ci: allow deploy tests to run even when operator is skipped (#6120)

Signed-off-by: Tushar Sharma <tusharma@nvidia.com>

.github/workflows/pr.yaml

@@ -234,12 +234,30 @@ jobs:
 
   deploy-operator:
     runs-on: prod-default-small-v2
-    if: needs.changed-files.outputs.core == 'true'
+    # Run when any deploy test will run: if core, any framework, or deploy files changed
+    if: |
+      always() &&
+      (needs.changed-files.outputs.core == 'true' ||
+       needs.changed-files.outputs.vllm == 'true' ||
+       needs.changed-files.outputs.sglang == 'true' ||
+       needs.changed-files.outputs.trtllm == 'true' ||
+       needs.changed-files.outputs.deploy == 'true') &&
+      (needs.operator.result == 'success' || needs.operator.result == 'skipped')
     needs: [changed-files, operator]
     outputs:
       NAMESPACE: ${{ steps.deploy-operator-step.outputs.namespace }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+    - name: Determine operator image tag
+      id: operator-tag
+      run: |
+        if [ "${{ needs.operator.result }}" == "success" ]; then
+          echo "tag=${{ needs.operator.outputs.operator_default_tag }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "Using newly built operator image: ${{ needs.operator.outputs.operator_default_tag }}"
+        else
+          echo "tag=main-operator" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "Using stable operator image: main-operator"
+        fi
     - name: Deploy Operator
       id: deploy-operator-step
       env:
@@ -296,7 +314,7 @@ jobs:
           --set dynamo-operator.namespaceRestriction.enabled=true \
           --set dynamo-operator.namespaceRestriction.allowedNamespaces[0]=${NAMESPACE} \
           --set dynamo-operator.controllerManager.manager.image.repository=${{ secrets.AZURE_ACR_HOSTNAME }}/ai-dynamo/dynamo \
-          --set dynamo-operator.controllerManager.manager.image.tag=${{ needs.operator.outputs.operator_default_tag }} \
+          --set dynamo-operator.controllerManager.manager.image.tag=${{ steps.operator-tag.outputs.tag }} \
           --set dynamo-operator.imagePullSecrets[0].name=docker-imagepullsecret
         # Wait for all deployments to be ready
         timeout 300s kubectl rollout status deployment -n $NAMESPACE --watch