From 289f9399ee9494a513518345616a71d4a3acad93 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brandon Harvey <8107750+bharvey88@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 11:38:09 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Default the Firmware Channel select to Beta on beta-channel
 builds
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A fresh flash has no stored channel preference, so the select fell back
to "Stable" even on firmware obtained from the beta channel - and the
update entity then offered the older stable build as a "downgrade".

Make initial_option a substitution (firmware_channel_default, still
"Stable") and add 8-line beta-channel/ wrapper yamls that override it
to "Beta"; build-beta.yml now builds those wrappers. Stable (Pages)
builds are unchanged. Same override pattern as variant wrappers.

Version: 26.7.8.4 (26.7.8.3 is held by open PR #90)

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---
 .github/workflows/build-beta.yml                 | 4 ++--
 Integrations/ESPHome/Core.yaml                   | 9 +++++++--
 Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1.yaml     | 9 +++++++++
 Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1_BLE.yaml | 9 +++++++++
 4 files changed, 27 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1.yaml
 create mode 100644 Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1_BLE.yaml

diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-beta.yml b/.github/workflows/build-beta.yml
index 8ffbdaf..e07128a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-beta.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-beta.yml
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ jobs:
         include:
           # Beta serves OTA updates only, so it builds the end-user image
           # (MSR-1.yaml), not the first-flash Factory image.
-          - { yaml: Integrations/ESPHome/MSR-1.yaml,     name: firmware-standard }
-          - { yaml: Integrations/ESPHome/MSR-1_BLE.yaml, name: firmware-ble-beta }
+          - { yaml: Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1.yaml,     name: firmware-standard }
+          - { yaml: Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1_BLE.yaml, name: firmware-ble-beta }
     uses: esphome/workflows/.github/workflows/build.yml@025a1e6255610c498ed590403b7e510b69e474df # 2026.4.1
     with:
       files: ${{ matrix.yaml }}
diff --git a/Integrations/ESPHome/Core.yaml b/Integrations/ESPHome/Core.yaml
index 872ad36..f1cbbdb 100644
--- a/Integrations/ESPHome/Core.yaml
+++ b/Integrations/ESPHome/Core.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 substitutions:
-  version:  "26.7.8.2"
+  version:  "26.7.8.4"
   device_description: ${name} made by Apollo Automation - version ${version}.
   # Default OTA password. Override in your device YAML by re-declaring
   # `substitutions: { ota_password: !secret <name>_ota_password }` so each
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ substitutions:
   # Firmware variant identity: overridden to "true" by MSR-1_BLE.yaml so
   # each image tracks its own OTA manifests.
   ble_firmware: "false"
+  # Default update channel on first boot (no stored user choice yet, i.e. a
+  # fresh flash). The beta-channel builds override this to "Beta" (see
+  # Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/) so firmware obtained from the beta
+  # channel keeps tracking it instead of offering a stable "downgrade".
+  firmware_channel_default: "Stable"
   # Manifest URL bases. Stable = GitHub Pages (main branch builds).
   # Beta = rolling "beta" pre-release assets (beta branch builds).
   stable_manifest_base: "https://apolloautomation.github.io/MSR-1"
@@ -758,7 +763,7 @@ select:
     options:
       - "Stable"
       - "Beta"
-    initial_option: "Stable"
+    initial_option: "${firmware_channel_default}"
     on_value:
       then:
         - script.execute: apply_ota_source
diff --git a/Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1.yaml b/Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63b5067
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Beta-channel build of MSR-1.yaml: the identical image except the Firmware
+# Channel select defaults to "Beta" on first boot, so firmware obtained from
+# the beta channel keeps tracking it. Built by build-beta.yml only; the
+# stable (GitHub Pages) builds use MSR-1.yaml directly.
+substitutions:
+  firmware_channel_default: "Beta"
+
+packages:
+  base: !include ../MSR-1.yaml
diff --git a/Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1_BLE.yaml b/Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1_BLE.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1316fa6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Integrations/ESPHome/beta-channel/MSR-1_BLE.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Beta-channel build of MSR-1_BLE.yaml: the identical image except the Firmware
+# Channel select defaults to "Beta" on first boot, so firmware obtained from
+# the beta channel keeps tracking it. Built by build-beta.yml only; the
+# stable (GitHub Pages) builds use MSR-1_BLE.yaml directly.
+substitutions:
+  firmware_channel_default: "Beta"
+
+packages:
+  base: !include ../MSR-1_BLE.yaml