CD/CD consolidation

devops/mock-release/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Mock Dev Release Pipeline
+
+Purpose: provide a minimal CI artifact so deploy tasks can progress with placeholder digests until real releases land.
+
+What it does:
+- Packages `deploy/releases/2025.09-mock-dev.yaml` and `deploy/downloads/manifest.json` into `out/mock-release/mock-dev-release.tgz`.
+- Uploads the tarball as a CI artifact (`mock-dev-release`) for downstream consumers (deploy packaging, docs snapshots, local testing).
+
+How to run locally:
+```bash
+mkdir -p out/mock-release
+cp deploy/releases/2025.09-mock-dev.yaml out/mock-release/
+cp deploy/downloads/manifest.json out/mock-release/
+tar -czf out/mock-release/mock-dev-release.tgz -C out/mock-release .
+```
+
+CI entrypoint:
+- Workflow: `.gitea/workflows/mock-dev-release.yml`
+- Triggers: push to mock manifest/downloads files or manual `workflow_dispatch`.
+
+Notes:
+- Artefacts are **development-only**; replace with real digests as soon as upstream releases publish.
+- Keep the mock manifest and downloads JSON deterministic to avoid artifact churn.***