CLDMV · cldmv-bot · Oct 4, 2026 · Oct 4, 2026 · Oct 4, 2026 · Oct 4, 2026
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -14,17 +14,17 @@ The package has no runtime code and no dependencies. It ships the config files,
 
 ## ✨ What's New
 
-### Latest: v1.2.3 (October 2026)
+### Latest: v1.2.4 (October 2026)
 
-- **Headers restamped under fix-headers 2.1.4** — the repository's own header pass now runs on `@cldmv/fix-headers` 2.1.4 and restamped 37 internal files: dates are written in ISO 8601 form, 23 `@Date` timestamps that did not match their written date (the Dependabot config and 22 workflows copied from the `CLDMV/.github` templates) were corrected, and each header gained the empty frame line inside its opening and closing. The published `fix-headers.json` and every shipped setting are unchanged (#12).
-- [View full v1.2.3 Changelog](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/blob/master/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.3.md)
+- **`@Last modified by` follows real edits** — the shared `fix-headers.json` sets `forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate` to `false`. With fix-headers 2.2.0, a run that only rewrites a header (date format, spacing, a corrected `@Date`) updates `@Last modified time` but keeps `@Last modified by`, which now changes only when a file's content was edited. Together with v1.2.3's `forceAuthorUpdate: false`, no fix-headers run rewrites anyone's authorship. Upgrade extending repositories to fix-headers 2.2.0 or later (#20).
+- [View full v1.2.4 Changelog](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/blob/master/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.4.md)
 
 ### Recent Releases
 
+- **v1.2.3** (October 2026) — the shared `fix-headers.json` keeps an existing `@Author` (`forceAuthorUpdate: false`, #16), and the repository's own headers are restamped under fix-headers 2.1.4 (#12) ([Changelog](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/blob/master/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.3.md))
 - **v1.2.2** (October 2026) — the CI `✅ Required PR Check` mirror job runs on every path instead of being skipped on in-repo PRs (#10) ([Changelog](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/blob/master/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.2.md))
 - **v1.2.1** (October 2026) — a skipped PR run no longer satisfies the `✅ Required PR Check` ruleset (#8) ([Changelog](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/blob/master/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.1.md))
 - **v1.2.0** (October 2026) — the shared `fix-headers.json` sets `margin: 1`, so fix-headers and Prettier agree on one blank line after a header; this changes fix-headers 2.1+ output for extending repositories (#7) ([Changelog](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/blob/master/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.0.md))
-- **v1.1.1** (September 2026) — the README is rewritten in the CLDMV package style (#3) ([Changelog](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/blob/master/docs/changelog/v1/v1.1.1.md))
 
 📚 **For complete version history, see [docs/changelog/](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/tree/master/docs/changelog/) and the [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/releases).**
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ The package has no runtime code and no dependencies. It ships the config files,
 
 ### Requirements
 
-- A tool that can extend a shared config. For fix-headers that is **v2.0.0 or later**: `extends` arrives in [CLDMV/fix-headers#88](https://github.com/CLDMV/fix-headers/pull/88), and several of the options this config sets (`fixCreatedDate`, `normalizeDateFormat`, `strictCreatedDate`) in [CLDMV/fix-headers#67](https://github.com/CLDMV/fix-headers/pull/67). Older releases cannot resolve `extends` and ignore those options.
+- A tool that can extend a shared config. For fix-headers that is **v2.0.0 or later**: `extends` arrives in [CLDMV/fix-headers#88](https://github.com/CLDMV/fix-headers/pull/88), and several of the options this config sets (`fixCreatedDate`, `normalizeDateFormat`, `strictCreatedDate`) in [CLDMV/fix-headers#67](https://github.com/CLDMV/fix-headers/pull/67). Older releases cannot resolve `extends` and ignore those options. Use **v2.2.0 or later** for the author rules: from 2.2.0, `@Last modified by` changes only when a file's content was edited ([CLDMV/fix-headers#128](https://github.com/CLDMV/fix-headers/pull/128)).
 
