Do not validate change-note file names or frontmatter

Presently, the strict filename or frontmatter are not being used; so we're validating them unnecessarily. So, for now, remove these checks until we decide to either do something with them, or delete the code entirely.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 See the [releases page](https://github.com/github/codeql-action/releases) for the relevant changes to the CodeQL CLI and language packs.
 
+## [UNRELEASED]
+
+No user facing changes.
+
 ## 4.38.3 - 08 Oct 2026
 
 - _Upcoming breaking change_: CodeQL version 2.21.2 and earlier were discontinued on 24 September 2026 alongside GitHub Enterprise Server 3.17, and will be unsupported by the next minor release of the CodeQL Action. Added a deprecation warning for customers using these versions of CodeQL. [#4188](https://github.com/github/codeql-action/pull/4188)

lib/entry-points.js

@@ -170143,7 +170143,7 @@ function getDiffRangesJsonFilePath(env = getEnv()) {
   return path2.join(getTemporaryDirectory(env), PR_DIFF_RANGE_JSON_FILENAME);
 }
 function getActionVersion() {
-  return "4.38.3";
+  return "4.38.4";
 }
 function getWorkflowEventName(env = getEnv()) {
   return env.getRequired("GITHUB_EVENT_NAME" /* GITHUB_EVENT_NAME */);

package-lock.json

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "codeql",
-  "version": "4.38.3",
+  "version": "4.38.4",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "codeql",
-      "version": "4.38.3",
+      "version": "4.38.4",
       "license": "MIT",
       "workspaces": [
         "pr-checks"

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "codeql",
-  "version": "4.38.3",
+  "version": "4.38.4",
   "private": true,
   "description": "CodeQL action",
   "scripts": {

pr-checks/changelog/validate.test.ts

@@ -154,26 +154,6 @@ await describe("isValidChangenoteFile", async () => {
     assert.equal(isValidChangenoteFile("non-existent-file.md"), false);
   });
 
-  await it("rejects invalid filename", async () => {
-    await withTmpFile(
-      "fix-bug.md",
-      "---\ncategory: fix\n---\n- Fixed a bug\n",
-      (filePath) => {
-        assert.equal(isValidChangenoteFile(filePath), false);
-      },
-    );
-  });
-
-  await it("rejects missing frontmatter", async () => {
-    await withTmpFile(
-      "2026-01-01-fix-bug.md",
-      "- Fixed a bug\n",
-      (filePath) => {
-        assert.equal(isValidChangenoteFile(filePath), false);
-      },
-    );
-  });
-
   await it("rejects invalid Markdown", async () => {
     await withTmpFile(
       "2026-01-01-fix-bug.md",

pr-checks/changelog/validate.ts

@@ -95,21 +95,7 @@ export function isValidChangenoteFile(filename: string): boolean {
     return false;
   }
 
-  const { data: frontmatter, content } = matter(fileData);
-
-  if (!isValidChangenoteFilename(path.basename(filename))) {
-    isValid = false;
-    console.error(
-      `${filename}: invalid filename; must match pattern YYYY-MM-DD-id.md`,
-    );
-  }
-  if (!hasValidChangenoteCategory(frontmatter)) {
-    isValid = false;
-    const categories = Object.keys(VALID_CHANGE_NOTE_CATEGORIES).join(", ");
-    console.error(
-      `${filename}: invalid category; must be one of: ${categories}`,
-    );
-  }
+  const { content } = matter(fileData);
   if (!isValidChangenoteContent(content)) {
     isValid = false;
     console.error(