feat(ci): plugout improvements

[erikburt]

Changes

• Adds functionality:
  • Auto discovers the modules from the plugins file, so the CI command doesn't get stale (fix: pin plugins to version in go.mod #19912)
    • Makes sure to not error on modules that don't exist in the go.mod
  • Adds --ignore-modules parameter to exclude modules as needed. Now "opt-out"
• Tag/sha comparison fixes
  • Allows for pseudo-version in go.mod and corresponding SHA in plugins file
    • (ie. v0.0.11-0.20250908203554-5bd9d2fe9513 vs. 5d9d2fe9513fae7d0afb3a17e4bbc80a839dfc5)
  • Fixes bug with sub-module tags (similar to fix: go-mod-validator sub-module tag validation .github#1250)
• Uses go list -m -json ... instead of trying to manually parsing a go.mod file
• Preserves other functionality like --update

Motivation

This is motivated by a few things:

1. Automatically enforce proper versions on plugins for the dependencies in our go.mod (command does not get stale)
2. Dependencies in our go.mod are required to be on the trunk of their repo's branch (go mod validator enforces this), which means plugins that are also in the go.mod are inherently forced to be from the trunk branch

Testing

Updated unit tests, validated locally, https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink/actions/runs/18572518994/job/52949698047?pr=19929

Tested indirect dependency skipping locally due to #19933 / #19932

Output

Example Output

=== Starting plugin version sync check ===
Checking go.mod path: ./go.mod
Plugin files to check: ./plugins/plugins.public.yaml
Mode: CHECK ONLY (use --update flag to update plugin files)


=== Checking plugin file ./plugins/plugins.public.yaml ===
Checking Module (1/9): github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-aptos 
  - Plugins version: v0.0.0-20251013133428-62ab1091a563 (SHA: 62ab1091a563)
  - Version in go.mod: v0.0.0-20251013133428-62ab1091a563 (SHA: 62ab1091a563)
  - ✅ Versions match for github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-aptos
Checking Module (2/9): github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-cosmos 
  - Plugins version: f740e9ae54e79762991bdaf8ad6b50363261c056 (SHA: f740e9ae54e79762991bdaf8ad6b50363261c056)
  - No version found in go.mod for github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-cosmos: failed to run go list -m: exit status 1
Checking Module (3/9): github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-data-streams 
  - Plugins version: v0.1.5 (Tag: v0.1.5)
  - Version in go.mod: v0.1.5 (Tag: v0.1.5)
  - ✅ Versions match for github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-data-streams
Checking Module (4/9): github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-feeds 
  - Plugins version: v0.1.2-0.20250227211209-7cd000095135 (SHA: 7cd000095135)
  - Version in go.mod: v0.1.2-0.20250227211209-7cd000095135 (SHA: 7cd000095135)
  - ✅ Versions match for github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-feeds
Checking Module (5/9): github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-solana 
  - Plugins version: v1.1.2-0.20251007010318-c9a7b2d44524 (SHA: c9a7b2d44524)
  - Version in go.mod: v1.1.2-0.20251007010318-c9a7b2d44524 (SHA: c9a7b2d44524)
  - ✅ Versions match for github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-solana
Checking Module (6/9): github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-starknet/relayer 
  - Plugins version: 7e854bab99ef4a9cdbaa8dc2cac1fdf059238682 (SHA: 7e854bab99ef4a9cdbaa8dc2cac1fdf059238682)
  - No version found in go.mod for github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-starknet/relayer: failed to run go list -m: exit status 1
Checking Module (7/9): github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-sui 
  - Plugins version: v0.0.0-20251012014843-5d44e7731854 (SHA: 5d44e7731854)
  - Version in go.mod: v0.0.0-20251012014843-5d44e7731854 (SHA: 5d44e7731854)
  - ✅ Versions match for github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-sui
Checking Module (8/9): github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-ton 
  - Plugins version: v0.0.0-20251015181357-b635fc06e2ea (SHA: b635fc06e2ea)
  - Version in go.mod: v0.0.0-20251015181357-b635fc06e2ea (SHA: b635fc06e2ea)
  - ✅ Versions match for github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-ton
Checking Module (9/9): github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-tron/relayer 
  - Plugins version: v0.0.11-0.20250908203554-5bd9d2fe9513 (SHA: 5bd9d2fe9513)
  - Version in go.mod: v0.0.11-0.20250908203554-5bd9d2fe9513 (SHA: 5bd9d2fe9513)
  - ✅ Versions match for github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-tron/relayer
=== Plugin version sync check completed successfully ===

[pavel-raykov]

Please, consider reenabling tron-relayer check disabled here 5659eb4
to test the changes in this PR.

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

Adds auto-discovery of plugin modules from YAML, refactors sync logic to use go list -m for version resolution, and introduces an ignore-module flag while removing manual --module usage.

• Auto-discovers modules from plugin YAML instead of requiring repeated --module flags.
• Adds --ignore-module support and refactors runSync to return mismatch status; updates CI workflow accordingly.
• Replaces manual go.mod parsing with go list -m -json based normalization and expands test coverage (tags, SHAs, submodule handling).

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File	Description
tools/plugout/main.go	Core refactor: options struct, discovery, version normalization, exec-based module version resolution, ignore logic.
tools/plugout/main_test.go	Expanded unit tests for normalization, matching, YAML update, end-to-end sync modes.
tools/plugout/README.md	Updates CLI options removing --module, documents --ignore-module.
.github/workflows/ci-core.yml	Simplifies plugout invocation by removing explicit --module arguments and names Go setup step.

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[cl-sonarqube-production]

Quality Gate passed

Issues
0 New issues
0 Fixed issues
0 Accepted issues

Measures
0 Security Hotspots
No data about Coverage
0.0% Duplication on New Code

See analysis details on SonarQube