 ### Install
 
@@ -107,30 +107,32 @@ Each file is exposed through `package.json` `exports`, so it resolves by its spe
 	"companyName": "Catalyzed Motivation Inc.",
 	"copyrightStartYear": 2013,
 	"forceAuthorUpdate": false,
-	"forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate": true,
+	"forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate": false,
 	"fixCreatedDate": true,
 	"normalizeDateFormat": true,
 	"strictCreatedDate": true,
 	"margin": 1
 }
 ```
 
-| Option                          | Value                         | Effect                                                                                                                                |
-| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
-| `includeFolders`                | `["."]`                       | Scan the whole project; ignore files (`.gitignore` and everything else git honours) still exclude what they list                      |
-| `useGpgSignerAuthor`            | `true`                        | Take the `@Author` name from the user ID of the OpenPGP key git signs commits with                                                    |
-| `company`                       | `"CLDMV"`                     | Write `@Author` as `Name <CLDMV>`                                                                                                     |
-| `companyName`                   | `"Catalyzed Motivation Inc."` | The copyright holder in `@Copyright`. fix-headers v2 has no built-in holder and otherwise reads it from the manifest author (`CLDMV`) |
-| `copyrightStartYear`            | `2013`                        | The first year of the `@Copyright` range, for every file                                                                              |
-| `forceAuthorUpdate`             | `false`                       | Never rewrite an existing `@Author` / `@Email`; they record who created the file. A missing value is still filled in                  |
-| `forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate` | `true`                        | Always rewrite `@Last modified by` to the detected values                                                                             |
-| `fixCreatedDate`                | `true`                        | Move an existing `@Date` back to the oldest of itself, the file's first git commit and its filesystem creation time                   |
-| `normalizeDateFormat`           | `true`                        | Write every header date in the git `%aI` form (`2026-03-01T17:59:32-08:00`)                                                           |
-| `strictCreatedDate`             | `true`                        | With `--check`, fail on an `@Date` later than the file's first commit or creation time instead of only warning                        |
-| `margin`                        | `1`                           | One blank line between the header and the file's next content. The fix-headers default is two, which prettier collapses to one        |
+| Option                          | Value                         | Effect                                                                                                                                                       |
+| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
+| `includeFolders`                | `["."]`                       | Scan the whole project; ignore files (`.gitignore` and everything else git honours) still exclude what they list                                             |
+| `useGpgSignerAuthor`            | `true`                        | Take the `@Author` name from the user ID of the OpenPGP key git signs commits with                                                                           |
+| `company`                       | `"CLDMV"`                     | Write `@Author` as `Name <CLDMV>`                                                                                                                            |
+| `companyName`                   | `"Catalyzed Motivation Inc."` | The copyright holder in `@Copyright`. fix-headers v2 has no built-in holder and otherwise reads it from the manifest author (`CLDMV`)                        |
+| `copyrightStartYear`            | `2013`                        | The first year of the `@Copyright` range, for every file                                                                                                     |
+| `forceAuthorUpdate`             | `false`                       | Never rewrite an existing `@Author` / `@Email`; they record who created the file. A missing value is still filled in                                         |
+| `forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate` | `false`                       | `@Last modified by` follows real edits: it changes only when a file's content was edited, not when fix-headers only rewrites the header (fix-headers 2.2.0+) |
