fix: use version-file for VERSION in release-please

[mateodelnorte]

Summary

• Switch from extra-files with generic type to version-file: "VERSION" in release-please config
• Remove the sync-version post-merge workaround job from on-push-main.yml
• trigger-release now depends directly on release-please instead of sync-version

Context

The generic type in extra-files requires x-release-please-version markers in the file, which the plain VERSION file doesn't have. This meant release-please never updated VERSION, requiring a separate sync-version job to run after merge. The version-file option handles plain text version files natively, so VERSION gets updated directly in the release PR.

Fixes the issue noted in #30.

Test plan

• Next release PR should include VERSION file update
• Release workflow triggers correctly without sync-version job

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Chores
  • Streamlined release automation by consolidating version management configuration.
  • Removed intermediate version synchronization step from release workflow for more efficient builds.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

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Walkthrough

The pull request streamlines the version file handling process by removing the dedicated sync-version GitHub Actions job and updating the release-please configuration to use a version-file directive instead of an extra-files entry, simplifying the release workflow.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Release Workflow Simplification .github/workflows/on-push-main.yml	Removes the sync-version job that handled VERSION file updates before release; updates trigger-release job to remove dependency on sync-version, streamlining the workflow from two steps to one.
Version File Configuration release-please-config.json	Replaces the extra-files generic entry for VERSION with a dedicated version-file directive, centralizing version source configuration.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 1 (Trivial) | ⏱️ ~5 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• fix: use PR workflow for homebrew tap updates #29: Both PRs modify GitHub Actions release workflows and adjust how the repository's VERSION is managed during releases.

Poem

🐰 The sync-job hops away with glee,
Release-please handles VERSION, you see!
One less step in the workflow's dance,
Configuration blooms—a cleaner advance! ✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately describes the main change: using version-file configuration in release-please instead of the previous extra-files approach, and aligns with the primary objectives of the PR.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Merge Conflict Detection	✅ Passed	✅ No merge conflicts detected when merging into main

_{✏️ Tip: You can configure your own custom pre-merge checks in the settings.}

✨ Finishing touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment
• Commit unit tests in branch fix/release-please-version-file

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