refactor: consolidate release and publish into single workflow

- Manual Release workflow now directly publishes to PyPI after downloading CI artifacts
- No more duplicate builds - reuses artifacts from CI
- build-and-publish.yml renamed to 'CI - Build Multi-Platform Packages'
- Publishing in CI workflow only for emergency manual triggers
- Updated RELEASE.md to reflect the new streamlined process

This fixes the issue where releases would trigger redundant builds.

.github/workflows/build-and-publish.yml

@@ -1,15 +1,14 @@
-name: Build and Publish to PyPI
+name: CI - Build Multi-Platform Packages
 
 on:
-  release:
-    types: [published]
   push:
-    tags:
-      - 'v*'
+    branches: [ main ]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ main ]
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       publish:
-        description: 'Publish to PyPI'
+        description: 'Publish to PyPI (only use for emergency fixes)'
         required: true
         default: 'false'
         type: choice
@@ -221,12 +220,12 @@ jobs:
           name: leann-meta-dist
           path: packages/leann/dist/
 
-  # Publish to PyPI
+  # Publish to PyPI (only for emergency fixes or manual triggers)
   publish:
-    name: Publish to PyPI
+    name: Publish to PyPI (Emergency)
     needs: [build-core, build-hnsw, build-diskann, build-meta]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: github.event_name == 'release' || (github.event_name == 'push' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v'))
+    if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event.inputs.publish != 'false'
     
     steps:
       - name: Download all artifacts
@@ -245,7 +244,17 @@ jobs:
           echo "📦 Packages to be published:"
           ls -la all_wheels/
           
+      - name: Publish to Test PyPI
+        if: github.event.inputs.publish == 'test'
+        uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
+        with:
+          password: ${{ secrets.TEST_PYPI_API_TOKEN }}
+          repository-url: https://test.pypi.org/legacy/
+          packages-dir: all_wheels/
+          skip-existing: true
+          
       - name: Publish to PyPI
+        if: github.event.inputs.publish == 'prod'
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
         with:
           password: ${{ secrets.PYPI_API_TOKEN }}

.github/workflows/release-manual.yml

@@ -155,6 +155,34 @@ jobs:
           echo "To test installation:"
           echo "pip install -i https://test.pypi.org/simple/ leann"
       
+      - name: Publish to PyPI
+        env:
+          TWINE_USERNAME: __token__
+          TWINE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.PYPI_API_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          if [ -z "$TWINE_PASSWORD" ]; then
+            echo "❌ PYPI_API_TOKEN not configured!"
+            echo "   Please add PYPI_API_TOKEN to repository secrets"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          
+          pip install twine
+          echo "📦 Publishing to PyPI..."
+          
+          # Collect all wheels in one place
+          mkdir -p all_wheels
+          find packages/*/dist -name "*.whl" -exec cp {} all_wheels/ \;
+          find packages/*/dist -name "*.tar.gz" -exec cp {} all_wheels/ \;
+          
+          echo "📋 Packages to publish:"
+          ls -la all_wheels/
+          
+          # Upload to PyPI
+          twine upload all_wheels/* --skip-existing --verbose
+          
+          echo "✅ Published to PyPI!"
+          echo "🎉 Check packages at: https://pypi.org/project/leann/"
+      
       - name: Create and push tag
         run: |
           git tag "v${{ inputs.version }}"
@@ -187,8 +215,16 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       
-      - name: Trigger PyPI publish
+      - name: Summary
         run: |
-          echo "🚀 Triggering PyPI publish workflow..."
-          # The existing build-and-publish.yml will be triggered by the tag push
-          echo "✅ Release process completed! The publish workflow will run automatically." 
+          echo "✅ Release v${{ inputs.version }} completed!"
+          echo ""
+          echo "📊 What was done:"
+          echo "1. ✅ Downloaded build artifacts from CI"
+          echo "2. ✅ Updated version numbers to ${{ inputs.version }}"
+          echo "3. ✅ Published packages to PyPI"
+          echo "4. ✅ Created git tag v${{ inputs.version }}"
+          echo "5. ✅ Created GitHub Release"
+          echo ""
+          echo "🎉 Installation:"
+          echo "pip install leann==${{ inputs.version }}" 

docs/RELEASE.md

@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ Before releasing, ensure:
 2. ✅ CI has passed on the latest commit (check [Actions](https://github.com/yichuan-w/LEANN/actions/workflows/ci.yml))
 3. ✅ You have determined the new version number
 
+### Required: PyPI Configuration
+
+To enable PyPI publishing:
+1. Get a PyPI API token from https://pypi.org/manage/account/token/
+2. Add it to repository secrets: Settings → Secrets → Actions → New repository secret
+   - Name: `PYPI_API_TOKEN`
+   - Value: Your PyPI token (starts with `pypi-`)
+
 ### Optional: TestPyPI Configuration
 
 To enable TestPyPI testing (recommended but not required):
@@ -29,12 +37,11 @@ To enable TestPyPI testing (recommended but not required):
 6. Click "Run workflow"
 
 **What happens:**
-- ✅ Validates version format
 - ✅ Downloads pre-built packages from CI (no rebuild needed!)
 - ✅ Updates all package versions
 - ✅ Optionally tests on TestPyPI
+- ✅ **Publishes directly to PyPI**
 - ✅ Creates tag and GitHub release
-- ✅ Automatically triggers PyPI publish
 
 ### Via Command Line
 
@@ -54,7 +61,7 @@ This script will:
 1. Update all package versions
 2. Commit and push changes
 3. Create GitHub release
-4. CI automatically builds and publishes to PyPI
+4. **Manual Release workflow will automatically publish to PyPI**
 
 ⚠️ **Note**: If CI fails, you'll need to manually fix and re-tag