fix(ci): prevent skip-propagation in integration test pipeline

[danielmeppiel]

Problem

In run #22402036846, integration-tests and release-validation were skipped even though smoke-test succeeded.

Root cause: When approve-fork is skipped (internal PRs), GitHub Actions propagates the skip through the entire dependency chain — not just direct dependents. Without always(), the if conditions on downstream jobs are never even evaluated; the jobs are skipped before the condition check happens.

From the docs:

"If a job fails or is skipped, all jobs that need it are skipped unless the jobs use a conditional expression that causes the job to continue."

Fix

Add always() to integration-tests and release-validation so skip-propagation is overridden and the if condition is actually evaluated:

if: always() && needs.smoke-test.result == 'success'

The result == 'success' check still ensures each job only runs when its direct dependency genuinely passed.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR fixes a GitHub Actions dependency-chain edge case in the ci-integration.yml pipeline where a skipped upstream job (e.g., approve-fork on internal PRs) could cause downstream jobs to be skipped before their if conditions are evaluated.

Changes:

• Add always() to the integration-tests job if: so its condition is evaluated even when upstream jobs were skipped.
• Add always() to the release-validation job if: for the same skip-propagation behavior.

[SebastienDegodez]

LGTM