build: create separate release branches for tagged releases on publish (#457)

.github/maintainers_guide.md

@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ As a maintainer, the development you do will be almost entirely off of your fork
 
 `main` is where active development occurs.
 
+`release/vX.Y.Z` has the packaged distribution of a particular version based from the changes on `main`. This is created using a workflow when new releases are published.
+
 When developing, branches should be created off of your fork and not directly off of this repository. If working on a long-running feature and in collaboration with others, a corresponding branch of the same name is permitted. This makes collaboration on a single branch possible, as contributors working on the same feature cannot push commits to others' open Pull Requests.
 
 After a major version increment, there also may be maintenance branches created specifically for supporting older major versions.

.github/workflows/publish.yml

@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ name: Publish
 
 on:
   release:
-    types: [published, edited]
+    types: 
+      - published
+      - edited
 
 jobs:
   build:
@@ -14,7 +16,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout the current code
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
         with:
-          persist-credentials: false
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          persist-credentials: true
           ref: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
 
       - name: Configure the runtime node
@@ -31,8 +34,18 @@ jobs:
         run: npm run build
 
       - name: Distribute the latest tagged release
+        id: tag
         uses: teunmooij/github-versioned-release@3edf649c6e5e5e976d43f2584b15bdc8b4c8f0df # v1.2.1
         with:
           template: javascript-action
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+
+      - name: Create a branch for tagged release
+        run: |
+          git fetch origin "$SHA"
+          git checkout -b "release/$TAG" "$SHA"
+          git push origin "release/$TAG"
+        env:
+          TAG: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
+          SHA: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.sha }}