Define a methodology to fast forward spack-packages commit

[pearce8]

Use this as a test of @joshuamvining work to determine which packages changed

• Can we programmatically query the complete list of packages+versions we are currently using in Benchpark, including dependencies?
• Can we programmatically query the complete list of packages+versions used in our nightly tests in Benchpark, including dependencies?
• In the above, can we distinguish between packages that use specific versions of dependencies, vs. will use a new version when it becomes available?
• In Benchpark repo, can we programmatically distinguish between: 1) derived packages, 2) complete packages?
• In Benchpark repo, if a package is derived, can we programmatically query if the derived package overwrite upstreamed software versions? In this case we may need to explicitly add the newer versions in order to overwrite them as well (e.g., RAJA package)
• For 2 git shas of spack-packages, is there a way to get the list of packages which were modified?
• Can we programmatically find the first git sha in spack-packages after a specified date?

Possible testing points

• 7/8/26 new Caliper v2.15. Our package is derived, but does not contain versions, so we should automatically get the new version of Caliper with the spack-packages sha after this date. @joshuamvining will your test catch this change? Do we have benchmarks which require a specific version of Caliper? Do we have benchmarks which will switch to using a new version?
• 7/ ? /26 new RAJA. Our package is derived, setting submodules to false for each version. We will need to detect the change in spack-packages and (manually) add the version to our package.
• 7/ ? /26 new RAJAPerf. Our package is derived, setting submodules to false for each version
• 8/ ? /26 new MFEM. Our package is derived but does not overwrite the behavior of versions

@joshuamvining Please work through this list of questions and ping me when the answers are here. You should leverage @michaelmckinsey1 and @scheibelp for any questions.

@slabasan @michaelmckinsey1 FYI.

[joshuamvining]

• Can we programmatically query the complete list of packages+versions used in our nightly tests in Benchpark, including dependencies?

Yes, I am working on a PR that adds the githash comparison to the nightly tests. I think this matches with the goal you stated. Every job log will contain a brief summary of any package differences between the current nightly and the previous one.

• 7/8/26 new Caliper v2.15. Our package is derived, but does not contain versions, so we should automatically get the new version of Caliper with the spack-packages sha after this date. @joshuamvining will your test catch this change?

Yes, after reviewing the log of one of my PRs today the githash logic caught the caliper change.

I could not find any benchmarks that required a specific version of Caliper.

[joshuamvining]

• For 2 git shas of spack-packages, is there a way to get the list of packages which were modified?
• Can we programmatically find the first git sha in spack-packages after a specified date?

Yes this is pretty easy to do with a local repo using git diff and git rev-list