diff --git a/.github/workflows/cicd_comp_deployment-phase.yml b/.github/workflows/cicd_comp_deployment-phase.yml
index c9539da4895..463b06f630c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cicd_comp_deployment-phase.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cicd_comp_deployment-phase.yml
@@ -398,3 +398,18 @@ jobs:
             > This automated script is happy to announce that a new *_SDK libs_* version *tagged as:* [ `${{ steps.sdks_publish.outputs.npm-package-version }}` ] is now available on the `NPM` registry :package:!
             > *Introduced by:* <${{ steps.pr_info.outputs.pr_url }}|${{ steps.pr_info.outputs.pr_ref }}>
           slack-bot-token: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
+
+      # Send Slack failure notification if SDK publish failed
+      - name: Slack Notification (SDK publish failure)
+        if: failure() && steps.sdks_publish.outcome == 'failure'
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: ./.github/actions/core-cicd/notification/notify-slack
+        with:
+          channel-id: "log-sdk-libs"
+          payload: |
+            > :red_circle: *SDK publish FAILED on trunk!*
+            >
+            > The automated SDK `@next` publish failed. The packages were *not* updated on the NPM registry.
+            > *Commit:* <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/commit/${{ github.sha }}|${{ github.sha }}>
+            > <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|View workflow run — check logs for details>
+          slack-bot-token: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cicd_manual-release-sdks.yml b/.github/workflows/cicd_manual-release-sdks.yml
index f3dda5495d3..58a2789a49f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cicd_manual-release-sdks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cicd_manual-release-sdks.yml
@@ -105,11 +105,26 @@ jobs:
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
 
-          git checkout -b "$RELEASE_BRANCH"
+          # Idempotent: if branch exists from a previous failed run, reset it to main and re-use it.
+          # These are bot-managed branches so force push is safe.
+          if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin "$RELEASE_BRANCH" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "Branch $RELEASE_BRANCH already exists remotely — resetting to origin/main."
+            git fetch origin main "$RELEASE_BRANCH"
+            git checkout -B "$RELEASE_BRANCH" origin/main
+          else
+            git checkout -b "$RELEASE_BRANCH"
+          fi
+
           echo "$RELEASE_VERSION" > core-web/libs/sdk/VERSION
           git add core-web/libs/sdk/VERSION
-          git commit -m "chore(sdk): bump SDK version to $RELEASE_VERSION"
-          git push origin "$RELEASE_BRANCH"
+
+          if git diff --cached --quiet; then
+            echo "VERSION already at $RELEASE_VERSION — nothing to commit."
+          else
+            git commit -m "chore(sdk): bump SDK version to $RELEASE_VERSION"
+          fi
+
+          git push --force origin "$RELEASE_BRANCH"
 
       - name: 'Publish @latest from release branch'
         id: deploy-javascript-sdk
@@ -120,21 +135,9 @@ jobs:
           publish-latest: 'true'
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: 'Slack Notification (SDK release announcement)'
-        if: success() && steps.deploy-javascript-sdk.outputs.published == 'true'
-        continue-on-error: true
-        uses: ./.github/actions/core-cicd/notification/notify-slack
-        with:
-          channel-id: "log-sdk-libs"
-          payload: |
-            > :large_green_circle: *Attention dotters:* SDK libs (Angular, Client, Experiments and React) officially released!
-            >
-            > This automated script is happy to announce that a new *_SDK libs_* version *tagged as:* [ `${{ steps.deploy-javascript-sdk.outputs.npm-package-version }}` ] is now available on the `NPM` registry :package:!
-            > *Release type:* `${{ inputs.version-type }}`  |  *Triggered by:* `${{ github.actor }}`
-            > <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|View workflow run>
-          slack-bot-token: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
-
       - name: 'Open post-release PR to bump VERSION on main'
+        id: post_release_pr
+        if: success()
         env:
           RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ steps.compute_version.outputs.release_version }}
           NEXT_DEV_VERSION: ${{ steps.compute_version.outputs.next_dev_version }}
@@ -149,19 +152,62 @@ jobs:
           git reset --hard
           git clean -fdx
           git fetch origin main
-          git checkout main
-          git reset --hard origin/main
-          git checkout -b "$PR_BRANCH"
+
+          # Idempotent: reset branch to origin/main regardless of whether it already exists.
+          git checkout -B "$PR_BRANCH" origin/main
           echo "$NEXT_DEV_VERSION" > core-web/libs/sdk/VERSION
           git add core-web/libs/sdk/VERSION
-          git commit -m "chore(sdk): bump SDK version to $NEXT_DEV_VERSION after $RELEASE_VERSION release"
-          git push origin "$PR_BRANCH"
 
