[CI][packaging] Automate process of deploying a new release with Github actions

[mikepapadim]

GPULlama3.java Release Workflows

GitHub Actions workflows for automating releases to Maven Central.

📁 Files

Available in .github/workflows/:

File	Purpose
prepare-release.yml	Creates release branch, bumps versions, generates changelog, opens PR
finalize-release.yml	Creates git tag and GitHub Release when release PR merges
deploy-maven-central.yml	Deploys to Maven Central when tag is pushed

🔄 Release Flow

1. PREPARE (manual trigger)
   └── Creates release/X.Y.Z branch + PR
   
2. REVIEW & MERGE (manual)
   └── Review PR, CI runs, merge when ready
   
3. FINALIZE (auto on PR merge)
   └── Creates tag vX.Y.Z + GitHub Release
   
4. DEPLOY (auto on tag push)
   └── Publishes to Maven Central

🚀 Usage

Starting a Release

1. Go to Actions → Prepare GPULlama3 Release
2. Click Run workflow
3. Enter version (e.g., 0.2.3) and previous version (e.g., 0.2.2)
4. Review and merge the created PR
5. Everything else is automatic!

Manual Override

# Just create tag manually (skips prepare/finalize)
git tag -a v0.2.3 -m "Release 0.2.3"
git push origin v0.2.3
# → deploy-maven-central triggers automatically

🔐 Required Secrets

Secret	Description
OSSRH_USERNAME	Maven Central username
OSSRH_TOKEN	Maven Central token
GPG_PRIVATE_KEY	gpg --armor --export-secret-keys KEY_ID
GPG_KEYNAME	GPG key ID
GPG_PASSPHRASE	GPG passphrase