diff --git a/.github/workflows/scripts/prev_tag-test.sh b/.github/workflows/scripts/prev_tag-test.sh
index 8da1a4c2b5..6f5db2b18b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/scripts/prev_tag-test.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/scripts/prev_tag-test.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-
+# tests only for local running, to verify that prev_tag.sh works as expected
 # Function to create a mock git repository
 setup_mock_repo() {
   mkdir temp_repo
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ setup_mock_repo() {
   git commit -m "Initial commit"
 
   # Add mock tags to simulate different scenarios
+  git tag 0.5.1
+  git tag 0.7.3
+  git tag 0.11.0
+  git tag 0.23.2
+  git tag 7.4.0
   git tag 8.2.0
   git tag 8.2.1
   git tag 8.3.0-alpha1
@@ -20,6 +25,8 @@ setup_mock_repo() {
   git tag 8.3.1
   git tag 8.3.2-rc1
   git tag 8.3.2-rc2
+  git tag 8.3.2-rc5
+  git tag 8.3.2-rc11
   git tag 8.3.2
   git tag 8.3.3
   git tag 8.4.0-alpha1
@@ -30,6 +37,7 @@ setup_mock_repo() {
   git tag 8.4.0-rc1
   git tag 8.4.0-rc2
   git tag 8.4.0-rc3
+  git tag 8.4.0-rc23
   git tag 8.4.0
   git tag 8.4.1-alpha1
   git tag 8.4.2
@@ -43,6 +51,30 @@ setup_mock_repo() {
   git tag 9.1.0
   git tag 9.2.0-alpha2
   git tag 9.2.0-rc2
+  git tag 11.2.0
+  git tag 12.0.0
+  git tag 12.2.0
+  git tag 15.0.0-rc1
+  git tag 15.0.0
+  git tag 16.0.0-rc2
+  git tag 16.0.0-alpha2
+  git tag 19.0.0-alpha3
+  git tag 19.0.3-alpha3
+  git tag 19.0.3-rc3
+  git tag 19.0.3
+  git tag 19.0.4-alpha2
+  git tag 19.0.4-alpha6
+  git tag 20.3.0
+  git tag 20.3.1-alpha2
+  git tag 20.3.1-alpha5
+  git tag 20.3.1-alpha11
+  git tag 20.3.1-alpha23
+  git tag 20.4.1-alpha1-rc11
+  git tag 20.4.1-alpha1-rc3
+  git tag 20.4.1-alpha1-rc20
+  git tag 20.4.1-alpha11
+  git tag 20.4.1-alpha30-rc1
+  git tag 20.4.1-alpha2-rc1
 }
 
 # Function to clean up the mock repository
@@ -54,6 +86,8 @@ cleanup() {
 # Initialize a variable to store test results
 passed_tests_results=""
 fail_test_results=""
+test_passed_count=0
+test_fail_count=0
 
 # Function to run a single test case
 run_test() {
@@ -63,8 +97,10 @@ run_test() {
   output=$(bash ../prev_tag.sh $input_tag)
   if [[ $output == *"$expected_output"* ]]; then
     passed_tests_results+="Test passed for input $input_tag: Expected and got $expected_output\n"
+    ((test_passed_count++))
   else
     fail_test_results+="Test failed for input $input_tag: Expected $expected_output, got $output\n"
+    ((test_fail_count++))
   fi
 }
 
@@ -91,16 +127,41 @@ run_test "8.4.2-alpha1" "8.4.1" # First alpha of a new alpha version
 
 run_test "8.3.2-rc1" "8.3.1" # RC for normal release, next lower normal tag
 run_test "8.3.2-rc2" "8.3.2-rc1" # Next RC in series
+run_test "8.3.2-rc5" "8.3.2-rc2" # Next RC in series
 
 run_test "8.4.0-rc1" "8.3.0" # RC for normal release, next lower normal tag
 run_test "8.4.0-rc2" "8.4.0-rc1" # Next RC in series
 run_test "8.4.0-rc3" "8.4.0-rc2" # Next RC in series
 
+run_test "8.4.0-alpha2" "8.4.0-alpha1" # Next alpha in series
+
 run_test "9.0.0" "8.4.0" # First release in a new major version
 run_test "9.1.0" "9.0.0" # First release in a new minor version after a major version
 
