[CI] Reorganize release pipeline: separate nightly vs release sections

Reorder the pipeline into clear sections for readability:

1. Build Python Wheels (always runs)
2. ROCm Wheel Pipeline (always runs)
3. Nightly Docker Images (NIGHTLY=1 only) - CUDA/Ubuntu builds,
   multi-arch manifests, DockerHub publish, ROCm image + publish
4. Release (manual) - version input, PyPI upload, CPU image builds,
   ROCm root index

Key changes:
- Extract CPU image builds (manual/blocked) from nightly-gated group
  into their own "Build release CPU Docker images" group so they remain
  available for actual releases without NIGHTLY=1
- Move ROCm wheel jobs (1-4) up next to CUDA wheel builds
- Remove redundant per-step NIGHTLY gates inside already-gated groups
- Rename groups: "Build release Docker images" -> "Build nightly Docker
  images", "Publish release images" -> "Publish nightly images"

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

.buildkite/release-pipeline.yaml

@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 steps:
-  - input: "Provide Release version here"
+  # =============================================================================
-    id: input-release-version
+  # Build Python Wheels (runs on every pipeline trigger)
-    fields:
+  # =============================================================================
-      - text: "What is the release version?"
-        key: release-version
 
   - group: "Build Python wheels"
     key: "build-wheels"
@@ -98,261 +96,8 @@ steps:
     commands:
       - "bash .buildkite/scripts/generate-and-upload-nightly-index.sh"
 
