PR #1934 — CI release gate and version single source

The Broader Goal at the End of the Previous PR

Architecture item #9 called for a release process that makes documentation and package metadata trustworthy rather than relying on a manual checklist.

Strategic Shifts in This PR

The manual named-release README checklist is now a required CI job, and the version is no longer duplicated in Python source, packaging metadata, the installer, or README content.

What This PR Shipped

• Root VERSION is the canonical editable version source.
• Runtime Python code reads that file, with installed-package metadata as the wheel fallback.
• setuptools reads VERSION directly; the release command updates only that file.
• install.sh reports the installed package metadata without a second hardcoded version.
• README badge and release hero are synchronized to 0.25.0 and the current collected-test count.
• Pull requests, workflow dispatches, and v* tag builds run synlynk release --check-docs as release-docs.
• Tests fail if runtime, packaging, README, or source modules drift from the canonical file.

What This Achieved on the Path to Autonomy

Release automation now has a deterministic, fail-closed signal for named-release documentation and version consistency.

Strategic Note: The Goal at the End of This PR

The next release can promote one version value through packaging, runtime, documentation, and CI without hand-editing parallel copies.