I was developing locally and only uploaded the source snapshots as release archives, which makes the tags look incorrect or “fictional”.
I mean, that doesn't make the tags look fictional. It makes them fictional. Full stop. You've got tags in the repo pointing to code that isn't the code used to build the corresponding .isos.
I think if you're not to the point where you're willing to make the repo accurately reflect what's in the releases, then you've published too early.
I say this speaking as someone who is working on a fairly long-term-ish project that I haven't published at all. Source code or compiled form. I also haven't started a local Git repo for it. The most I've done is talk about the unpublished project with screenshots of its output and some totally unscientific benchmarks. It is my aim to get it to the point where I feel like I can publish it soon, but when I do, it's my intention to make sure it's run as a repo and not just as free hosting for release .zips and .isos .