-  - group: "Build release Docker images"
-    key: "build-release-images"
-    steps:
-      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CUDA 12.9"
-        depends_on: ~
-        id: build-release-image-x86
-        agents:
-          queue: cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m) --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)"
-          # re-tag to default image tag and push, just in case arm64 build fails
-          - "docker tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m) public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT"
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT"
-
-      - label: "Build release image - aarch64 - CUDA 12.9"
-        depends_on: ~
-        id: build-release-image-arm64
-        agents:
-          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m) --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)"
-
-      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CUDA 13.0"
-        depends_on: ~
-        id: build-release-image-x86-cuda-13-0
-        agents:
-          queue: cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=13.0.1 --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:13.0.1-devel-ubuntu22.04 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130"
-          # re-tag to default image tag and push, just in case arm64 build fails
-          - "docker tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130"
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130"
-
-      - label: "Build release image - aarch64 - CUDA 13.0"
-        depends_on: ~
-        id: build-release-image-arm64-cuda-13-0
-        agents:
-          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          # compute capability 12.0 for RTX-50 series / RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, 12.1 for DGX Spark
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=13.0.1 --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0 12.1' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:13.0.1-devel-ubuntu22.04 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130"
-
-      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CUDA 12.9 - Ubuntu 24.04"
-        depends_on: ~
-        id: build-release-image-x86-ubuntu2404
-        agents:
-          queue: cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg UBUNTU_VERSION=24.04 --build-arg GDRCOPY_OS_VERSION=Ubuntu24_04 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404"
-          - "docker tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-ubuntu2404"
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-ubuntu2404"
-
-      - label: "Build release image - aarch64 - CUDA 12.9 - Ubuntu 24.04"
-        depends_on: ~
-        id: build-release-image-arm64-ubuntu2404
-        agents:
-          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg UBUNTU_VERSION=24.04 --build-arg GDRCOPY_OS_VERSION=Ubuntu24_04 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404"
-
-      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CUDA 13.0 - Ubuntu 24.04"
-        depends_on: ~
-        id: build-release-image-x86-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
-        agents:
-          queue: cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=13.0.1 --build-arg UBUNTU_VERSION=24.04 --build-arg GDRCOPY_OS_VERSION=Ubuntu24_04 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0 12.1' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:13.0.1-devel-ubuntu24.04 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404"
-          - "docker tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404"
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404"
-
-      - label: "Build release image - aarch64 - CUDA 13.0 - Ubuntu 24.04"
-        depends_on: ~
-        id: build-release-image-arm64-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
-        agents:
-          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=13.0.1 --build-arg UBUNTU_VERSION=24.04 --build-arg GDRCOPY_OS_VERSION=Ubuntu24_04 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0 12.1' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:13.0.1-devel-ubuntu24.04 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404"
-
-      - block: "Build release image for x86_64 CPU"
-        key: block-cpu-release-image-build
-        depends_on: ~
-
-      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CPU"
-        depends_on:
-          - block-cpu-release-image-build
-          - input-release-version
-        agents:
-          queue: cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg VLLM_CPU_X86=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:$(buildkite-agent meta-data get release-version) --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:latest --progress plain --target vllm-openai -f docker/Dockerfile.cpu ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:latest"
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:$(buildkite-agent meta-data get release-version)"
-        env:
-          DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
-
-      - block: "Build release image for arm64 CPU"
-        key: block-arm64-cpu-release-image-build
-        depends_on: ~
-
-      - label: "Build release image - arm64 - CPU"
-        depends_on: 
-          - block-arm64-cpu-release-image-build
-          - input-release-version
-        agents:
-          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:$(buildkite-agent meta-data get release-version) --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:latest --progress plain --target vllm-openai -f docker/Dockerfile.cpu ."
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:latest"
-          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:$(buildkite-agent meta-data get release-version)"
-        env:
-          DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
-
-  - group: "Publish release images"
-    key: "publish-release-images"
-    steps:
-      - label: "Create multi-arch manifest - CUDA 12.9"
-        depends_on:
-          - build-release-image-x86
-          - build-release-image-arm64
-        id: create-multi-arch-manifest
-        agents:
-          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "docker manifest create public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-x86_64 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-aarch64 --amend"
-          - "docker manifest push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT"
-
-      - label: "Annotate release workflow - CUDA 12.9"
-        depends_on:
-          - create-multi-arch-manifest
-        id: annotate-release-workflow
-        agents:
-          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/annotate-release.sh"
-
-      - label: "Create multi-arch manifest - CUDA 13.0"
-        depends_on:
-          - build-release-image-x86-cuda-13-0
-          - build-release-image-arm64-cuda-13-0
-        id: create-multi-arch-manifest-cuda-13-0
-        agents:
-          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "docker manifest create public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-x86_64-cu130 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-aarch64-cu130 --amend"
-          - "docker manifest push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130"
-
-      - label: "Create multi-arch manifest - CUDA 12.9 - Ubuntu 24.04"
-        depends_on:
-          - build-release-image-x86-ubuntu2404
-          - build-release-image-arm64-ubuntu2404
-        id: create-multi-arch-manifest-ubuntu2404
-        agents:
-          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "docker manifest create public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-x86_64-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-aarch64-ubuntu2404 --amend"
-          - "docker manifest push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-ubuntu2404"
-
-      - label: "Create multi-arch manifest - CUDA 13.0 - Ubuntu 24.04"
-        depends_on:
-          - build-release-image-x86-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
-          - build-release-image-arm64-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
-        id: create-multi-arch-manifest-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
-        agents:
-          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-          - "docker manifest create public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-x86_64-cu130-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-aarch64-cu130-ubuntu2404 --amend"
-          - "docker manifest push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404"
-
-      - label: "Publish nightly multi-arch image to DockerHub"
-        depends_on:
-          - create-multi-arch-manifest
-        if: build.env("NIGHTLY") == "1"
-        agents:
-          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/push-nightly-builds.sh"
-          # Clean up old nightly builds (keep only last 14)
-          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/cleanup-nightly-builds.sh"
-        plugins:
-          - docker-login#v3.0.0:
-              username: vllmbot
-              password-env: DOCKERHUB_TOKEN
-        env:
-          DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
-          DOCKERHUB_USERNAME: "vllmbot"
-
-      - label: "Publish nightly multi-arch image to DockerHub - CUDA 13.0"
-        depends_on:
-          - create-multi-arch-manifest-cuda-13-0
-        if: build.env("NIGHTLY") == "1"
-        agents:
-          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/push-nightly-builds.sh cu130"
-          # Clean up old nightly builds (keep only last 14)
-          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/cleanup-nightly-builds.sh cu130-nightly-"
-        plugins:
-          - docker-login#v3.0.0:
-              username: vllmbot
-              password-env: DOCKERHUB_TOKEN
-        env:
-          DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
-          DOCKERHUB_USERNAME: "vllmbot"
-
-  - group: "Publish wheels"
-    key: "publish-wheels"
-    steps:
-      - block: "Confirm update release wheels to PyPI (experimental, use with caution)?"
-        key: block-upload-release-wheels
-        depends_on:
-          - input-release-version
-          - build-wheels
-
-      - label: "Upload release wheels to PyPI"
-        depends_on:
-          - block-upload-release-wheels
-        id: upload-release-wheels
-        agents:
-          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
-        commands:
-          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/upload-release-wheels-pypi.sh"
-
   # =============================================================================
-  # ROCm Release Pipeline (x86_64 only)
+  # ROCm Wheel Pipeline (runs on every pipeline trigger)
-  # =============================================================================
-  #
-  # vLLM version is determined by the Buildkite checkout (like CUDA pipeline).
-  # To build a specific version, trigger the build from that branch/tag.
-  #
-  # Environment variables for ROCm builds (set via Buildkite UI or schedule):
-  #
-  # Note: ROCm version is determined by BASE_IMAGE in docker/Dockerfile.rocm_base
-  #
   # =============================================================================
 