-          gh pr create \
-            --title "chore(sdk): bump SDK version to $NEXT_DEV_VERSION after $RELEASE_VERSION release" \
-            --body "Automated post-release bump. Moves the VERSION file from \`$RELEASE_VERSION\` to \`$NEXT_DEV_VERSION\` so trunk \`@next\` builds stay ahead of \`@latest\`." \
-            --base main \
-            --head "$PR_BRANCH"
+          if git diff --cached --quiet; then
+            echo "VERSION already at $NEXT_DEV_VERSION — nothing to commit."
+          else
+            git commit -m "chore(sdk): bump SDK version to $NEXT_DEV_VERSION after $RELEASE_VERSION release"
+          fi
+
+          git push --force origin "$PR_BRANCH"
+
+          # Reuse the PR if it was already created by a previous run.
+          EXISTING_PR=$(gh pr list --head "$PR_BRANCH" --base main --json url --jq '.[0].url' 2>/dev/null || true)
+          if [ -n "$EXISTING_PR" ]; then
+            echo "PR already exists: $EXISTING_PR"
+            PR_URL="$EXISTING_PR"
+          else
+            PR_URL=$(gh pr create \
+              --title "chore(sdk): bump SDK version to $NEXT_DEV_VERSION after $RELEASE_VERSION release" \
+              --body "Automated post-release bump. Moves the VERSION file from \`$RELEASE_VERSION\` to \`$NEXT_DEV_VERSION\` so trunk \`@next\` builds stay ahead of \`@latest\`." \
+              --base main \
+              --head "$PR_BRANCH")
+          fi
+          echo "pr_url=$PR_URL" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: 'Slack Notification (SDK release announcement)'
+        if: success() && steps.deploy-javascript-sdk.outputs.published == 'true'
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: ./.github/actions/core-cicd/notification/notify-slack
+        with:
+          channel-id: "log-sdk-libs"
+          payload: |
+            > :large_green_circle: *Attention dotters:* SDK libs (Angular, Client, Experiments and React) officially released!
+            >
+            > This automated script is happy to announce that a new *_SDK libs_* version *tagged as:* [ `${{ steps.deploy-javascript-sdk.outputs.npm-package-version }}` ] is now available on the `NPM` registry :package:!
+            > *Release type:* `${{ inputs.version-type }}`  |  *Triggered by:* `${{ github.actor }}`
+            > :memo: *Please review and merge the post-release PR ASAP:* <${{ steps.post_release_pr.outputs.pr_url }}|View PR>
+            > <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|View workflow run>
+          slack-bot-token: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: 'Slack Notification (SDK release failure)'
+        if: failure()
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: ./.github/actions/core-cicd/notification/notify-slack
+        with:
+          channel-id: "log-sdk-libs"
+          payload: |
+            > :red_circle: *SDK Release FAILED!*
+            >
+            > The SDK release workflow failed while trying to publish version `${{ steps.compute_version.outputs.release_version }}`.
+            > *Release type:* `${{ inputs.version-type }}`  |  *Triggered by:* `${{ github.actor }}`
+            > <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|View workflow run — check logs for details>
+          slack-bot-token: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: 'Display results'
         if: always()
@@ -172,4 +218,5 @@ jobs:
           echo "Published to latest: ${{ steps.deploy-javascript-sdk.outputs.published-latest || 'unknown' }}"
           echo "Published to next:   ${{ steps.deploy-javascript-sdk.outputs.published-next || 'unknown' }}"
           echo "NPM package version: ${{ steps.deploy-javascript-sdk.outputs.npm-package-version || 'unknown' }}"
+          echo "Post-release PR:     ${{ steps.post_release_pr.outputs.pr_url || 'not created' }}"
           echo "::endgroup::"