[v2.6.0] Sync release-v2.6.0 to main

[shubhadeepd]

Summary

This draft PR prepares release-v2.6.0 for merge into main while avoiding a regular merge-conflict-heavy integration path.

The branch was created from the current origin/main, then the origin/release-v2.6.0 tree was applied. After that, I reconciled changes that existed only on main and restored the ones that were still relevant and not superseded by release work.

The PR branch has now been refreshed with the latest origin/release-v2.6.0 at 51d5caf.

Current Branch State

• PR branch: codex/release-v2.6.0-to-main-20260530
• Target branch: main
• Main baseline: origin/main at 6fd878a
• Latest release baseline included: origin/release-v2.6.0 at 51d5caf
• Current PR head: bcc33e4

Sync Strategy

1. Started from latest origin/main.
2. Applied the origin/release-v2.6.0 release tree onto the branch.
3. Compared main-only commits and file contents against release-v2.6.0.
4. Restored verified main-only changes that were still valid.
5. Left out only changes that appeared superseded by release-v2.6.0 replacements.
6. Kept release image paths on staging repos, per release-owner direction.
7. Refreshed the branch with the newest release commits from origin/release-v2.6.0.

Commits In This PR

• e32abe9 - chore: prepare release-v2.6.0 sync to main
  • Applies the release-v2.6.0 tree onto main.
  • Restores selected main-only changes after content review.
• 8a6d690 - chore: keep release image paths staged
  • Reverts deployment image paths back to nvcr.io/nvstaging/blueprint/....
  • This is intentional because the release branch is expected to update public paths separately.
• 20c877d - Helm: expose podAnnotations on all NIMService templates (#658)
  • Refreshes the PR branch with release commit b1ea5e8.
• bcc33e4 - fix: move vlm reranker host port (#656)
  • Refreshes the PR branch with release commit 51d5caf.

Main-Only Changes Preserved

CI and automation

• Preserved .github/workflows/request-nvskills-ci.yml.
• Preserved the CVE workflow rolling compare marker behavior in .github/workflows/cve-create-pr.yml.

Examples

• Preserved the Google Cloud NetApp Volumes data ingestor example under examples/google-cloud-netapp-volumes-data-ingestor/.
• Restored the corresponding entry in examples/README.md.

Documentation and release history

• Preserved performance benchmark result documentation and assets:
  • docs/perf-benchmarks.md
  • docs/assets/perf-benchmarks/*.png
• Restored the performance benchmark link and toctree entry in docs/index.md.
• Preserved docs multiversion support scripts:
  • docs/scripts/build_multiversion_docs.*
  • docs/scripts/verify_doc_version_manifest.py
• Preserved version history in docs/versions1.json while keeping 2.6.0 as the current preferred version.
• Preserved the 2.5.1 release note section in docs/release-notes.md while keeping the 2.6.0 release notes at the top.
• Preserved small documentation corrections:
  • Vidore-V3 naming in accuracy benchmark docs.
  • Brev URL correction in notebook docs.

Deployment helpers

• Preserved standalone Nemotron 3 Super helper files from main:
  • deploy/compose/nemotron3-super.env
  • deploy/compose/nemotron3-super-cloud.env
  • deploy/compose/nemotron3-super-prompt.yaml
  • deploy/helm/nvidia-blueprint-rag/nemotron3-super-values.yaml
  • deploy/helm/nvidia-blueprint-rag/nemotron3-super-rtx6000-values.yaml

Image Path Decision

Deployment image paths are intentionally kept on staging repositories for now:

• nvcr.io/nvstaging/blueprint/ingestor-server
• nvcr.io/nvstaging/blueprint/rag-server
• nvcr.io/nvstaging/blueprint/rag-frontend

This matches the current release-v2.6.0 branch state. The release branch is expected to receive a separate update that moves these paths to the public nvcr.io/nvidia/blueprint/... repositories.

Files checked for this decision:

• deploy/compose/docker-compose-ingestor-server.yaml
• deploy/compose/docker-compose-rag-server.yaml
• deploy/workbench/compose.yaml
• deploy/helm/nvidia-blueprint-rag/values.yaml

Main-Only Changes Not Restored

These were reviewed and left out because release-v2.6.0 appears to replace them with newer implementations:

• docs/vlm-embed.md
  • Not restored because release-v2.6.0 introduces docs/multimodal-retriever.md as the replacement documentation path.
• src/nvidia_rag/utils/minio_operator.py
  • Not restored because release-v2.6.0 moves object storage handling to src/nvidia_rag/utils/object_store.py and the newer SeaweedFS/object-store configuration.

Validation Performed

• git diff --check origin/main..HEAD
  • Passed.
• python3 docs/scripts/verify_doc_version_manifest.py
  • Passed.
  • Confirmed docs project/version metadata for 2.6.0.
• Conflict marker scan with rg.
  • No unresolved conflict markers found.
• Image path scan across deployment files.
  • Confirmed staging paths are present where expected.
• Diff check against latest origin/release-v2.6.0.
  • Remaining differences are the intentional preserved main-only overlays and small cleanup needed for diff hygiene.

Reviewer Notes

Please pay particular attention to:

• Whether the preserved main-only CI workflows should remain in main after the release sync.
• Whether the Google Cloud NetApp Volumes example should ship with the final main state.
• Whether the preserved Nemotron 3 Super helper files are still desired alongside release-v2.6.0 deployment docs.
• Whether the two intentionally omitted files are correctly superseded:
  • docs/vlm-embed.md
  • src/nvidia_rag/utils/minio_operator.py
• Whether the staging image paths should remain until the release branch receives the planned public-path update.

Operational Note

This PR is intentionally draft. Copy-pr-bot reported that auto-sync is disabled for draft PRs in this repository, so workflows may need to be run manually.

[copy-pr-bot]

Auto-sync is disabled for draft pull requests in this repository. Workflows must be run manually.

Contributors can view more details about this message here.