   # ROCm Job 1: Build ROCm Base Wheels (with S3 caching)
@@ -595,27 +340,204 @@ steps:
     env:
       S3_BUCKET: "vllm-wheels"
 
-  # ROCm Job 5: Generate Root Index for ROCm Wheels (for release only)
+  # =============================================================================
-  # This is the job to create https://wheels.vllm.ai/rocm/ index allowing
+  # Nightly: Build & Publish Docker Images (NIGHTLY=1 only)
-  # users to install with `uv pip install vllm --extra-index-url https://wheels.vllm.ai/rocm/`
+  # =============================================================================
-  - block: "Generate Root Index for ROCm Wheels for Release"
-    key: block-generate-root-index-rocm-wheels
-    depends_on: upload-rocm-wheels
 
-  - label: ":package: Generate Root Index for ROCm Wheels for Release"
+  - group: "Build nightly Docker images"
-    depends_on: block-generate-root-index-rocm-wheels
+    key: "build-release-images"
-    id: generate-root-index-rocm-wheels
+    if: build.env("NIGHTLY") == "1"
-    agents:
+    steps:
-      queue: cpu_queue_release
+      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CUDA 12.9"
-    commands:
+        depends_on: ~
-      - "bash tools/vllm-rocm/generate-rocm-wheels-root-index.sh"
+        id: build-release-image-x86
-    env:
+        agents:
-      S3_BUCKET: "vllm-wheels"
+          queue: cpu_queue_release
-      VARIANT: "rocm721"
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m) --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)"
+          # re-tag to default image tag and push, just in case arm64 build fails
+          - "docker tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m) public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT"
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT"
 
