Merge pull request 'release: offline mode + local pass-and-play (hotseat) — proposed v1.12.0' (#212) from development into master

.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml

@@ -316,13 +316,9 @@ jobs:
     # Auto test-deploy on a PR into development and on the push that merges it.
     # A PR into master is test-only (this job is skipped); prod deploy is manual.
     # Gates on `gate` (so a real test failure blocks the deploy) but runs even when
-    # some test jobs were path-skipped. Skipped entirely when neither the Go nor the
-    # UI side changed (e.g. a docs-only change): the contour image is unchanged, so
-    # there is nothing to redeploy. `changes` still defaults both to true when the
-    # diff is uncomputable, and a workflow/deploy edit forces both true, so an
-    # ambiguous or infra change still deploys as a safety net.
-    needs: [changes, gate]
-    if: ${{ (needs.changes.outputs.go == 'true' || needs.changes.outputs.ui == 'true') && ((github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/development') || (github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.base_ref == 'development')) }}
+    # some test jobs were path-skipped.
+    needs: [gate]
+    if: ${{ (github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/development') || (github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.base_ref == 'development') }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     defaults:
       run: