fix(cli): canonicalize self-upgrade version checks

Author: chordpli

src/specify_cli/__init__.py

@@ -1744,6 +1744,15 @@ def _normalize_tag(tag: str) -> str:
     return tag[1:] if tag.startswith("v") else tag
 
 
+def _canonicalize_version_text(value: str) -> str:
+    """Normalize version-like text for equality checks when parseable."""
+    normalized = _normalize_tag(value)
+    try:
+        return str(Version(normalized))
+    except InvalidVersion:
+        return normalized
+
+
 def _render_argv(argv: list[str]) -> str:
     """Render argv for copy/paste on the current platform."""
     return subprocess.list2cmdline(argv) if os.name == "nt" else shlex.join(argv)
@@ -2677,15 +2686,20 @@ def self_upgrade(
         raise typer.Exit(0)
 
     # No-op success when the user is already on the latest tag.
-    latest_normalized = _normalize_tag(plan.target_tag)
+    target_canonical = _canonicalize_version_text(plan.target_tag)
+    current_canonical = (
+        _canonicalize_version_text(plan.current_version)
+        if plan.current_version != "unknown"
+        else "unknown"
+    )
     if plan.current_version != "unknown":
-        if tag is None and not _is_newer(latest_normalized, plan.current_version):
-            if plan.current_version == latest_normalized:
+        if tag is None and not _is_newer(target_canonical, plan.current_version):
+            if current_canonical == target_canonical:
                 console.print(f"Already on latest release: {plan.target_tag}")
             else:
                 console.print(f"Already on latest release or newer: {plan.current_version}")
             raise typer.Exit(0)
-        if tag is not None and plan.current_version == latest_normalized:
+        if tag is not None and current_canonical == target_canonical:
             console.print(f"Already on requested release: {plan.target_tag}")
             raise typer.Exit(0)
 
@@ -2728,7 +2742,11 @@ def self_upgrade(
     # pre-upgrade module, so importlib.metadata would lie. A fresh `specify
     # --version` is the only signal that the new binary is actually live.
     verified = _verify_upgrade(plan)
-    if verified is None or _normalize_tag(plan.target_tag) != verified:
+    if (
+        verified is None
+        or _canonicalize_version_text(plan.target_tag)
+        != _canonicalize_version_text(verified)
+    ):
         _emit_failure(
             "verification-mismatch",
             plan=plan,

tests/test_self_upgrade.py

@@ -380,6 +380,17 @@ def test_pinned_older_tag_still_runs_installer(
         assert "Upgrading specify-cli 0.7.6 → v0.7.5 via uv tool:" in out
         assert mock_run.call_count == 2
 
+    def test_pinned_rc_tag_uses_canonical_version_equality_for_noop(
+        self, uv_tool_argv0, clean_environ
+    ):
+        with patch("specify_cli.shutil.which", return_value="/usr/bin/uv"), patch(
+            "specify_cli._get_installed_version", return_value="1.0.0rc1"
+        ):
+            result = runner.invoke(app, ["self", "upgrade", "--tag", "v1.0.0-rc1"])
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+        assert "Already on requested release: v1.0.0-rc1" in strip_ansi(result.output)
+
 
 class TestDryRun_UvTool:
     """--dry-run preview path + --dry-run combined with --tag."""
@@ -1120,6 +1131,26 @@ def test_verify_nonzero_exit_is_not_treated_as_success(
         assert "Verification failed" in out
         assert "(unknown) (expected v0.7.6)" in out
 
+    def test_verify_accepts_pep440_equivalent_rc_version(
+        self,
+        uv_tool_argv0,
+        clean_environ,
+    ):
+        with patch("specify_cli.urllib.request.urlopen") as mock_urlopen, patch(
+            "specify_cli.shutil.which", return_value="/usr/bin/uv"
+        ), patch("specify_cli.subprocess.run") as mock_run, patch(
+            "specify_cli._get_installed_version", return_value="0.9.0"
+        ):
+            mock_urlopen.return_value = _mock_urlopen_response({"tag_name": "v9.9.9"})
+            mock_run.side_effect = [
+                _completed_process(0),
+                _completed_process(0, stdout="specify 1.0.0rc1\n"),
+            ]
+            result = runner.invoke(app, ["self", "upgrade", "--tag", "v1.0.0-rc1"])
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+        assert "Upgraded specify-cli: 0.9.0 → 1.0.0rc1" in strip_ansi(result.output)
+
     def test_verify_uses_current_entrypoint_when_not_on_path(
         self,
         uv_tool_argv0,