+| `fixCreatedDate`                | `true`                        | Move an existing `@Date` back to the oldest of itself, the file's first git commit and its filesystem creation time                                          |
+| `normalizeDateFormat`           | `true`                        | Write every header date in the git `%aI` form (`2026-03-01T17:59:32-08:00`)                                                                                  |
+| `strictCreatedDate`             | `true`                        | With `--check`, fail on an `@Date` later than the file's first commit or creation time instead of only warning                                               |
+| `margin`                        | `1`                           | One blank line between the header and the file's next content. The fix-headers default is two, which prettier collapses to one                               |
 
 An existing `@Author` is never rewritten: it records who created the file, and this config sets `forceAuthorUpdate` to `false` explicitly so the decision is visible and wins over anything earlier in an `extends` chain. A repository can turn it on in its own config for a one-off migration of old author names.
 
+`@Last modified by` records the last person to edit the file. With fix-headers 2.2.0 or later it changes only when the file's content was edited; a run that only rewrites the header (date format, spacing, a corrected `@Date`) updates `@Last modified time` but keeps `@Last modified by`. This config therefore sets `forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate` to `false` as well. With fix-headers before 2.2.0 that setting keeps the existing `@Last modified by` on every run, so upgrade fix-headers alongside this config.
+
 The full description of every option is in the [fix-headers README](https://github.com/CLDMV/fix-headers#readme).
 
 ### Using it by URL

diff --git a/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.3.md b/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.3.md
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
 
 ## Overview
 
-`@cldmv/fix-headers` moves to 2.1.4, and re-running the header pass with the repository's own `fix-headers.json` restamped the headers of 37 files — the first full pass under fix-headers 2.x since the repository moved to it in [v1.2.0](./v1.2.0.md). Only header comments in repository-internal files changed (the ESLint and vitest configs, the pre-commit installer, Dependabot config, every workflow and the tests). The published files — `fix-headers.json`, `README.md` and `LICENSE` — and every shipped setting are unchanged.
+`@cldmv/fix-headers` moves to 2.1.4, and re-running the header pass with the repository's own `fix-headers.json` restamped the headers of 37 files — the first full pass under fix-headers 2.x since the repository moved to it in [v1.2.0](./v1.2.0.md). Only header comments in repository-internal files changed (the ESLint and vitest configs, the pre-commit installer, Dependabot config, every workflow and the tests). Only those internal headers came from the restamp.
+
+> **Correction:** this release also changed a published setting. [#16](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/pull/16) merged into `next` before the release and shipped with it: `fix-headers.json` now sets `forceAuthorUpdate` to `false`, so fix-headers keeps an existing `@Author` instead of rewriting it to whoever runs the tool ([#15](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/issues/15)). These notes originally said `fix-headers.json` was unchanged.
 
 ---
 
@@ -24,6 +26,12 @@ The 37 restamped headers changed in three ways:
 
 `@Last modified time` was updated on every restamped file, as `forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate` asks.
 
+## 🐛 Bug Fixes
+
+### Existing `@Author` is never rewritten ([#16](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/pull/16))
+
+`forceAuthorUpdate` was `true`, so together with `useGpgSignerAuthor` every fix-headers run in an extending repository replaced every file's `@Author` with the name of whoever ran it. `@Author` records who created a file, so the shared config now sets the option to `false` explicitly; a repository can still turn it on in its own config for a one-off migration.
+
 ## 📚 Documentation
 
 - **NEW:** [docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.3.md](./v1.2.3.md) — this changelog, plus backfilled changelog files for [v1.1.0](./v1.1.0.md), [v1.1.1](./v1.1.1.md), [v1.2.0](./v1.2.0.md), [v1.2.1](./v1.2.1.md) and [v1.2.2](./v1.2.2.md).
@@ -37,4 +45,4 @@ The 37 restamped headers changed in three ways:
 
 ## Upgrade notes
 
-- No changes to `fix-headers.json` or any other published file — drop-in for v1.2.2.
+- `fix-headers.json` sets `forceAuthorUpdate: false` ([#16](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/pull/16)): an existing `@Author` is kept rather than rewritten to the person running fix-headers. Repositories that relied on the force to migrate old author names can set it to `true` in their own config for that run. Otherwise drop-in for v1.2.2.
