De-stale the release skill after #14277 removed stabilization

[JanProvaznik]

Problem

#14277 ("Stop requiring VersionPrefix updates in servicing — insert prerelease versions to VS", merged 2026-07-08) deleted scripts/Stabilize-Release.ps1 and updated documentation/release-checklist.md and the merge-dependency-updates skill — but this skill was missed. It still walks the agent through a workflow that no longer exists.

git grep Stabilize-Release currently matches only this file.

Fixes

Was	Now	Evidence
scripts/Stabilize-Release.ps1 referenced 5× (L59, 74, 94, 138, 159)	removed	File deleted in 9ffbeaad04; Test-Path → False
"After Phase 4.2 Stabilize-Release.ps1 runs, builds become final-versioned"	Release branches now build/insert prerelease versions like main; release-versioned packages come from NuGetRepack at manual publish time	#14277 commit message
Links to "stabilization (Phase 4.2)" and "Phase 4.2 + 4.3"	Phase Summary now matches the real checklist: 4.1 public API, 4.2 OptProf bootstrap, 4.3 M2/QB, 4.4 babysit insertion	documentation/release-checklist.md:173-181
darc publish	"the feed the official build publishes to"	Not a verb in darc --help
.vsts-dotnet.yml holds VisualStudio.ChannelName	It holds only OptProfBaselineDrop (L32, 47); added a row for the real location	azure-pipelines/.vsts-dotnet-build-jobs.yml:80,156
Examples 18.5 / 18.6 / 18.7, baseline 18.7.0-preview-26230-02, dates 2026-04-08…2026-05-12	18.9 / 18.10 / 18.11, baseline 18.9.0-preview-26330-01, dates shown as YYYY-MM-DD	eng/Versions.props:6,9
Prereq "darc cli"	+ the Arcade minimum-version floor and eng/common/darc-init.ps1	darc refuses to run when older than Arcade's floor

The four hardcoded dates are replaced with a YYYY-MM-DD format hint rather than newer dates, so that row cannot rot again — the skill already tells you to read the real dates from the VS-Dates wiki.

Also

Collapsed the six-step manual PACKAGE_VALIDATION_BASELINE_VERSION fallback (L72-79) into a pointer at Get-PackageValidationBaseline.ps1's own .DESCRIPTION, which documents the identical procedure and cannot drift from the script. Two of those six steps were the ones referencing the deleted stabilization run.

Net 168 → 159 lines, 19 insertions / 28 deletions. All relative links verified to resolve.

[github-actions]

🔍 Skill Validator Results

⚠️ Warnings or advisories found

Scope	Checked
Skills	1
Agents	0
Total	1
Severity	Count
---	---:
❌ Errors	0
⚠️ Warnings	1
ℹ️ Advisories	0

Summary

Level	Finding
ℹ️	Found 1 skill(s)
ℹ️	[release] 📊 release: 3,399 BPE tokens [chars/4: 3,375] (standard ~), 13 sections, 1 code blocks
ℹ️	[release] ⚠ Skill is 3,399 BPE tokens (chars/4 estimate: 3,375) — approaching "comprehensive" range where gains diminish.
ℹ️	✅ All checks passed (1 skill(s))

Full validator output

```text Found 1 skill(s) [release] 📊 release: 3,399 BPE tokens [chars/4: 3,375] (standard ~), 13 sections, 1 code blocks [release] ⚠ Skill is 3,399 BPE tokens (chars/4 estimate: 3,375) — approaching "comprehensive" range where gains diminish. ✅ All checks passed (1 skill(s)) ```

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Updates the .github/skills/release skill documentation to match the post-#14277 release workflow (no stabilization script; release branches insert prerelease versions like main) and to reduce future “rot” from hardcoded examples.

Changes:

• Removes all references to the deleted scripts/Stabilize-Release.ps1 and updates Phase 4 text to align with the current release checklist steps.
• Refreshes version/date examples (dates now shown as YYYY-MM-DD) and updates baseline/versioning explanation to reflect prerelease insertion behavior.
• Corrects file pointers for where key release knobs live (e.g., VisualStudio.ChannelName) and updates DARC prerequisite guidance.

[github-actions]

Documentation Review

Clean update aligning the release skill with the post-#14277 world. Reviewed across applicable dimensions:

Accuracy - Version examples match current eng/Versions.props (18.10.0). The wrong-answers table correctly describes the NuGetRepack flow. Stabilize-Release.ps1 removal is consistent with release-checklist.md. The darc-init.ps1 tip references a real script.

Removed content - The manual 6-step procedure is replaced with a pointer to the script's .DESCRIPTION header, which I verified contains an equivalent explanation. No knowledge lost.

Date format - Switching to YYYY-MM-DD placeholders avoids staleness. The new callout note explains the convention.

Phase 4 update - Accurately reflects the new workflow.

Minor nits (non-blocking)

1. The darc-init tip mentions only the .ps1 variant — consider also noting eng/common/darc-init.sh for Linux/macOS.
2. "Dates are intentionally shown as a format only" — "shown as placeholders only" might be slightly clearer.

Overall: clean, accurate, well-motivated simplification.

Warning

Firewall blocked 1 domain

The following domain was blocked by the firewall during workflow execution:

• awmgmcpg

To allow these domains, add them to the network.allowed list in your workflow frontmatter:

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - "awmgmcpg"

See Network Configuration for more information.

Generated by Expert Code Review (on open) for #14534 · sonnet46 · 45.1 AIC · ⌖ 5.05 AIC · ⊞ 4.9K