Add GitHub workflow to publish samples using latest NuGet version

[Copilot]

• Add .github/workflows/samples.yml with push/PR/release/workflow_dispatch triggers
• Path filters include both samples/** and .github/workflows/samples.yml
• Dry-run mode: always clones/inits branch, rsyncs, git add, git commit --allow-empty — only skips git push; shows git show --stat HEAD to confirm what would have been pushed

Original prompt

I have a cake target sample that creates a zip of the samples in the repo. I want to create a new GitHub workflow that will run if anything in the samples dir is changed and run the cake target, but it must lt use the version number of the latest nuget preview or stable. The cake target basically removes the project references and replaces it with nuget references. Can you open a PR with a workflow that will basically push these samples to a new branch.

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[mattleibow]

@copilot i wa to always commit to the same samples branch. Also, can you add a parameter to pick the git sha for the sample to use. Also also I want to trigger on a release. Don't force push, just add a new commit.

[Copilot]

@copilot i wa to always commit to the same samples branch. Also, can you add a parameter to pick the git sha for the sample to use. Also also I want to trigger on a release. Don't force push, just add...

Done in caadc2e. Here's what changed:

• Fixed branch — always pushes to samples instead of a versioned branch
• sha input — added to workflow_dispatch; the checkout step uses ref: ${{ inputs.sha || github.sha }}
• Release trigger — added release: [published]
• No force push — the publish step now clones the existing samples branch (or inits a new one), rsyncs the generated output over it, and pushes a regular commit, preserving history

[mattleibow]

@copilot please add a dry run support if triggers by PR so we can test. Do everything except the push.

[Copilot]

@copilot please add a dry run support if triggers by PR so we can test. Do everything except the push.

Done in 990137c. Two ways to trigger a dry run:

1. Open a PR that touches samples/** — the new pull_request trigger fires automatically and the publish step skips the push, listing all generated files instead.
2. workflow_dispatch — a new dry_run boolean input lets you run manually without pushing.

In both cases everything up to and including dotnet cake --target=samples-generate executes normally; only the final git push is skipped.

[mattleibow]

@copilot we also need to run this if a PR touches this workflow file. Same with a push. If this file or a sample changes

[Copilot]

@copilot we also need to run this if a PR touches this workflow file. Same with a push. If this file or a sample changes

Done in 0086bd7. Both push and pull_request triggers now include .github/workflows/samples.yml in their path filters alongside samples/**.