diff --git a/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.4.md b/docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.4.md
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# @cldmv/configs v1.2.4 Changelog
+
+**Release Date**: October 2026
+**Release Type**: Patch
+**Branch**: `release/1.2.4`
+
+---
+
+## Overview
+
+The shared `fix-headers.json` stops forcing `@Last modified by`. Until now every fix-headers run in an extending repository stamped whoever ran it as the last modifier of every file it touched, even when the only change was a header rewrite such as a new date format. With `forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate` set to `false` and fix-headers 2.2.0, `@Last modified by` now records the last person who actually edited a file's content, while `@Last modified time` still moves whenever fix-headers rewrites a header.
+
+Together with `forceAuthorUpdate: false`, which shipped in v1.2.3, the shared config no longer rewrites anyone's authorship: `@Author` keeps the file's creator, and `@Last modified by` follows real edits. Extending repositories should upgrade to `@cldmv/fix-headers` 2.2.0 or later alongside this release.
+
+---
+
+## 🐛 Bug Fixes
+
+### `@Last modified by` follows real edits ([#20](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/pull/20))
+
+`forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate` was `true`, so every run rewrote `@Last modified by` to the identity running fix-headers (the name on their signing key, or `git config user.name` without one) on every file it changed. A contributor who ran `npm run fix:headers` therefore became the last modifier of every restamped file, even files they never opened ([#15](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/issues/15)).
+
+The option is now `false`. From fix-headers 2.2.0 ([CLDMV/fix-headers#128](https://github.com/CLDMV/fix-headers/pull/128)) the field changes only when a file's content, everything outside the header, differs from the last commit, or when the file is new:
+
+| What changed in a file                                              | `@Last modified time` | `@Last modified by`            | `@Author` |
+| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------ | --------- |
+| Nothing                                                             | unchanged             | unchanged                      | unchanged |
+| Only the header (date format, epoch, `@Date`, spacing, filename, …) | updated               | unchanged                      | unchanged |
+| Content edited, or a new file                                       | updated               | the person running fix-headers | unchanged |
+
+On fix-headers releases before 2.2.0 the same setting keeps the existing `@Last modified by` on every run, real edits included, so the upgrade matters.
+
+## 🔧 Dependencies
+
+- `@cldmv/fix-headers` `^2.1.4` → `^2.2.0` ([#20](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/pull/20)), dev-only. The repository's own header pass ran under 2.2.0 and changed no files.
+- `vitest` and `@vitest/coverage-v8` `^5.0.2` → `^5.0.3`, and `globals` `^17.12.0` → `^17.13.0` ([#21](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/pull/21)), dev-only. The coverage and globals bumps first merged as [#18](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/pull/18) and [#19](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/pull/19), two minutes after the v1.2.3 release, and were lost when `next` was reset after that release ([CLDMV/.github#360](https://github.com/CLDMV/.github/issues/360)). #21 re-applies them, together with the vitest bump from [#17](https://github.com/CLDMV/configs/pull/17).
+
+## 📚 Documentation
+
+- **NEW:** [docs/changelog/v1/v1.2.4.md](./v1.2.4.md) — this changelog.
+- README: the `fix-headers.json` table and notes explain both author settings, and the requirements now name fix-headers 2.2.0 as the version the author rules need.
+- [v1.2.3](./v1.2.3.md) changelog corrected: that release also shipped `forceAuthorUpdate: false`, which its notes left out.
+
+---
+
+## Upgrade notes
+
+- **Upgrade `@cldmv/fix-headers` to 2.2.0 or later** in every repository that extends this config. On older fix-headers, `@Last modified by` would no longer update even when a file is edited.
+- The first fix-headers run after upgrading leaves existing `@Last modified by` values alone and only changes them on files whose content was edited since the last commit. No repository-wide restamp of authors.
diff --git a/fix-headers.json b/fix-headers.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 	"companyName": "Catalyzed Motivation Inc.",
 	"copyrightStartYear": 2013,
 	"forceAuthorUpdate": false,
-	"forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate": true,
+	"forceLastModifiedAuthorUpdate": false,
 	"fixCreatedDate": true,
 	"normalizeDateFormat": true,
 	"strictCreatedDate": true,