Update workflows and documentation for improved release process

.github/VERSION-DETECTION.md

@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Version Detection Test Examples
+
+This file demonstrates how the automated version detection works with different branch merges and commit patterns.
+
+## Branch-Based Version Detection
+
+### ✅ Minor Version Bump (v0.10.2 → v0.11.0)
+**Trigger**: Merging from `feat*` branches
+
+```bash
+# Developer workflow:
+git checkout master
+git checkout -b feat/new-user-authentication
+git commit -m "add OAuth login support"
+git commit -m "add user profile management"
+git push origin feat/new-user-authentication
+
+# Create PR and merge to master
+# Result: Automatic minor version bump v0.10.2 → v0.11.0
+```
+
+### ✅ Patch Version Bump (v0.10.2 → v0.10.3)  
+**Trigger**: Merging from any other branch
+
+```bash
+# Bug fix:
+git checkout -b fix/login-timeout
+git commit -m "fix: resolve session timeout issue"
+# Result: v0.10.2 → v0.10.3
+
+# Documentation:
+git checkout -b docs/update-api-guide
+git commit -m "docs: update API documentation"
+# Result: v0.10.2 → v0.10.3
+
+# Refactoring:
+git checkout -b refactor/cleanup-auth
+git commit -m "refactor: simplify authentication flow"
+# Result: v0.10.2 → v0.10.3
+```
+
+## Detection Priority
+
+The system checks in this order:
+
+1. **Feature branches** (highest priority)
+   - Checks merged branch names for `feat*` pattern
+   - Also checks commit messages for `feat:` prefix
+   - Results in minor version bump (Y)
+
+2. **Everything else** (default)
+   - All other branch merges and commits
+   - Results in patch version bump (Z)
+
+## Example Scenarios
+
+| Branch Name | Commit Message | Version Change | Reason |
+|-------------|----------------|----------------|---------|
+| `feat/auth` | "add login system" | v0.10.2 → v0.11.0 | feat branch (minor) |
+| `fix/bug` | "fix: resolve crash" | v0.10.2 → v0.10.3 | non-feat branch (patch) |
+| `docs/readme` | "docs: update guide" | v0.10.2 → v0.10.3 | non-feat branch (patch) |
+| `fix/bug` | "feat: add new feature" | v0.10.2 → v0.11.0 | feat in commit (minor) |
+| `refactor/code` | "refactor: improve structure" | v0.10.2 → v0.10.3 | non-feat branch (patch) |
+
+This ensures that:
+- ✅ New features always increment minor version (Y number)
+- ✅ Bug fixes and other changes increment patch version (Z number)
+- ✅ Major version (X) is only incremented manually
+- ✅ Documentation and dependency updates don't trigger releases
+- ✅ No manual version management needed

.github/WORKFLOWS.md

@@ -1,7 +1,15 @@
 # GitHub Actions Workflows Documentation
 
-This repository uses a comprehensive GitHub Actions setup with different workflows for different purposes.
+This repository uses: Fully automated release creation with zero manual intervention
+- ✅ Detects when releases are needed (new commits to master, excluding docs/deps)
+- ✅ Analyzes commit messages for semantic versioning
+- ✅ Calculates next version automatically (major/minor)
+- ✅ Creates release branches with version updates using own action
+- ✅ Relies on PUSH-OTHER.yml for PR creation
+- ✅ Supports manual triggering for custom releases
+- ✅ Skips releases for documentation and dependency updates
 
+This repository uses a comprehensive GitHub Actions setup with different workflows for different purposes.
 ## Workflow Overview
 
 ### 1. PUSH-MASTER.yml
@@ -24,38 +32,69 @@ This repository uses a comprehensive GitHub Actions setup with different workflo
 - ✅ Update repository labels (dry run)
 - ✅ Run Hadolint linting on Dockerfile
 - ✅ Build Docker image (test only for regular branches)
-- ✅ Build & push test Docker images for `test/*` branches
+- ✅ Build & push test Docker images for `test*` branches
 - ✅ Create Pull Requests based on branch naming conventions
 
