fix(deploy): rename release branch prefix to releases to avoid ref collision

[michaeljymsgutierrez]

Description

During a stable:patch deploy attempt, the script failed with a fatal git ref collision:

fatal: cannot lock ref 'refs/heads/release/v2.9.1': 'refs/heads/release' exists; cannot create 'refs/heads/release/v2.9.1'

Git cannot create a branch named release/vX.X.X when a permanent branch named release already exists - on the filesystem, release would need to be both a ref file and a directory simultaneously. This caused the deploy to fail mid-run and left uncommitted changes behind in the working tree.

The fix renames the temporary versioned branch prefix in deploy.sh from release/ to releases/ (plural), which avoids the collision entirely. CONTRIBUTING.md is updated to keep the docs consistent with the actual branch naming used during deploys.

Github Issue: N/A

Changes

• deploy.sh - renamed all release/$LATEST_VERSION branch references to releases/$LATEST_VERSION (8 occurrences across publish_release_version_branch and cleanup_release_version_branch)
• CONTRIBUTING.md - updated 4 references to match the corrected branch naming: Mermaid flow diagram node, Releasing Phase description, branch type table, and branch naming example

Screenshots/Images

N/A - no UI changes.

How Has This Been Tested?

• Dry run: ./deploy.sh --dry-run stable:patch executed successfully with no errors after the fix was applied, confirming the ref collision no longer occurs.
• Manual testing: Verified git status was clean before and after the dry run - no stray branches or uncommitted changes left behind.

Checklist

• Code follows the project's coding standards and best practices.
• Tests are written for new functionality and existing tests pass.
• Documentation is updated to reflect changes (CONTRIBUTING.md updated to match releases/ prefix).
• The PR is assigned to the correct reviewers.

Reviewer Guidance

• The only functional change is the branch prefix in deploy.sh from release/ to releases/. This prevents the fatal ref collision when a permanent release branch exists alongside a versioned releases/vX.X.X branch.
• CONTRIBUTING.md changes are purely cosmetic - keeping docs in sync with the script behavior.
• To verify: run ./deploy.sh --dry-run stable:patch and confirm it prints [dry-run] git checkout -b releases/vX.X.X with no errors.

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated (UTC)
arm-js-library-demo	Ready	Preview, Comment	Jun 30, 2026 6:24pm