feat(date-util, workflows): default calendar comparisons to UTC and added release drafter and npm publish flow

.github/release-drafter.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+categories:
+  - title: 'Features'
+    labels:
+      - feat
+      - add
+      - feature
+      - enhancement
+  - title: 'Fixes'
+    labels:
+      - fix
+      - bug
+      - bugfix
+  - title: 'Performance'
+    labels:
+      - perf
+  - title: 'Refactors & Cleanup'
+    labels:
+      - ref
+      - cln
+      - mov
+      - rem
+      - rev
+  - title: 'Maintenance'
+    labels:
+      - chore
+      - lint
+      - merge
+      - ci
+      - build
+      - test
+      - docs
+      - deps
+      - dependencies
+change-template: '- $TITLE @$AUTHOR (#$NUMBER)'
+change-title-escapes: '\<*_&'
+exclude-labels:
+  - skip-changelog
+template: |
+  ## Summary
+
+  $CHANGES
+
+  ## Contributors
+
+  $CONTRIBUTORS

.github/workflows/draft-or-update-next-release.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+name: Draft Or Update Next Release
+
+concurrency: draft_or_update_next_release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: read
+
+jobs:
+  prepare-release:
+    name: Draft Or Update Next Release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Capture package version
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          PACKAGE_VERSION=$(node -p 'require("./package.json").version')
+          echo "PACKAGE_VERSION=$PACKAGE_VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+      - name: Update release draft
+        uses: release-drafter/release-drafter@v6
+        with:
+          name: v${{ env.PACKAGE_VERSION }}
+          tag: v${{ env.PACKAGE_VERSION }}
+          version: ${{ env.PACKAGE_VERSION }}
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

.github/workflows/publish.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+name: Release
+
+on:
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  id-token: write
+
+jobs:
+  publish:
+    name: Publish To npm
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: 22
+          registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org
+          cache: npm
+
+      - name: Capture release metadata
+        run: |
+          echo "RELEASE_VERSION=${GITHUB_REF#refs/*/}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "RELEASE_NPM_TAG=${{ github.event.release.prerelease && 'alpha' || 'latest' }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Verify release tag matches package version
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          PACKAGE_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
+          EXPECTED_TAG="v${PACKAGE_VERSION}"
+
+          if [ "$RELEASE_VERSION" != "$EXPECTED_TAG" ]; then
+            echo "Release tag ${RELEASE_VERSION} does not match package.json version ${PACKAGE_VERSION}."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: Run tests
+        run: npm test
+
+      - name: Build package
+        run: npm run build
+
+      - name: Skip publish if version already exists
+        id: version_check
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          PACKAGE_NAME=$(node -p "require('./package.json').name")
+          PACKAGE_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
+
+          if npm view "${PACKAGE_NAME}@${PACKAGE_VERSION}" version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "already_published=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "already_published=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Publish to npm
+        if: steps.version_check.outputs.already_published == 'false'
+        run: npm publish --access public --tag $RELEASE_NPM_TAG --provenance
+        env:
+          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

.github/workflows/pull-request.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+name: Pull Request
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [opened, reopened, synchronize]
+
+jobs:
+  validate:
+    name: Validate
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
+
+      - name: Set up Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: 22
+          cache: npm
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: Run tests
+        run: npm test
+
+      - name: Build package
+        run: npm run build

README.md

@@ -1,8 +1,33 @@
 # core
-Foundational Node.js library built with TypeScript used across Quicko
 
-## 📦 Installation
+Foundational Node.js library built with TypeScript used across Quicko.
+
+## Installation
 
 ```bash
 npm install @org-quicko/core
-```
+```
+
+## Release Flow
+
+This repository uses GitHub Actions to separate pull request validation, release drafting, and npm publishing.
+
+- Pull requests run install, date util tests, and build validation.
+- Pushes to `main` update the next draft release using Release Drafter.
+- Publishing happens only when a GitHub release is published.
+- PR titles are used directly in the drafted release notes, so keep them clear and specific.
+- PR labels influence both release note grouping and version bump resolution.
+
+### Publishing A New Version
+
+1. Update the version in `package.json`.
+2. Merge the change into `main`.
+3. Review the drafted GitHub release.
+4. Publish the release with a tag that matches the package version, for example `v2.0.4`.
+
+When the release is published, GitHub Actions will:
+
+- verify the release tag matches `package.json`
+- run install, tests, and build
+- skip publish if that version already exists on npm
+- publish the package to npm using the configured `NPM_TOKEN`