Tag release pipelines without a 400-line GitHub Actions workflow

You push v1.2.3 and expect a predictable sequence: tests pass → version is resolved → GitHub Release is created . In practice, teams usually pick one of two painful options: One giant workflow — every stage in a single YAML file. It works until you need reuse, workflow_call , or different triggers per stage. workflow_run chains — workflow A triggers workflow B. Passing outputs between runs is awkward, and renaming a workflow breaks the chain silently. There is a middle path: keep small, focused stage workflows (the ones you already have), declare order and wiring in one pipeline file , and use a single orchestrator step on tag push. This tutorial uses pipeline-compose-run — available on the GitHub Marketplace — and a copy-paste example you can drop into any repo. Full example (copy .github/ ): examples/run-tag-release What we are building On git push origin v* : release.yml ← one job, one action step └─ pipeline.yml ← declares order + wiring ├─ ci.yml ├─ stage-version-sync.yml → exports version └─ stage-release-publish.yml ← receives version No generated workflow to commit. No manual workflow_run graph. Step 1 — Entry workflow Create .github/workflows/release.yml : name : Release on : push : tags : [ " v*" ] permissions : contents : write actions : write jobs : run-pipeline : runs-on : ubuntu-latest steps : - uses : actions/checkout@v6 - uses : aeswibon/pipeline-compose-run@v0.3.0 with : pipeline_file : .github/pipelines/pipeline.yml github_token : ${{ github.token }} The actions: write permission is required because the action dispatches your stage workflows via workflow_dispatch . Step 2 — Pipeline file (order only) Create .github/pipelines/pipeline.yml : name : pipeline version : 1 stages : - id : ci workflow : .github/workflows/ci.yml - id : version-sync workflow : .github/workflows/stage-version-sync.yml needs : - ci outputs : - version - id : release-publish workflow : .github/workflows/stage-release-publish.yml needs : - version-sync inputs : version : ${{ co