refactor: remove chore/* from prerelease channels

Removed chore/* branches from prerelease channels since they're for
internal changes not meant for client distribution. Only fix/* and
feat/* branches (plus explicit beta) will publish now.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: abueide

PRERELEASE_SETUP.md

@@ -2,13 +2,14 @@
 
 ## Overview
 
-This repository uses branch-specific prerelease channels for publishing packages from feature branches, fix branches, etc. Each branch category gets its own npm dist-tag:
+This repository uses branch-specific prerelease channels for publishing packages from feature branches and fix branches. Each branch category gets its own npm dist-tag:
 
 - `fix/*` → `2.22.1-fix.1` (dist-tag: `fix`)
 - `feat/*` → `2.22.1-feat.1` (dist-tag: `feat`)
-- `chore/*` → `2.22.1-chore.1` (dist-tag: `chore`)
 - `beta` → `2.22.1-beta.1` (dist-tag: `beta`)
 
+Note: `chore/*` branches do not publish - they're for internal changes not meant for client distribution.
+
 ## GitHub Environment Setup
 
 ### 1. Create the Publish-Prerelease Environment
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ Since semantic-release now controls which branches can publish based on `release
 
 **Option B: Restrict to specific patterns**
 - Select "Protected branches and tags only"
-- Add patterns: `fix/*`, `feat/*`, `chore/*`, `beta`
+- Add patterns: `fix/*`, `feat/*`, `beta`
 
 ### 3. Add Required Reviewers (Optional)
 
@@ -143,12 +144,13 @@ npm install @segment/analytics-react-native@2.22.1-fix.1
 ### "semantic-release says no version will be published"
 
 Check that your branch name matches one of the configured patterns in `release.config.js`:
-- `fix/*`
-- `feat/*`
-- `chore/*`
-- `beta`
-- `master`
-- Version branches like `1.x` or `1.2.x`
+- `fix/*` - bug fixes for client distribution
+- `feat/*` - new features for client distribution  
+- `beta` - explicit beta channel
+- `master` - production releases
+- Version branches like `1.x` or `1.2.x` - maintenance releases
+
+Note: `chore/*` branches intentionally don't publish as they're for internal changes.
 
 ### "npm publish failed with 403"
 

release.config.js

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ module.exports = {
     { name: 'beta', prerelease: 'beta' }, // explicit beta channel
     { name: 'fix/*', prerelease: 'fix' }, // fix branches → x.x.x-fix.N
     { name: 'feat/*', prerelease: 'feat' }, // feature branches → x.x.x-feat.N
-    { name: 'chore/*', prerelease: 'chore' }, // chore branches → x.x.x-chore.N
   ],
   tagFormat: '${name}-v${version}',
   plugins: [