Auto-merge enabled via GITHUB_TOKEN attributes the eventual merge commit to
github-actions[bot], so recursion prevention suppresses the resulting push to
main — the follow-up release-please run that cuts the tag/release never fires.
Net: the version PR merges but no release/tag/images are ever produced (#719).
Enable auto-merge with RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN instead (a real identity) so the
merge triggers the tag-cutting run. Approval stays on GITHUB_TOKEN because it
must be a different identity than the PR author (the PAT) to count as a review.
Observed on #723: merged 3.77.3-beta.0 but no run followed and no tag was cut.
Paul Nothaft
e08a33d9ea