Refactor publish_release workflow for PR creation

Updated the workflow to create a pull request using GitHub CLI and modified the handling of the VERSION file.

.github/workflows/publish_release.yml

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name: Publish draft release
 
 on:
-  workflow_dispatch:  
+  workflow_dispatch:  # Manual trigger; can be automated later
 
 permissions:
   contents: write
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repo
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-
+      
       - name: Get latest draft release
         id: draft
         run: |
@@ -31,46 +31,55 @@ jobs:
           fi
           echo "Found draft version: ${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
 
-
+      
       - name: Create branch and commit VERSION
         run: |
-            branch="update-version-${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
-            git push origin --delete "$branch" || echo "No remote branch to delete"
-            git fetch origin main
-            git checkout -b "$branch" origin/main
-            version="${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
-            echo "$version" | sed 's/^v//' > VERSION
-            echo "# generated at $(date +%s)" >> VERSION
-            git add VERSION
-            git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
-            git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-            git commit -m "chore: add VERSION $version" || echo "No changes"
-            git push --set-upstream origin "$branch"
-
-#      - name: Create pull request
-#        id: pr
-#        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v6
-#        with:
-#          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-#          branch: "update-version-${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
-#          base: main
-#          title: "chore: add VERSION ${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
-#          body: "This PR adds or updates the VERSION file for ${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
-#          labels: automated
+          branch="update-version-${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
+          # Delete remote branch if exists
+          git push origin --delete "$branch" || echo "No remote branch to delete"
+          git fetch origin main
+          git checkout -b "$branch" origin/main
+          # Write VERSION file and timestamp to ensure a diff
+          version="${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
+          echo "$version" | sed 's/^v//' > VERSION
+          echo "# generated at $(date +%s)" >> VERSION
+          git add VERSION
+          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+          git commit -m "chore: add VERSION $version" --allow-empty
+          git push --set-upstream origin "$branch"
 
+      
+      - name: Create PR with GitHub CLI
+        id: pr
+        run: |
+          pr_number=$(gh pr create \
+            --base main \
+            --head update-version-${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }} \
+            --title "chore: add VERSION ${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}" \
+            --body "Adds VERSION file for release ${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}" \
+            --label automated \
+            --json number \
+            --jq '.number')
+          echo $pr_number
+          echo "pr_number=$pr_number" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
+     
       - name: Auto-merge PR
         uses: peter-evans/enable-pull-request-automerge@v2
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          pull-request-number: ${{ steps.pr.outputs.pull-request-number }}
+          pull-request-number: ${{ steps.pr.outputs.pr_number }}
           merge-method: squash
 
+      
       - name: Wait for PR merge
         uses: actions/github-script@v7
         with:
           script: |
-            const prNum = parseInt("${{ steps.pr.outputs.pull-request-number }}")
+            const prNum = parseInt("${{ steps.pr.outputs.pr_number }}")
             let merged = false
             const maxRetries = 20
             let tries = 0