[Jair Myree (jairmyree)]

This pull request introduces major improvements to the Azure SDK for Java patch release process, focusing on automation, determinism, and clarity for patch merge-back operations. The changes ensure that released patch versions, changelog entries, and POM updates are consistently and automatically merged back into main using a manifest-driven approach, reducing manual intervention and errors. The documentation has also been updated to reflect these new workflows and guardrails.

Patch Release and Merge-back Automation

• The patch release pipeline now automatically generates a merge-back PR against main after publishing packages, using a manifest file (patch-changelog.md) to drive exact dependency version, changelog, and POM updates. Source resets, README changes, and other patch-branch-only files are excluded. [1] [2] [3]
• A new step in the prepare pipeline removes unused entries from external_dependencies.txt and generates the patch-changelog.md manifest, ensuring only relevant dependencies and changelog entries are included in the release. [1] [2]

Manifest-driven Changelog and Dependency Resolution

• The authoritative source for patch changelog entries is now patch-changelog.md, and only the exact blocks from this manifest are merged back into main. The documentation and reconciliation guides have been updated to reflect this, clarifying that no other release-branch content is merged. [1] [2]
• Dependency version promotion in version_client.txt is now manifest-driven: only artifacts listed in patch-changelog.md are updated, and only if the patch version is newer than main. The current-version is always preserved from main.

Documentation and Pipeline Template Updates

• The documentation for patch release and merge-back has been overhauled to describe the new manifest-driven process, including updated critical rules, workflows, and guardrails. It emphasizes the role of patch-changelog.md, the exclusion of certain files, and the automated nature of the merge-back. [1] [2]
• Pipeline templates and parameters have been updated to support the new merge-back and manifest workflow, including new parameters for passing the manifest path and toggling merge-back behavior. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

These changes make the patch release process more robust, reproducible, and less error-prone by codifying the exact set of changes to be merged back and automating their application.

[azure-pipelines]

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[Copilot]

🔵 Needs a closer look

It changes post-publication release automation and repository-wide version reconciliation, warranting final human validation.

0 open findings

What changed in this PR

Automates deterministic patch-release merge-backs into main using a generated changelog manifest.

Changes:

• Generates and validates patch-changelog.md.
• Automates dependency, changelog, and generated POM merge-back updates.
• Adds tests and updates release documentation.

File	Description
eng/​versioning/​test_find_unused_dependencies.py	Tests unused dependency removal.
eng/​versioning/​find_unused_dependencies.py	Adds dependency cleanup mode.
eng/​scripts/​tests/​patch-mergeback-helpers.tests.ps1	Tests manifest and reconciliation helpers.
eng/​scripts/​tests/​Create-Patch-Mergeback.tests.ps1	Tests end-to-end merge-back preparation.
eng/​scripts/​patch-mergeback-helpers.ps1	Implements manifest parsing and updates.
eng/​scripts/​New-PatchChangelog.ps1	Generates the patch manifest.
eng/​scripts/​Create-Patch-Mergeback.ps1	Prepares merge-back changes from main.
eng/​pipelines/​templates/​stages/​archetype-sdk-client-patch.yml	Adds merge-back validation.
eng/​pipelines/​templates/​stages/​archetype-java-release-patch.yml	Creates merge-back PRs after publication.
eng/​pipelines/​patch-release.yml	Enables merge-back automation.
eng/​pipelines/​Patch-Release-README.md	Documents the new process.
eng/​pipelines/​patch-release-prepare.yml	Generates preparation artifacts.
.github/​skills/​azsdk-java-patch-mergeback/​SKILL.md	Updates recovery guidance.
.github/​skills/​azsdk-java-patch-mergeback/​references/​version-client-resolution.md	Documents version reconciliation.
.github/​skills/​azsdk-java-patch-mergeback/​references/​changelog-resolution.md	Documents changelog reconciliation.

🧠 Review effort: Balanced

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