Cherry-pick PRs to a Release Branch

Cherry-pick all merged main PRs labeled cherry-pick-<version> (but not cherry-pick-done) into the corresponding release/<version> branch, one by one in merge order.

Step 1 — Identify the target version

Ask the user for the release version (e.g. 0.44.0) and target release candidate (e.g. rc2) if not already provided. Confirm whether this is the final RC.

Set VERSION=<version> for use in subsequent steps.

Step 2 — Audit candidates for missing labels

Before fetching the labeled queue, audit for missing bug fixes:

• Non-final RC: audit release NVBugs and recent merged PRs.
• Final RC: audit only fixes tied to NVBugs with the exact keyword Committed_ModelOpt_<VERSION> and QA-verification evidence for the fix. Verify that evidence in the NVBug or linked QA results before recommending Needs label; if missing or unclear, classify as Unknown and ask for confirmation. Skip the general recent-PR audit; do not introduce general bug-fix PRs or fixes tied only to NVBugs committed for another release.

Audit release NVBugs

Use the NVBugs MCP to search for every NVBug whose Keywords field contains the exact keyword Committed_ModelOpt_<VERSION>. Follow pagination until no next token is returned.

Fetch each matching NVBug with its comments. Extract every Model-Optimizer PR link or unambiguous PR #<NUM> reference from the comments, not only the latest comment. Keep only PRs that are merged into main, lack cherry-pick-<VERSION>, and are not already included in the release branch. Verify each remaining PR is a bug fix. The NVBug keyword is evidence for review, not by itself proof that every linked PR should be picked.

Audit recent merged PRs

For non-final RCs only: Audit PRs merged into main since the latest release candidate. Exclude PRs that already have cherry-pick-<VERSION> and changes already present on the release branch:

git fetch origin main "release/$VERSION" --tags
RC_TAG=$(git tag --merged "origin/release/$VERSION" \
  --list "${VERSION}rc*" --sort=-version:refname | head -1)
test -n "$RC_TAG" || {
  echo "No ${VERSION}rc* tag found on origin/release/$VERSION" >&2
  exit 1
}
SINCE=$(git for-each-ref --format='%(creatordate:iso-strict)' \
  "refs/tags/$RC_TAG")

PATCH_STATUS=$(git cherry "origin/release/$VERSION" origin/main)

SEARCH_RESULTS=$(
  gh search prs \
    --repo NVIDIA/Model-Optimizer \
    --merged \
    --base main \
    --merged-at ">=$SINCE" \
    --limit 1000 \
    --json number,title,author,labels,url \
    -- "-label:cherry-pick-$VERSION"
)

if test "$(jq 'length' <<<"$SEARCH_RESULTS")" -ge 1000; then
  echo "Recent-PR audit reached the 1,000-result limit" >&2
  exit 1
fi

jq -r '.[].number' <<<"$SEARCH_RESULTS" \
  | while read -r pr; do
      sha=$(gh pr view "$pr" --repo NVIDIA/Model-Optimizer \
        --json mergeCommit --jq '.mergeCommit.oid')
      if grep -q "^+ $sha$" <<<"$PATCH_STATUS"; then
        gh pr view "$pr" --repo NVIDIA/Model-Optimizer \
          --json number,title,author,labels,url
      fi
    done

A release is not normally expected to reach the 1,000-PR limit.

Review each PR's title, body, labels, changed files, and linked issue context. Classify it as:

• Yes — repairs incorrect behavior, a regression, crash, compatibility problem, or documentation defect relevant to the release.
• No — feature, refactor, cleanup, dependency refresh, or other change not needed to correct the release.
• Unclear — insufficient evidence or meaningful backport risk; ask the user.

Deduplicate PRs found through both audits.

Report and label

Present the complete audit before changing GitHub labels:

Use these recommendation values and sort the table in this order:

1. Needs label — confirmed release-relevant bug fix.
2. Unknown — requires user judgment.
3. No action needed — not a release-relevant bug fix.

Use — when no NVBug is known. Also list NVBugs with no linked PR. Ask the user to confirm which recommended PRs should receive the missing label. After confirmation, apply it:

for pr in <APPROVED_NUMBERS>; do
  gh pr edit "$pr" --repo NVIDIA/Model-Optimizer --add-label "cherry-pick-$VERSION"
done

Do not label unmerged PRs, PRs not based on main, or candidates classified Unclear without explicit approval. Re-run the audit table after edits so it reflects the final label state.

Step 3 — Fetch pending PRs

Use the GitHub search API to list PRs that have the cherry-pick label but not cherry-pick-done, sorted by merge date ascending:

gh api "search/issues?q=repo:NVIDIA/Model-Optimizer+is:pr+is:merged+base:main+label:cherry-pick-<VERSION>+-label:cherry-pick-done&sort=updated&order=asc&per_page=50" \
  --jq '.items[] | [.number, .title, .pull_request.merged_at] | @tsv' \
  | sort -t$'\t' -k3

Present the list to the user before proceeding.

Step 4 — Set up the release branch

Check out release/<VERSION>, creating it from the remote if it doesn't exist locally:

git fetch origin release/<VERSION>
git checkout release/<VERSION>

Step 5 — Get merge commit SHAs

All PRs are squash-merged, so each has a single-parent commit. Retrieve the SHA for each PR:

gh pr view <NUM> --repo NVIDIA/Model-Optimizer --json mergeCommit --jq '.mergeCommit.oid'

Step 6 — Cherry-pick in merge order

Cherry-pick each commit with -s (DCO sign-off). GPG signing is handled automatically by the repo's git config.

git cherry-pick -s <SHA>

On conflict: Tell the user which PR caused the conflict and ask them to fix it, then continue:

git cherry-pick --continue

Step 7 — Create a PR to the release branch

Push the cherry-picks to a new branch and open a PR targeting release/<VERSION>. The PR title lists every cherry-picked PR number. The body uses ## Cherry-picked PRs as the only heading with one - #<NUM> bullet per PR — no titles, no links, no extra text.

git checkout -B cherry-picks/release-<VERSION>
git push -u origin cherry-picks/release-<VERSION>

gh pr create \
  --title "[Cherry-pick] PRs #<NUM1> #<NUM2> ..." \
  --base release/<VERSION> \
  --head cherry-picks/release-<VERSION> \
  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Cherry-picked PRs

- #<NUM1>
- #<NUM2>
...
EOF
)"

Step 8 — Apply cherry-pick-done label

Add the cherry-pick-done label to every PR that was successfully cherry-picked:

for pr in <NUM1> <NUM2> ...; do
  gh pr edit $pr --repo NVIDIA/Model-Optimizer --add-label "cherry-pick-done"
done