ci(release): stop publishing Helm charts from the GitHub tag workflow

[rohithb-hub]

TL;DR

Stop the GitHub tag workflow from publishing Helm charts, and bump the
helm-nvca-operator appVersion to 3.16.1.

Additional Details

• Retire GitHub chart publishing: chart publishing is kept in the internal
  release pipeline, which already publishes every chart release. Chart tags
  and GitHub Releases are unchanged. For a chart tag, the tag job now only
  checks the chart name and creates the Release.
• Bump appVersion: it has stayed at 3.12.7 for some time, so installs that do
  not set image.tag run operator 3.12.7. This moves it to 3.16.1; the
  images exist.

What changed:

• tools/ci/github-release and release-tags.yml: removed chart packaging,
  registry login, push, the appVersion stamp, and the release_tag replay
  input.
• Tests and release docs updated to match.
• deploy/helm/nvca-operator/nvca-operator/Chart.yaml: appVersion 3.12.7 to
  3.16.1.

Follow-up: the chart version bumper that keeps appVersion current is stuck
and will be fixed separately.

Dependencies: none.

For the Reviewer

• tools/ci/github-release: the chart block in tag_release.
• .github/workflows/release-tags.yml: the tag job conditions.

For QA

• python3 tools/ci/test-github-release.py: 116 tests pass.
• Helm chart checks pass with Helm 3.21.4 (tools/ci/check-helm-charts and
  the nvca-operator chart tests).
• QA not needed.

Issues

Closes #2218

Checklist

• I am familiar with the Contributing Guidelines.
• I have signed off my commits for Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) compliance.
• New or existing tests cover these changes.
• The documentation is up to date with these changes.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Release Process

  • Tag events now generate GitHub release notes. Chart publishing starts after the GitHub release is published and its tag is mirrored, through a scheduled pipeline.
  • Chart release tags are validated against the registered chart name before a GitHub release is created.

• Updates

  • Updated the operator chart’s application version to 3.16.1.

• Documentation

  • Clarified the release sequence and chart versioning behavior, including that packaging does not change the committed application version.

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📥 Commits

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📒 Files selected for processing: 1

• tools/ci/test-github-release.py

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📝 Walkthrough

The release workflow removes manual replay of existing tags and chart publishing. Tag validation uses the current ref and checks chart metadata. The chart’s appVersion and release-process documentation were updated.

Changes: Release Flow

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Tag workflow and validation .github/workflows/release-tags.yml, tools/ci/github-release, tools/ci/test-github-release.py	The workflow removes the replay input and handles tag release processing from the current ref. The release script validates chart registration and the Chart.yaml release name. Tests cover tag handling and the retired replay path.
Chart publishing boundary and release metadata tools/ci/github-release, tools/ci/test-github-release.py, deploy/helm/nvca-operator/nvca-operator/Chart.yaml, ai-tooling/dev/skills/nvca-values-customization/SKILL.md, docs/dev/github-release-process.md	The release script removes chart packaging and registry publication helpers. The chart appVersion changes to 3.16.1. The skill and release-process documentation describe committed appVersion values and chart pipelines after release publication and mirroring. Follower-release wording and related tests were also updated or removed.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~25 minutes

Change: Other

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 02cee

The chart-tag tests protect the intended release-only behavior. No merge-blocking issue was established.

Pre-merge checks: 4 · 1

Failed checks: 1 warning

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Linked Issues check		#2218 requires the chart publisher to recognize Helm's typed not found result as an absent chart and to stop on registry refusals. This PR removes the GitHub chart publisher and its refusal check fr…	Implement the #2218 behavior in the pipeline that now publishes charts. Treat a readable repository's typed not found result as absence. Stop on other registry read failures. Add tests for both cases.

Passed checks: 4 passed

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check		Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check		The title follows Conventional Commits format with the required CI type and accurately describes the primary change: stopping Helm chart publication from the GitHub tag workflow.
Out of Scope Changes check		The workflow and tools/ci/github-release changes remove the stated GitHub chart-publishing path. The tests and release documentation update that behavior. The helm-nvca-operator appVersion bump …
Docstring Coverage		Docstring coverage is 82.35% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 17 functions across 1 files.

Full details: Linked Issues check

Explanation

#2218 requires the chart publisher to recognize Helm's typed not found result as an absent chart and to stop on registry refusals. This PR removes the GitHub chart publisher and its refusal check from tools/ci/github-release. The replacement pipeline is not changed or shown to implement these behaviors. The updated tests verify that the GitHub tag workflow does not publish charts; they do not cover the required absence and refusal cases.

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[github-actions]

🌿 Preview your docs: https://nvidia-preview-ci-retire-github-chart-publishing.docs.buildwithfern.com/nvcf

[apartha-nv]

can we also set the appVersion during packaging time so this hardcoding is removed ?

[rohithb-hub]

Yes, but it has to happen in the internal release pipeline, since that's the only place charts are packaged after this PR.

Same version makes the stamp simpler (appVersion = chart version), so if it gets the go-ahead we do both in one change. If not, we still stamp, using the newest nvca release in the chart tag's history.

[apartha-nv]

ok lets track this to follow-up on publish.

[apartha-nv]

lgtm