-  # ROCm Job 6: Build ROCm Release Docker Image
+      - label: "Build release image - aarch64 - CUDA 12.9"
+        depends_on: ~
+        id: build-release-image-arm64
+        agents:
+          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m) --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)"
+
+      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CUDA 13.0"
+        depends_on: ~
+        id: build-release-image-x86-cuda-13-0
+        agents:
+          queue: cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=13.0.1 --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:13.0.1-devel-ubuntu22.04 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130"
+          # re-tag to default image tag and push, just in case arm64 build fails
+          - "docker tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130"
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130"
+
+      - label: "Build release image - aarch64 - CUDA 13.0"
+        depends_on: ~
+        id: build-release-image-arm64-cuda-13-0
+        agents:
+          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          # compute capability 12.0 for RTX-50 series / RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, 12.1 for DGX Spark
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=13.0.1 --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0 12.1' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:13.0.1-devel-ubuntu22.04 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130"
+
+      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CUDA 12.9 - Ubuntu 24.04"
+        depends_on: ~
+        id: build-release-image-x86-ubuntu2404
+        agents:
+          queue: cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg UBUNTU_VERSION=24.04 --build-arg GDRCOPY_OS_VERSION=Ubuntu24_04 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404"
+          - "docker tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-ubuntu2404"
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-ubuntu2404"
+
+      - label: "Build release image - aarch64 - CUDA 12.9 - Ubuntu 24.04"
+        depends_on: ~
+        id: build-release-image-arm64-ubuntu2404
+        agents:
+          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg UBUNTU_VERSION=24.04 --build-arg GDRCOPY_OS_VERSION=Ubuntu24_04 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-ubuntu2404"
+
+      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CUDA 13.0 - Ubuntu 24.04"
+        depends_on: ~
+        id: build-release-image-x86-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
+        agents:
+          queue: cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=13.0.1 --build-arg UBUNTU_VERSION=24.04 --build-arg GDRCOPY_OS_VERSION=Ubuntu24_04 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0 12.1' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:13.0.1-devel-ubuntu24.04 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404"
+          - "docker tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404"
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404"
+
+      - label: "Build release image - aarch64 - CUDA 13.0 - Ubuntu 24.04"
+        depends_on: ~
+        id: build-release-image-arm64-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
+        agents:
+          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=13.0.1 --build-arg UBUNTU_VERSION=24.04 --build-arg GDRCOPY_OS_VERSION=Ubuntu24_04 --build-arg FLASHINFER_AOT_COMPILE=true --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 8.9 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0 12.1' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:13.0.1-devel-ubuntu24.04 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404 --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)-cu130-ubuntu2404"
+
+  - group: "Publish nightly images"
+    key: "publish-release-images"
+    if: build.env("NIGHTLY") == "1"
+    steps:
+      - label: "Create multi-arch manifest - CUDA 12.9"
+        depends_on:
+          - build-release-image-x86
+          - build-release-image-arm64
+        id: create-multi-arch-manifest
+        agents:
+          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "docker manifest create public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-x86_64 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-aarch64 --amend"
+          - "docker manifest push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT"
+
+      - label: "Annotate release workflow - CUDA 12.9"
+        depends_on:
+          - create-multi-arch-manifest
+        id: annotate-release-workflow
+        agents:
+          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/annotate-release.sh"
+
+      - label: "Create multi-arch manifest - CUDA 13.0"
+        depends_on:
+          - build-release-image-x86-cuda-13-0
+          - build-release-image-arm64-cuda-13-0
+        id: create-multi-arch-manifest-cuda-13-0
+        agents:
+          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "docker manifest create public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-x86_64-cu130 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-aarch64-cu130 --amend"
+          - "docker manifest push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130"
+
+      - label: "Create multi-arch manifest - CUDA 12.9 - Ubuntu 24.04"
+        depends_on:
+          - build-release-image-x86-ubuntu2404
+          - build-release-image-arm64-ubuntu2404
+        id: create-multi-arch-manifest-ubuntu2404
+        agents:
+          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "docker manifest create public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-x86_64-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-aarch64-ubuntu2404 --amend"
