Update pipelines for the 7.1 branch

[paulmedynski]

Description

Update Azure DevOps pipeline branch specifications for the 7.1 release branch:

• Restrict PR, CI, schedule, and pipeline-completion triggers to release/7.1 and internal/release/7.1.
• Disable the legacy package-reference PR and GitHub CI triggers due to limited resources, matching Disable legacy package-reference pipelines on main #4647; their branch entries remain commented for easy re-enablement, while scheduled and ADO internal CI runs remain active.
• Stagger 7.1 schedules between 09:00 and 23:00 UTC to avoid trigger-time overlap with main and existing release branches.
• Update GitHub Sync source and target defaults and sanitize / as - in its generated sync branch name.
• Refresh nearby pipeline guidance and comments for the 7.1 schedule and trigger configuration.

This replaces #4689, which targeted the now-superseded release/7.1-staging branch.

There are no public API or product behavior changes.

Testing

Automatic PR validation

Pipeline	Run	Status	Expected behavior
sqlclient-pr	#175372	✅ Succeeded	Triggered for a PR targeting release/7.1
PR-SqlClient-Project	#175370	⚠️ Succeeded with issues (quarantined flaky tests)	Triggered for a PR targeting release/7.1
PR-SqlClient-Package	No run for commit 4b83c2a4d	Not triggered	Explicitly disabled with pr: none

Manually queued Public pipelines

All runs below were queued from dev/paul/release/7.1/pipelines at commit 4b83c2a4d.

Pipeline	Run	Status
CI-SqlClient	#175373	⚠️ Succeeded with issues (quarantined flaky tests)
CI-SqlClient-Package	#175374	⚠️ Succeeded with issues (quarantined flaky tests; rerun)
sqlclient-ci-package	#175375	✅ Succeeded

Manually queued ADO.Net pipelines

All runs below were queued from the mirrored dev/paul/release/7.1/pipelines branch at commit 4b83c2a4d.

Pipeline	Run	Status
MDS Main CI	#175393	⚠️ Succeeded with issues (quarantined flaky tests; rerun)
MDS Main CI-Package	#175394	⚠️ Succeeded with issues (quarantined flaky tests; stage retry)
sqlclient-ci-package	#175395	✅ Succeeded
sqlclient-official	#175432	⚠️ Succeeded with issues (ApiScan)
sqlclient-perf-pr	#175397	✅ Succeeded
GitHub ADO mirror sync	#175398	✅ Succeeded
sqlclient-ci-kerberos	#175418	✅ Succeeded (manual validation)

Automatically triggered downstream pipelines

Azure evaluates pipeline-completion trigger filters from each downstream pipeline's Default branch for manual and scheduled builds, then runs the downstream YAML from the upstream branch when both pipelines use the same repository. The current default branch for the ADO.Net downstream definitions is refs/heads/internal/main.

Project	Upstream run	Downstream pipeline	Run	Result / explanation
Public	sqlclient-ci-package #175375	sqlclient-ci-stress	No run	Pipeline definition is disabled
ADO.Net	sqlclient-ci-package #175395	sqlclient-ci-stress	No run	Pipeline definition is disabled
ADO.Net	sqlclient-ci-package #175395	sqlclient-ci-managed-instance	#175399	✅ Succeeded; triggered automatically from feature-branch commit 4b83c2a4d
ADO.Net	sqlclient-ci-package #175395	sqlclient-ci-kerberos	No automatic run; manual #175418	✅ Succeeded

The default-branch trigger-discovery gap is addressed by follow-up draft PR #4694. Release branches remain scoped to their own package completion events.

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

Pipeline documentation must be aligned with the updated defaults and disabled triggers.

Get a fresh assessment by requesting another Copilot review.

Pull request overview

Updates Azure DevOps and GitHub pipeline triggers, schedules, synchronization defaults, and guidance for the 7.1 release branch.

Changes:

• Retargets pipeline filters and schedules to release/7.1 branches.
• Disables legacy package-reference PR and GitHub triggers.
• Updates sync naming, performance defaults, and pipeline documentation.

File summaries

File	Reviewed change
eng/pipelines/sqlclient-pr-project-ref-pipeline.yml	Retargets PR validation branches.
eng/pipelines/sqlclient-pr-package-ref-pipeline.yml	Disables package-reference PR validation.
eng/pipelines/pr/sqlclient-pr-pipeline.yml	Updates PR branch filters.
eng/pipelines/perf/sqlclient-perf-pr-pipeline.yml	Changes the performance baseline default; related documentation needs alignment.
eng/pipelines/onebranch/sqlclient-official.yml	Updates the official build schedule.
eng/pipelines/github-sync-pipeline.yml	Updates sync defaults and generated branch naming.
eng/pipelines/dotnet-sqlclient-ci-project-reference-pipeline.yml	Updates CI branches and schedules.
eng/pipelines/dotnet-sqlclient-ci-package-reference-pipeline.yml	Updates package-reference CI triggers.
eng/pipelines/ci/stress/sqlclient-ci-stress-pipeline.yml	Updates completion-trigger branches.
eng/pipelines/ci/package/sqlclient-ci-package-pipeline.yml	Adds staggered schedules and separates GitHub and ADO runs.
eng/pipelines/ci/managed-instance/sqlclient-ci-managed-instance-pipeline.yml	Updates completion-trigger branches.
eng/pipelines/ci/kerberos/sqlclient-ci-kerberos-pipeline.yml	Updates completion-trigger branches.
.github/instructions/onebranch-pipeline-design.instructions.md	Refreshes official schedule guidance.
.github/instructions/ado-pipelines.instructions.md	Refreshes branch and schedule guidance; should document disabled package-reference exceptions.

