Prepare for release: Bump to v4.4.0 with host version 4.1043.200

[Copilot]

This PR prepares the Azure Functions Core Tools repository for the v4.4.0 release by cleaning up release notes and updating version numbers.

Changes

• Removed the template placeholder <entry> from release_notes.md that was used during development
• Bumped CLI version from 4.3.0 to 4.4.0 in src/Cli/func/Directory.Version.props
• Updated host version from 4.1042.100 to 4.1043.200 in release_notes.md
• Updated Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Script.WebHost package reference from 4.1042.100 to 4.1043.200 in eng/build/Packages.props

The release notes now cleanly document only the actual changes included in this release.

Release Information

Version: 4.4.0
Host Version: 4.1043.200
In-Proc Host Version: 4.41.100 (4.841.100, 4.641.100)

Release Notes

The v4.4.0 release includes:

• Add Dockerfile for python 3.13 local build environment (Implement support for building local Dockerfiles for python build native deps #4611)

Verification

• ✅ Version 4.4.0 is consistent across src/Cli/func/Directory.Version.props and release_notes.md
• ✅ Host version 4.1043.200 is updated in both release_notes.md and eng/build/Packages.props
• ✅ Release notes are clean and publication-ready
• ✅ No build-breaking changes

This change ensures the repository is ready for the v4.4.0 release process in accordance with the versioning guidelines outlined in .github/instructions/release.instructions.md.

Original prompt

prep for release

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[liliankasem]

@copilot Please also bump the host version (Out-of-Proc: v4.1043.200) in release notes and the package ref itself. We should also bump our cli version to 4.4.0

[Copilot]

@copilot Please also bump the host version (Out-of-Proc: v4.1043.200) in release notes and the package ref itself. We should also bump our cli version to 4.4.0

Done! Updated all three items:

• CLI version bumped to 4.4.0 in Directory.Version.props
• Host version updated to 4.1043.200 in release_notes.md
• Package reference for Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Script.WebHost updated to 4.1043.200 in Packages.props

Commit: 12a64a6

[liliankasem]

@copilot can you please also run the validate-worker-versions.ps1 script. When we update the host version, we sometimes also need to update worker pkg references. This script should should do that automatically.

E.g. ./validate-worker-versions.ps1 -Update -HostVersion 4.1043.200

[Copilot]

@copilot can you please also run the validate-worker-versions.ps1 script. When we update the host version, we sometimes also need to update worker pkg references. This script should should do that a...

I attempted to run the script but it's unable to reach the GitHub API to validate the host tag and fetch worker versions due to network restrictions in the sandboxed environment:

Invoke-WebRequest: Blocked by DNS monitoring proxy

The script needs to:

1. Verify the tag v4.1043.200 exists in the Azure/azure-functions-host repo
2. Fetch worker version info from that tag

Could you either:

• Run the script locally and share the updated Packages.props, or
• Provide the specific worker versions that need to be updated for host 4.1043.200?

Alternatively, if you can grant access to api.github.com and raw.githubusercontent.com for this environment, I can re-run the script.

Warning

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

• https://api.github.com/repos/Azure/azure-functions-host/git/refs/tags/v4.1043.200
  • Triggering command: pwsh -File ./eng/scripts/validate-worker-versions.ps1 -Update -HostVersion 4.1043.200 (http block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

• Configure Actions setup steps to set up my environment, which run before the firewall is enabled
• Add the appropriate URLs or hosts to the custom allowlist in this repository's Copilot coding agent settings (admins only)

[liliankasem]

@v-amakhan let's maybe wait on these 2 PRs to merge before we merge this PR and release:

• Implement configuration profile preview feature for the 'func init' action #4675
• Add support for Python 3.14 #4668

[liliankasem]

/azp run

[azure-pipelines]

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 1 pipeline(s).

[liliankasem]

/azp run

[azure-pipelines]

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 1 pipeline(s).