+          - "docker manifest push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-ubuntu2404"
+
+      - label: "Create multi-arch manifest - CUDA 13.0 - Ubuntu 24.04"
+        depends_on:
+          - build-release-image-x86-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
+          - build-release-image-arm64-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
+        id: create-multi-arch-manifest-cuda-13-0-ubuntu2404
+        agents:
+          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "docker manifest create public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-x86_64-cu130-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-aarch64-cu130-ubuntu2404 --amend"
+          - "docker manifest push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404"
+
+      - label: "Publish nightly multi-arch image to DockerHub"
+        depends_on:
+          - create-multi-arch-manifest
+        agents:
+          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/push-nightly-builds.sh"
+          # Clean up old nightly builds (keep only last 14)
+          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/cleanup-nightly-builds.sh"
+        plugins:
+          - docker-login#v3.0.0:
+              username: vllmbot
+              password-env: DOCKERHUB_TOKEN
+        env:
+          DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
+          DOCKERHUB_USERNAME: "vllmbot"
+
+      - label: "Publish nightly multi-arch image to DockerHub - CUDA 13.0"
+        depends_on:
+          - create-multi-arch-manifest-cuda-13-0
+        agents:
+          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/push-nightly-builds.sh cu130"
+          # Clean up old nightly builds (keep only last 14)
+          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/cleanup-nightly-builds.sh cu130-nightly-"
+        plugins:
+          - docker-login#v3.0.0:
+              username: vllmbot
+              password-env: DOCKERHUB_TOKEN
+        env:
+          DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
+          DOCKERHUB_USERNAME: "vllmbot"
+
+  # ROCm nightly Docker image
   - label: ":docker: Build release image - x86_64 - ROCm"
     id: build-rocm-release-image
+    if: build.env("NIGHTLY") == "1"
     depends_on:
       - step: build-rocm-base-wheels
         allow_failure: false
@@ -696,3 +618,84 @@ steps:
     env:
       DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
       DOCKERHUB_USERNAME: "vllmbot"
+
+  # =============================================================================
+  # Release: Publish Wheels & Build CPU Images (manual, requires release version)
+  # =============================================================================
+
+  - input: "Provide Release version here"
+    id: input-release-version
+    fields:
+      - text: "What is the release version?"
+        key: release-version
+
+  - group: "Publish release wheels"
+    key: "publish-wheels"
+    steps:
+      - block: "Confirm update release wheels to PyPI (experimental, use with caution)?"
+        key: block-upload-release-wheels
+        depends_on:
+          - input-release-version
+          - build-wheels
+
+      - label: "Upload release wheels to PyPI"
+        depends_on:
+          - block-upload-release-wheels
+        id: upload-release-wheels
+        agents:
+          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/upload-release-wheels-pypi.sh"
+
+  - group: "Build release CPU Docker images"
+    steps:
+      - block: "Build release image for x86_64 CPU"
+        key: block-cpu-release-image-build
+        depends_on: ~
+
+      - label: "Build release image - x86_64 - CPU"
+        depends_on:
+          - block-cpu-release-image-build
+          - input-release-version
+        agents:
+          queue: cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg VLLM_CPU_X86=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:$(buildkite-agent meta-data get release-version) --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:latest --progress plain --target vllm-openai -f docker/Dockerfile.cpu ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:latest"
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:$(buildkite-agent meta-data get release-version)"
+        env:
+          DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
+
+      - block: "Build release image for arm64 CPU"
+        key: block-arm64-cpu-release-image-build
+        depends_on: ~
+
+      - label: "Build release image - arm64 - CPU"
+        depends_on:
+          - block-arm64-cpu-release-image-build
+          - input-release-version
+        agents:
+          queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
+          - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:$(buildkite-agent meta-data get release-version) --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:latest --progress plain --target vllm-openai -f docker/Dockerfile.cpu ."
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:latest"
+          - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:$(buildkite-agent meta-data get release-version)"
+        env:
+          DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
+
+  - block: "Generate Root Index for ROCm Wheels for Release"
+    key: block-generate-root-index-rocm-wheels
+    depends_on: upload-rocm-wheels
+
+  - label: ":package: Generate Root Index for ROCm Wheels for Release"
+    depends_on: block-generate-root-index-rocm-wheels
+    id: generate-root-index-rocm-wheels
+    agents:
+      queue: cpu_queue_release
+    commands:
+      - "bash tools/vllm-rocm/generate-rocm-wheels-root-index.sh"
+    env:
+      S3_BUCKET: "vllm-wheels"
+      VARIANT: "rocm721"