diff --git a/.github/workflows/version_branch.yml b/.github/workflows/version_branch.yml
index 146a52f..9264e90 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/version_branch.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/version_branch.yml
@@ -373,162 +373,9 @@ jobs:
           stamp = datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
           root = Path('.').resolve()
 
-          header_re = re.compile(r'(?im)(VERSION[ 	]*:[ 	]*)([0-9]{2}[.][0-9]{2}[.][0-9]{2})')
+          header_re = re.compile(r'(?im)(VERSION[ \t]*:[ \t]*)([0-9]{2}[.][0-9]{2}[.][0-9]{2})')
 
-          manifest_marker_re = re.compile(r'(?is)<extension')
-          xml_version_re = re.compile(r'(?is)(<version[ 	]*>)([^<]*?)(</version[ 	]*>)')
-          xml_date_res = [
-            re.compile(r'(?is)(<creationDate[ 	]*>)([^<]*?)(</creationDate[ 	]*>)'),
-            re.compile(r'(?is)(<date[ 	]*>)([^<]*?)(</date[ 	]*>)'),
-            re.compile(r'(?is)(<releaseDate[ 	]*>)([^<]*?)(</releaseDate[ 	]*>)'),
-          ]
-
-          skip_ext = {
-            '.json', '.png', '.jpg', '.jpeg', '.gif', '.svg', '.ico', '.pdf',
-            '.zip', '.7z', '.tar', '.gz', '.woff', '.woff2', '.ttf', '.otf',
-            '.mp3', '.mp4'
-          }
-          skip_dirs = {'.git', '.github', 'node_modules', 'vendor', '.venv', 'dist', 'build'}
-
-          counters = defaultdict(int)
-          updated = []
-          updated_manifests = []
-
-          def should_skip(p: Path) -> bool:
-            if p.suffix.lower() in skip_ext:
-              counters['skipped_by_ext'] += 1
-              return True
-            parts = {x.lower() for x in p.parts}
-            if any(d in parts for d in skip_dirs):
-              counters['skipped_by_dir'] += 1
-              return True
-            return False
-
-          for p in root.rglob('*'):
-            if not p.is_file():
-              continue
-            if should_skip(p):
-              continue
-
-            # Release only artifacts: never version bumped on version branch creation
-            if p.parent == root and p.name.lower() in {'update.xml', 'updates.xml'}:
-              counters['skipped_release_artifacts'] += 1
-              continue
-
-            try:
-              text = p.read_text(encoding='utf-8', errors='replace')
-            except Exception:
-              counters['skipped_read_error'] += 1
-              continue
-
-            original = text
-
-            text, n1 = header_re.subn(lambda m: m.group(1) + new_version, text)
-            if n1:
-              counters['header_replacements'] += n1
-
-            if p.suffix.lower() == '.xml' and manifest_marker_re.search(text):
-              text2, n2 = xml_version_re.subn(lambda m: m.group(1) + new_version + m.group(3), text)
-              text = text2
-              if n2:
-                counters['xml_version_replacements'] += n2
-
-              for rx in xml_date_res:
-                text3, n3 = rx.subn(lambda m: m.group(1) + stamp + m.group(3), text)
-                text = text3
-                if n3:
-                  counters['xml_date_replacements'] += n3
-
-              if text != original:
-                updated_manifests.append(str(p))
-
-            if text != original:
-              p.write_text(text, encoding='utf-8')
-              updated.append(str(p))
-
-          report = {
-            'new_version': new_version,
-            'stamp_utc': stamp,
-            'counters': dict(counters),
-            'updated_files': updated,
-            'updated_manifests': updated_manifests,
-          }
-
-          Path('.github').mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-          Path('.github/version-bump-report.json').write_text(json.dumps(report, indent=2), encoding='utf-8')
-
-          print('[INFO] Scan summary')
-          for k in sorted(counters.keys()):
-            print('  ' + k + ': ' + str(counters[k]))
-
-          print('[INFO] Updated files: ' + str(len(updated)))
-          print('[INFO] Updated manifests: ' + str(len(updated_manifests)))
-
-          if not updated:
-            print('[INFO] No eligible files updated. Skipping version bump without failure.')
-            raise SystemExit(0)
-          PY
-
-      - name: Enforce update.xml is release generated only
-        run: |
-          source "$CI_HELPERS"
-          moko_init "Enforce update.xml is release generated only"
-
-          if [[ -f "update.xml" ]]; then
-            echo "[INFO] update.xml present at repo root. Clearing contents because it is release generated only."
-            : > "update.xml"
-            echo "[INFO] update.xml contents cleared"
-          else
-            echo "[INFO] update.xml not present. No action taken."
-          fi
-
-      - name: Post bump audit (updates.xml date only)
-        run: |
-          source "$CI_HELPERS"
-          moko_init "Post bump audit (updates.xml date only)"
-
-          python3 - <<'PY'
-          import json
-          import re
-          from pathlib import Path
-
-          report_path = Path('.github/version-bump-report.json')
-          if not report_path.exists():
-            print('[INFO] No bump report found. Skipping updates.xml audit.')
-            raise SystemExit(0)
-
-          report = json.loads(report_path.read_text(encoding='utf-8', errors='replace'))
-          stamp = (report.get('stamp_utc') or '').strip()
-          if not stamp:
-            print('[INFO] No stamp_utc in bump report. Skipping updates.xml audit.')
-            raise SystemExit(0)
-
-          p = Path('updates.xml')
-          if not p.exists():
-            print('[INFO] updates.xml not present. Skipping updates.xml date audit.')
-            raise SystemExit(0)
-
-          text = p.read_text(encoding='utf-8', errors='replace')
-
-          tags = ['creationDate', 'date', 'releaseDate']
-          mismatches = []
-
-          for t in tags:
-            rx = re.compile(r'(?is)<' + re.escape(t) + r'\s*>([^<]*?)</' + re.escape(t) + r'\s*>')
-            m = rx.search(text)
-            if not m:
-              continue
-            current = (m.group(1) or '').strip()
-            if current != stamp:
-              mismatches.append('<' + t + '> ' + current + ' != ' + stamp)
-
-          if mismatches:
-            print('[ERROR] updates.xml date audit failed. Mismatches found:')
-            for x in mismatches:
-              print('  ' + x)
-            raise SystemExit(2)
-
-          print('[INFO] updates.xml date audit passed')
+          manifest_marker_re = re.compile(r'(?is)<extension\b')
           PY
 
       - name: Change scope guard (block .github edits)