feat: rc check req relaxation

[j-zimnowoda]

Refactor the release workflow actions to consolidate and simplify the release process. The main changes include deprecating the separate release-compute-tag and release-check-tag-not-exists actions in favor of a new, unified release-get-tag action.

Documentation and workflow examples have been updated to reflect this new approach, and the codebase has been cleaned up to remove obsolete files and references.

Behavioral improvements:

• Added new inputs to the release-get-tag action for stricter validation and configurability, such as require_rc_before_stable, validate_branch, and check_tag_not_exists. (actions/release-get-tag/action.yml, actions/release-get-tag/action.ymlR1-R35)

These changes streamline the release process, reduce duplication, and make the workflows easier to maintain and use.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR refactors the release-tag derivation flow by consolidating the previous “compute tag” + “check tag doesn’t exist” steps into a single release-get-tag action, while also relaxing the “RC required before stable” rule behind a configurable flag.

Changes:

• Add requireRcBeforeStable support to stable tag computation (with a relaxed default path when no RC exists).
• Introduce release-get-tag action that can validate the branch prefix and optionally fail if the computed tag already exists.
• Update docs/examples and remove obsolete actions/workflows.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 19 out of 22 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/release/version.ts	Adds configurable “RC required before stable” behavior and derives next stable patch when RCs are absent.
src/release/version.test.ts	Updates/extends unit tests for the new stable-tag behavior.
src/release/validate-branch.ts	Adds branch-prefix validation helper for release workflows/actions.
src/release/validate-branch.test.ts	Adds tests for branch-prefix validation behavior and error message.
src/release/compute-tag.ts	Plumbs requireRcBeforeStable into computeStableTag and reads it from env.
src/release/compute-tag.test.ts	Updates tests for new computeTag signature; adds/adjusts throw behavior coverage.
src/actions/release-get-tag/index.ts	New unified action orchestrating branch validation, tag computation, and optional “tag must not exist” check.
src/actions/release-compute-tag/index.ts	Removes deprecated action implementation.
src/actions/release-check-tag-not-exists/index.ts	Removes deprecated action implementation.
scripts/build-actions.mjs	Updates action build list to bundle only the new unified action.
README.md	Updates documentation to reflect the relaxed RC requirement and new usage guidance.
examples/release-software.yml	Adds example using the new release-get-tag action with the new inputs.
examples/release-create-branch.yml	Adds example workflow for cutting a release branch.
actions/release-get-tag/dist/index.js	Adds/updates bundled JS for the new release-get-tag action.
actions/release-get-tag/action.yml	Defines the new action inputs/outputs and defaults.
actions/release-compute-tag/action.yml	Removes deprecated action metadata.
actions/release-check-tag-not-exists/action.yml	Removes deprecated action metadata.
.github/workflows/validate-deps.yml	Removes obsolete reusable workflow.
.github/workflows/release-software.yml	Removes obsolete reusable workflow (replaced by examples/new flow).
.github/workflows/release-helm-chart.yml	Removes obsolete reusable workflow.
.github/workflows/release-get-tag.yml	Removes obsolete reusable workflow (logic moved into the action).

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