Review details

Suppressed comments (1)

.github/instructions/ado-pipelines.instructions.md:80

• This blanket statement is inconsistent with the package-reference CI pipeline in this PR: its GitHub push entry remains commented out due to limited resources, while only the ADO internal branch is active. Please call out that exception (and other scheduled-only CI pipelines if applicable) so this guidance does not imply a GitHub push trigger that is intentionally disabled.

- Trigger on push to `release/7.1` (GitHub) and `internal/release/7.1` (ADO) with `batch: true`
- Scheduled daily builds are staggered to avoid main and other release-branch schedules (see individual pipeline files for cron times)

• Files reviewed: 14/14 changed files
• Comments generated: 2
• Review effort level: Lite (auto)

Note

Copilot is running an experiment and ran this review at Lite.

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[Copilot]

🔵 Needs a closer look

Broad trigger and schedule changes require human verification, and two documentation clarifications remain.

Review details

Suppressed comments (2)

.github/instructions/ado-pipelines.instructions.md:80

• This summary now says all CI pipelines push-trigger on both branches, but the legacy package-reference CI pipeline intentionally comments out its GitHub release/7.1 push entry and retains only the ADO internal branch (eng/pipelines/dotnet-sqlclient-ci-package-reference-pipeline.yml:60-66). Please document that exception here so this guidance does not imply that the disabled GitHub CI trigger is active; its GitHub scheduled run remains enabled.

- Trigger on push to `release/7.1` (GitHub) and `internal/release/7.1` (ADO) with `batch: true`

eng/pipelines/dotnet-sqlclient-ci-package-reference-pipeline.yml:25

• The GitHub CI entry is commented out below, so this new bullet does not describe the trigger behavior: only the GitHub schedule uses release/7.1, while ADO retains the push trigger. The surrounding GOTCHA/header consequently still says the pipeline is triggered by GitHub CI even though this PR disables it; distinguish the schedule from the disabled GitHub push trigger here.

#   - The GitHub registration uses the release/7.1 branch filters.

• Files reviewed: 15/15 changed files
• Comments generated: 0 new
• Review effort level: Lite (auto)

Note

Copilot is running an experiment and ran this review at Lite.

[Copilot]

🟢 Approval recommended

No unresolved review issues were identified.

Review details

• Files reviewed: 15/15 changed files
• Comments generated: 0 new
• Review effort level: Lite (auto)

Note

Copilot is running an experiment and ran this review at Lite.

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
⚠️ Please upload report for BASE (release/7.1@92f2209). Learn more about missing BASE report.

Additional details and impacted files

@@              Coverage Diff               @@
##             release/7.1    #4690   +/-   ##
==============================================
  Coverage               ?   65.27%           
==============================================
  Files                  ?      291           
  Lines                  ?    68557           
  Branches               ?        0           
==============================================
  Hits                   ?    44749           
  Misses                 ?    23808           
  Partials               ?        0           

Flag	Coverage Δ
CI-SqlClient	66.29% <ø> (?)
PR-SqlClient-Project	64.81% <ø> (?)

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[Copilot]

🔵 Needs a closer look

Unresolved documentation mismatches remain in pipeline inventories and package-reference trigger guidance.

Review details

Suppressed comments (3)

.github/instructions/ado-pipelines.instructions.md:74

• This exception describes the current pipeline incorrectly: sqlclient-pr-package-ref-pipeline.yml uses pr: none, not an empty branch include list. Please state that explicitly so maintainers know which setting to change when re-enabling PR validation.

- Exception: the legacy `sqlclient-pr-package-ref-pipeline.yml` has an empty branch include list, so it has no PR trigger and is manual-queue only

eng/pipelines/dotnet-sqlclient-ci-project-reference-pipeline.yml:70

• These trigger changes leave the repository's CI trigger inventory stale: eng/dashboards/ado.net-pipelines-ci-builds-by-branch.md still records MDS Main CI and MDS Main CI-Package on internal/main at 01:00 UTC, while these definitions now use internal/release/7.1 and the 09:00/17:00 and 11:00/19:00 schedules. Please update the dashboard entries so operators do not follow the old branch and times.

  - cron: '0 9 * * *'

eng/pipelines/onebranch/sqlclient-official.yml:20

• The official schedule now runs daily at 23:00 UTC from internal/release/7.1, but eng/dashboards/ado.net-pipelines-official-builds.md still lists this pipeline on internal/main with the old Mon-Fri/Sunday times. Update that inventory along with this trigger so the documented official build path matches the YAML.

  - cron: "0 23 * * *"
    displayName: 7.1 Daily Official Build (23:00 UTC)
    branches:
      include:
        - internal/release/7.1

• Files reviewed: 15/15 changed files
• Comments generated: 0 new
• Review effort level: Lite (auto)

Note

Copilot is running an experiment and ran this review at Lite.