address newer review comments to preserve build metadata when using pkg.Release field

Signed-off-by: Rashmi Gottipati <rgottipa@redhat.com>

Author: rashmigottipati

internal/operator-controller/bundleutil/bundle.go

@@ -29,15 +29,16 @@ func parseVersionRelease(pkgData json.RawMessage) (*bundle.VersionRelease, error
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error unmarshalling package property: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	// When BundleReleaseSupport is enabled and bundle has explicit release field, use it
+	// When BundleReleaseSupport is enabled and bundle has explicit release field, use it.
+	// Note: Build metadata is preserved here because with an explicit release field,
+	// build metadata serves its proper semver purpose (e.g., git commit, build number).
+	// In contrast, NewLegacyRegistryV1VersionRelease clears build metadata because it
+	// interprets build metadata AS the release value for registry+v1 bundles.
 	if features.OperatorControllerFeatureGate.Enabled(features.BundleReleaseSupport) && pkg.Release != "" {
 		vers, err := bsemver.Parse(pkg.Version)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing version %q: %w", pkg.Version, err)
 		}
-		// Strip build metadata when using explicit release field to maintain consistency
-		// with NewLegacyRegistryV1VersionRelease(), which also clears build metadata.
-		vers.Build = nil
 		rel, err := bundle.NewRelease(pkg.Release)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing release %q: %w", pkg.Release, err)

internal/operator-controller/bundleutil/bundle_test.go

@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func TestGetVersionAndRelease_WithBundleReleaseSupport(t *testing.T) {
 					Value: json.RawMessage(`{"version": "1.0.0+ignored", "release": "2"}`),
 				},
 				wantVersionRelease: &bundle.VersionRelease{
-					Version: bsemver.MustParse("1.0.0"), // Build metadata stripped when using explicit release
+					Version: bsemver.MustParse("1.0.0+ignored"), // Build metadata preserved - serves its proper semver purpose
 					Release: bundle.Release([]bsemver.PRVersion{
 						{VersionNum: 2, IsNum: true},
 					}),

internal/operator-controller/catalogmetadata/filter/bundle_predicates.go

@@ -54,8 +54,9 @@ func InAnyChannel(channels ...declcfg.Channel) filter.Predicate[declcfg.Bundle]
 // This is used to identify re-released bundles (e.g., 2.0.0+2 when 2.0.0+1 is installed).
 //
 // Note: The expect parameter (from installed bundle) originates from NewLegacyRegistryV1VersionRelease,
-// which clears build metadata. The actual parameter (from candidate bundle) comes from
-// GetVersionAndRelease, which may preserve build metadata when parsing explicit pkg.Release.
+// which clears build metadata because it interprets build metadata AS the release value. The actual
+// parameter (from candidate bundle) comes from GetVersionAndRelease, which preserves build metadata
+// when parsing explicit pkg.Release (since build metadata serves its proper semver purpose there).
 // This structural difference is safe: Version.Compare() ignores build metadata per semver spec,
 // so mixed-source comparison works correctly.
 func SameVersionHigherRelease(expect bundle.VersionRelease) filter.Predicate[declcfg.Bundle] {