 **Special handling for test branches**:
-- Branches starting with `test/` → Build and push Docker images with `test-` prefix
+- Branches starting with `test` → Build and push Docker images with `test-` prefix
 - Other branches → Build test only (no push)
 
 **Branch naming conventions for auto-PR creation**:
-- `bug/*` → Creates PR with "bugfix" label
-- `dep/*` → Creates PR with "dependency" label  
-- `doc/*` → Creates PR with "documentation" label
-- `feat/*` → Creates PR with "feature" label
-- `test/*` → Creates draft PR with "test" label + pushes test Docker images
+- `bug*` → Creates PR with "bugfix" label
+- `dep*` → Creates PR with "dependency" label  
+- `doc*` → Creates PR with "documentation" label
+- `feat*` → Creates PR with "feature" label
+- `test*` → Creates draft PR with "test" label + pushes test Docker images
 - Other branches → Creates PR with "feature" label
 
 ### 3. RELEASE.yml
-**Trigger**: GitHub release published
-
-**Purpose**: Production deployment
-- ✅ Build multi-architecture Docker images (amd64, arm64)
-- ✅ Push images to Docker Hub with release version tag
+**Trigger**: 
+- Push to `release/vX.Y.Z` branches (creates release PR)
+- Pull request merge from `release/vX.Y.Z` branches to master (publishes release)
+
+**Purpose**: Handle release branch workflows and Docker image publishing
+- ✅ Create release PRs with version updates when pushing to `release/vX.Y.Z` branches
+- ✅ Build multi-architecture Docker images (amd64, arm64) when release PRs are merged
+- ✅ Push images to Docker Hub with release version tag and `latest`
 - ✅ Push images to GitHub Container Registry
+- ✅ Create GitHub release with version tag
 - ✅ Update Docker Hub description
-- ✅ Update `action.yml` with new image version
-
-**Release Process**:
-1. Create GitHub release with version tag (e.g., `v0.11.0`)
-2. Workflow automatically builds and pushes Docker images
-3. Images are tagged with the release version
-4. `action.yml` is updated to reference the new version
-
-### 4. CRON.yml
+- ✅ Clean up release branch after merge
+
+### 4. AUTO-VERSION.yml
+**Trigger**: 
+- Push to `master` branch (automatic)
+- Manual workflow dispatch (optional)
+
+**Purpose**: Fully automated release creation with zero manual intervention
+- ✅ Detects when releases are needed (new commits to master)
+- ✅ Analyzes commit messages for semantic versioning
+- ✅ Calculates next version automatically (major/minor/patch)
+- ✅ Creates release branches with version updates
+- ✅ Opens detailed release PRs
+- ✅ Supports manual triggering for custom releases
+
+**Automated Release Process**:
+1. New commits pushed to master (excluding docs/dependencies)
+2. System analyzes merged branch names and commit messages:
+   - Merged from "feat" branches → minor version (v0.10.2 → v0.11.0)
+   - Other changes → patch version (v0.10.2 → v0.10.3)
+3. Automatically creates `release/vX.Y.Z` branch using own action
+4. Updates version in `action.yml` and `Makefile`
+5. PUSH-OTHER.yml workflow creates PR automatically
+6. When merged → triggers RELEASE.yml workflow for publishing
+
+### 5. AUTO-RELEASE.yml
+**Trigger**: Manual workflow dispatch only
+
+**Purpose**: Manual release creation with version input
+- ✅ Allows manual specification of release version
+- ✅ Supports minor/major release types
+- ✅ Creates release branches using own action
+- ✅ Relies on PUSH-OTHER.yml for PR creation
+- ✅ Validates version format and availability
+
+### 6. CRON.yml
 **Trigger**: Weekly schedule (Sundays at 5:00 AM UTC)
 
 **Purpose**: Weekly health check and test image refresh
@@ -85,13 +124,23 @@ This repository uses a comprehensive GitHub Actions setup with different workflo
 ### Development Flow
 1. Create feature branch with appropriate naming convention
 2. Push changes → Triggers build test and auto-PR creation
-3. Review and merge PR to master → Triggers master build test
-4. Create GitHub release → Triggers production deployment
+3. Review and merge PR to master → Triggers automatic release detection
+4. System automatically creates release (if new commits warrant it)
+5. Review and merge release PR → Triggers production deployment
 
