success' || needs.analyze-requirements.result != 'success'
+        run: |
+          echo "::error::Dependency failed - test-examples: ${{ needs.test-examples.result }}, analyze-requirements: ${{ needs.analyze-requirements.result }}"
+          exit 1
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 

.github/workflows/deploy.yml

@@ -11,8 +11,16 @@ jobs:
 
   deploy:
     needs: build
+    # Always run so that 'deploy' explicitly fails when build fails,
+    # rather than being skipped. Skipped jobs don't block merge queue.
+    if: always()
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
+      - name: Fail if build failed
+        if: needs.build.result != 'success'
+        run: |
+          echo "::error::build workflow failed with result: ${{ needs.build.result }}"
+          exit 1
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v3