Create the release + release notes automatically

[cicoyle]

Before this PR, this was a manual step after releasing. I am adding it to be created automatically for us to reduce the manual steps taken while releasing. I added the backport label so if we need to cut a patch for 1.17 it should auto generate the release and release notes for us.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Automates post-release steps by creating a GitHub Release (with auto-generated release notes) as part of the existing “Create a release” workflow.

Changes:

• Adds a conditional step to create a GitHub Release for non--SNAPSHOT and non--rc- versions.
• Uses gh release create ... --generate-notes authenticated via DAPR_BOT_TOKEN.

---

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[Copilot]

gh release create will error if a release for this tag already exists, which makes the workflow non-retriable after the release has been created once (e.g., if earlier steps need to be re-run). Consider adding a guard (e.g., gh release view <tag> and skip) or switching to an update flow (gh release edit) when the release already exists.

Suggested change

	run: gh release create "v${{ inputs.rel_version }}" --generate-notes
	run: |
	if gh release view "v${{ inputs.rel_version }}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
	echo "Release v${{ inputs.rel_version }} already exists, skipping creation."
	else
	gh release create "v${{ inputs.rel_version }}" --generate-notes
	fi

[Copilot]

create-release.sh already normalizes the input by stripping an optional leading v and then creates/pushes the tag as v$REL_VERSION. This step always prefixes another v ("v${{ inputs.rel_version }}"), so if the dispatch input is provided as v1.9.1 (which the script currently accepts), the workflow will try to create a release for tag vv1.9.1 which won't exist and the step will fail. Consider normalizing the input in this step the same way (strip a leading v) or otherwise reusing the exact tag name used by the script.

Suggested change

	run: gh release create "v${{ inputs.rel_version }}" --generate-notes
	REL_VERSION: ${{ inputs.rel_version }}
	run: |
	# Normalize release version by stripping an optional leading 'v'
	REL_VERSION="${REL_VERSION#v}"
	TAG="v${REL_VERSION}"
	gh release create "${TAG}" --generate-notes

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 79.51%. Comparing base (f63a4a4) to head (b101f16).

Additional details and impacted files

@@             Coverage Diff              @@
##             master    #1689      +/-   ##
============================================
- Coverage     79.53%   79.51%   -0.02%     
- Complexity     2193     2194       +1     
============================================
  Files           237      237              
  Lines          6577     6577              
  Branches        730      730              
============================================
- Hits           5231     5230       -1     
- Misses          990      992       +2     
+ Partials        356      355       -1     

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