Hi Go team, Salsa CI now supports doing automatic builds of reverse dependencies. Try this out next time you are updating a library that has a lot of consumers to check that the new version does not break the old versions, or if they do, you can repeat the build while updating the old versions until you get a state where everything is compatible again.
Docs at https://salsa.debian.org/salsa-ci-team/pipeline#build-reverse-dependencies copied here for convenience: ## Build reverse dependencies Build reverse dependencies jobs allow maintainers to automatically rebuild packages that build depend on their package. This is extremely valuable in many contexts, for example during transitions, library updates, or any change where you need confidence that reverse dependencies still build successfully. Running build reverse-dependencies jobs helps catch breakages early and provides stronger QA before uploads reach the archive. ### Enable build reverse dependencies checking Build reverse dependencies jobs are **disabled**, by default. It is recommended to run these jobs **on demand** only, for specific pipelines. There are a couple of ways to do it: * From the Salsa web UI: 1. Open `https://salsa.debian.org/<project>/-/pipelines/new` 2. Scroll down to **Variables** 3. Find the entry for `SALSA_CI_DISABLE_BUILD_REVERSE_DEPENDENCIES` 4. Change its value from `1` (default, disabled) to `0` (on-demand enabled) * From the command line when `git push`ing: ```bash git push -o ci.variable="SALSA_CI_DISABLE_BUILD_REVERSE_DEPENDENCIES=0" ``` This way, build reverse dependencies jobs are enabled only when you choose to run them, avoiding unnecessary load on the Salsa infrastructure. :warning: **Please, avoid enabling build reverse dependencies jobs directly in `debian/salsa-ci.yml`:** Hard-coding the variable that enables this check will make build reverse dependencies jobs run on **every push**. Salsa admins have explicitly warned that this is considered **abuse of shared infrastructure**, see for example [this thread on debian-project@](https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2025/08/msg00021.html). ### Maximum of 100 reverse dependencies per pipeline Some packages (for example core libraries or popular node modules) have hundreds or even thousands of reverse dependencies. Rebuilding all of them in a single pipeline would overwhelm the shared CI infrastructure. To prevent this, Salsa CI limits build reverse dependencies to at most 100 per pipeline. This safeguard ensures that no single package consumes a disproportionate share of the available resources. The limit may be adjusted in the future when Salsa gains additional hardware and runner capacity.
