fix: release workflow to tag images correctly

.github/workflows/docker_release.yml

@@ -22,7 +22,27 @@ jobs:
         id: get_latest_tag
         run: |
           git fetch --tags
-          latest_tag=$(git tag -l | sort -V | tail -n 1)
+
+          # Get the most recent tag (including RC candidates) to determine the latest version
+          most_recent_tag=$(git tag -l | sort -V | tail -n 1)
+          echo "most recent tag: $most_recent_tag"
+
+          # Strip pre-release suffix (handles -rc1, -rc.1, -alpha.2, etc.)
+          base_version=$(echo "$most_recent_tag" | sed -E 's/-(rc|alpha|beta)\.?[0-9]+$//')
+          echo "base version: $base_version"
+
+          # Prefer a stable release of this base version if it exists
+          stable_tag=$(git tag -l | grep "^$base_version$" | head -n 1)
+          echo "stable tag found: '$stable_tag'"
+
+          if [ -n "$stable_tag" ]; then
+            latest_tag="$stable_tag"
+            echo "found stable version: $stable_tag"
+          else
+            latest_tag="$most_recent_tag"
+            echo "using most recent tag: $most_recent_tag"
+          fi
+
           echo "latest tag: $latest_tag"
           echo "LATEST_TAG=$latest_tag" >> $GITHUB_ENV