enable deployments for experimental branches (#880)

Author: bettinaheim

.gitattributes

@@ -5,5 +5,4 @@
 # Configure what will be included in source releases
 .devcontainer export-ignore
 .github export-ignore
-.licenserc.yaml export-ignore
-docker export-ignore
+.licenserc.yaml export-ignore

.github/workflows/deployments.yml

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - 'releases/*'
+      - 'experimental/*'
 
 name: Deployments # do not change name without updating workflow_run triggers
 

.github/workflows/docker_images.yml

@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ jobs:
             echo "runner=linux-amd64-cpu16" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
             echo "build_docs=${{ inputs.build_docs != 'false' }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
             is_versioned=${{ github.ref_type == 'tag' || github.ref_name == 'main' || startsWith(github.ref_name, 'releases/') }}
-            push_to_ngc=`${{ inputs.environment && secrets.NGC_CREDENTIALS != '' }} && $is_versioned && echo true || echo`
+            is_experimental=${{ startsWith(github.ref_name, 'experimental/') }}
+            push_to_ngc=`${{ inputs.environment && secrets.NGC_CREDENTIALS != '' }} && ($is_versioned || $is_experimental) && echo true || echo`
             echo "push_to_ngc=$push_to_ngc" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           elif [ -n "$(echo ${{ inputs.platforms }} | grep -i arm)" ]; then
             platform_tag=`echo ${{ inputs.platforms }} | sed 's/linux\///g' | tr -d ' '`

.github/workflows/documentation.yml

@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ on:
       - CI
     types:
       - completed
+    branches:
+      # Don't publish documentation for experimental features;
+      # Instead edit the README in docker/release/ to describe the feature
+      # and link any additional resources.
+      - 'releases/*'
 
 name: Documentation
 

.github/workflows/prepare_deployment.yml

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ on:
     branches:
       - 'main'
       - 'releases/*'
+      - 'experimental/*'
 
 name: PR merged
 

docs/sphinx/install.rst

@@ -20,14 +20,20 @@ You should see a message "Login Succeeded".
 
 .. _NGC Container Registry: https://catalog.ngc.nvidia.com/orgs/nvidia/containers/cuda-quantum
 
-In addition to publishing stable releases, we also publish docker images whenever we update the main branch of our `GitHub repository <https://github.com/NVIDIA/cuda-quantum>`_.
+In addition to publishing stable releases, we also publish docker images whenever we update 
+certain branches of our `GitHub repository <https://github.com/NVIDIA/cuda-quantum>`_.
 These images are published in a separate location `nvidia/nightly` on NGC, as well as on GitHub.
 To download the latest version on the main branch of our GitHub repository, for example, use the command
 
 .. code-block:: console
 
     docker pull nvcr.io/nvidia/nightly/cuda-quantum:latest
 
+Early prototypes for features we are considering can be tried out by using the image tags starting 
+with `experimental`. The `README` in the `/home/cudaq` folder in the container gives more details 
+about the feature. We welcome and appreciate your feedback about these early prototypes; 
+how popular they are will help inform whether we should include them in future releases.
+
 .. _use-cuda-quantum-in-terminal:
 
 Use CUDA Quantum in a Terminal