 ### Production Deployment
-- Only happens on GitHub releases
-- Ensures only tested, reviewed code reaches production
-- Automatic versioning and tagging
-- Docker Hub and GitHub Container Registry deployment
-
-This setup ensures a safe, automated, and well-tested deployment pipeline while maintaining development velocity.
+- **Fully automated**: No manual release creation needed
+- **Smart detection**: Only releases when there are actual changes
+- **Semantic versioning**: Automatic version calculation from commit messages
+- **Safe process**: Release PRs provide review opportunity before publishing
+- **GitHub release creation**: Automated with release notes
+- **Docker Hub and GitHub Container Registry**: Automatic multi-architecture deployment
+
+### Release Automation Strategy
+- **Zero manual work**: Push to master → automatic release detection → release PR → merge → publish
+- **Semantic commits**: Commit message analysis determines version type
+- **Branch protection**: All releases go through PR review process
+- **Failsafe mechanisms**: Version validation, duplicate prevention, format checking
+- **Clean automation**: Automatic branch cleanup and proper tagging
+
+This setup provides **complete automation** while maintaining safety through the PR review process. No manual release management required!

.github/workflows/AUTO-RELEASE.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+name: Automated Release
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: 'Release version (e.g., v0.12.0)'
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      release_type:
+        description: 'Type of release'
+        required: true
+        default: 'patch'
+        type: choice
+        options:
+        - patch
+        - minor
+        - major
+
+jobs:
+  create_automated_release:
+    name: Create Automated Release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Validate version format
+        run: |
+          VERSION="${{ github.event.inputs.version }}"
+          if [[ ! $VERSION =~ ^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+            echo "❌ Invalid version format. Use format: v1.2.3"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "✅ Version format is valid: $VERSION"
+
+      - name: Check if version already exists
+        run: |
+          VERSION="${{ github.event.inputs.version }}"
+          if git tag -l | grep -q "^${VERSION}$"; then
+            echo "❌ Version $VERSION already exists"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "✅ Version $VERSION is available"
+
+      - name: Get current date
+        id: date
+        run: echo "date=$(date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Update version in action.yml
+        run: |
+          VERSION="${{ github.event.inputs.version }}"
+          sed -i "s|image: docker://devopsinfra/action-commit-push:.*|image: docker://devopsinfra/action-commit-push:${VERSION}|" action.yml
+          echo "✅ Updated action.yml to use version: ${VERSION}"
+
+      - name: Update version in Makefile
+        run: |
+          VERSION="${{ github.event.inputs.version }}"
+          # Update the fallback version in Makefile
+          sed -i "s|echo \"v[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\"|echo \"${VERSION}\"|" Makefile
+          echo "✅ Updated Makefile fallback version to: ${VERSION}"
+
+      - name: Create release branch and commit changes
+        uses: devops-infra/action-commit-push@master
+        with:
+          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          target_branch: release/${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
+          commit_message: |
+            Automated Release ${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
+
+            This is an **automated release** created via workflow dispatch.
+
+            Release Details
+            - **Version**: `${{ github.event.inputs.version }}`
+            - **Type**: `${{ github.event.inputs.release_type }}`
+            - **Triggered by**: @${{ github.actor }}
+            - **Date**: ${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
+
+            Changes in this release
+            - ✅ Updated `action.yml` to reference Docker image `${{ github.event.inputs.version }}`
+            - ✅ Updated `Makefile` fallback version to `${{ github.event.inputs.version }}`
+
+            What happens when this PR is merged?
+            1. 🐳 Docker images will be built and pushed to Docker Hub and GitHub Packages
+            2. 🏷️ A GitHub release will be created with tag `${{ github.event.inputs.version }}`
+            3. 📝 Docker Hub description will be updated
+            4. 🧹 Release branch will be cleaned up automatically
+
+            Auto-merge Information
+            This PR can be safely merged as it only contains version updates.
+
+            **⚠️ Important:** Once merged, this will immediately publish Docker images to production registries.
+
+            ---
+            *This release was created automatically. No manual intervention required.*