Apply release automation configuration to Template_API_Repository

[hdamker]

Problem description

After the release automation is rolled out to existing API repositories via the onboarding campaign, the Template_API_Repository still lacks the release automation configuration. New API repositories created from the template will not inherit the full setup.

Possible evolution

Apply the release automation configuration to Template_API_Repository so that newly created API repositories inherit it automatically. This includes:

• Caller workflow (.github/workflows/release-automation.yml)
• CHANGELOG directory structure (CHANGELOG/README.md)
• Repository ruleset (release-snapshot-protection)
• release-plan.yaml template with placeholder values

Note: GitHub repository rulesets are not inherited when creating a repository from a template. It is therefore important that new API repositories are created through the admin-api-repository-creation.yml workflow in project-administration, which ensures the ruleset gets copied from the template repository.

Alternative solution

Keep onboarding new repositories manually via the campaign workflow, but this adds unnecessary operational overhead for each new API repository.

Additional context

This should be done after the broader rollout of the release automation to existing repositories is complete and the configuration is considered stable. The onboarding campaign and admin script in project-administration (PR #134) can be reused for applying the configuration to the template.

See repository-setup.md for the full configuration specification.

[hdamker]

Further changes are needed for the admin-api-repository-creation.yml workflow (create separate issue in project-administration)

• add the CODEOWNERS as initial main contacts to release-plan.yaml
• update the templates for initial issues with instructions for release-plan.yaml

[hdamker]

Progress update (2026-03-03)

Template#32 has been merged, applying:

• release-plan.yaml template with placeholder values
• CHANGELOG/ directory structure (CHANGELOG/README.md)

Remaining for GA:

• Caller workflow (.github/workflows/release-automation.yml) — deferred until the release automation reaches GA (@v1 tag), so that new repositories don't inherit a workflow pointing at a pre-release version
• Repository ruleset (release-snapshot-protection) — not inherited by GitHub template mechanism; applied via the admin-api-repository-creation.yml workflow in project-administration, which already handles this
• Updates to initial issue templates in new repositories — need instructions how to handle release-plan.yaml
• Validation after addition of caller workflow for Release — by creating a new test repository (ReleaseTest') from the template and running at least a smoke test

Related: tooling#75 (repository setup documentation)