Refactor branch handling in publish_release.yml

Updated the workflow to handle branch deletion and creation more gracefully.

Author: michelroegl-brunner

.github/workflows/publish_release.yml

@@ -35,13 +35,15 @@ jobs:
       - name: Create branch and commit VERSION
         run: |
           branch="update-version-${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
-          git checkout -b "$branch"
+          git push origin --delete "$branch" || echo "No remote branch to delete"
+          git fetch origin main
+          git checkout -b "$branch" origin/main
           echo "${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}" | sed 's/^v//' > VERSION
           git add VERSION
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-          git commit -m "chore: add VERSION ${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}" || echo "No changes to commit"
-          git push --set-upstream origin "$branch" --force
+          git commit -m "chore: add VERSION ${{ steps.draft.outputs.tag_name }}"
+          git push --set-upstream origin "$branch"
 
 
       - name: Create pull request