+#additional test cases
 run_test "9.2.0-alpha2" "9.1.0" # Missed alpha1
 run_test "9.2.0-rc2" "9.1.0" # Missed rc1
+run_test "8.2.0" "7.4.0"
+run_test "7.4.0" "0.23.2"
+run_test "0.23.2" "0.11.0"
+run_test "0.11.0" "0.7.3"
+run_test "0.7.3" "0.5.1"
+run_test "12.0.0" "11.2.0"
+run_test "15.0.0" "12.2.0"
+run_test "15.0.0-rc1" "12.2.0"
+run_test "15.0.3-rc2" "5.0.0"
+run_test "16.0.0-rc2" "15.0.0"
+run_test "19.0.0-alpha3" "15.0.0"
+run_test "19.0.3-alpha3" "15.0.0"
+run_test "19.0.3-rc3" "15.0.0"
+run_test "19.0.4-alpha11" "19.0.4-alpha6"
+run_test "20.3.1-alpha5" "20.3.1-alpha2"
+run_test "20.3.1-alpha23" "20.3.1-alpha11"
+run_test "20.4.1-alpha1-rc20" "20.4.1-alpha1-rc11"
+run_test "20.4.1-alpha1-rc11" "20.4.1-alpha1-rc3"
+run_test "20.4.1-alpha1-rc3" "20.3.0"
+run_test "20.4.1-alpha30-rc1" "20.4.1-alpha11"
+run_test "20.4.1-alpha2-rc1" "20.3.0"
 
 # Invalid Tag Format
 run_test "invalid-tag" "Release tag is invalid" # Invalid tag format
@@ -112,3 +173,5 @@ cleanup
 # Output all test results at the end
 echo -e "$passed_tests_results"
 echo -e "$fail_test_results"
+echo "Total tests passed: $test_passed_count"
+echo "Total tests fail: $test_fail_count"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/scripts/prev_tag.sh b/.github/workflows/scripts/prev_tag.sh
index 0842564da4..a702a501ef 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/scripts/prev_tag.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/scripts/prev_tag.sh
@@ -22,79 +22,113 @@
 # Release Candidates (RC) for Major Versions:
 # - For RC releases of a major version (e.g., 9.0.0-rc1), the previous tag is the base (x.0) tag of the highest minor version from the last major series (e.g., 8.9.0).
 
+ # Function to determine the previous tag using 'NORMAL' logic
+  determine_normal_prev_tag() {
+    local candidate=""
+    local candidateWithPatch0=""
+    for tag in "${prev_tags[@]}"; do
+      echo "$tag"
+      IFS='.' read -r tag_major tag_minor tag_patch <<< "$tag"
+      IFS='.' read -r curr_major curr_minor curr_patch <<< "$current_tag"
+
+      if ((tag_major < curr_major)); then
+        candidate="$tag"
+      elif ((tag_major == curr_major)); then
+        if ((tag_minor < curr_minor)); then
+          candidate="$tag"
+        elif ((tag_minor == curr_minor)); then
+          if ((tag_patch <= curr_patch)); then
+            candidate="$tag"
+          fi
+        fi
+      fi
+
+      if ((tag_patch == 0)) && ((tag_major <= curr_major)) && ((tag_minor <= curr_minor)); then
+        if [[ -n "$candidateWithPatch0" ]]; then
+          IFS='.' read -r candidate_major candidate_minor _ <<< "$candidateWithPatch0"
+          if ((candidate_major < tag_major)) || ((candidate_minor < tag_minor)); then
+            candidateWithPatch0="$tag"
+          fi
+        else
+          candidateWithPatch0="$tag"
+        fi
+      fi
+    done
+
+    if [[ "$curr_patch" == "0" ]]; then
+      if [[ -n "$candidateWithPatch0" ]]; then
+        prev_tag="$candidateWithPatch0"
+      else
+        prev_tag="$candidate"
+      fi
+    else
+      prev_tag="$candidate"
+    fi
+  }
+
 # Function to determine the previous tag based on the type and version
 determine_prev_tag() {
   local current_tag=$1
-  local type=$2
-  local major_minor=$(echo "$current_tag" | cut -d '.' -f 1,2)
-  local patch_version=$(echo "$current_tag" | cut -d '.' -f 3 | grep -oE "^[0-9]+")
-  local prev_major_minor=$(echo "$major_minor" | awk -F. '{$NF = $NF - 1;} 1' | sed 's/ /./g')
-
-  local prev_tag=""
-  local prev_tags=$(git --no-pager tag --sort=-v:refname)
-
-case $type in
-  NORMAL)
-    # For a normal release, find the highest tag that is lower than the current tag in the same minor version series
-    prev_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$major_minor\.[0-9]+$" | awk -v curTag="$current_tag" '$0 < curTag' | head -1)
-
-    # If no previous tag is found within the same minor version, default to the .0 tag of the previous minor version
-    [[ -z $prev_tag ]] && prev_tag="$prev_major_minor.0"
-    ;;
-
-  RC)
-    # Remove the RC part from the current tag to find the base version
-    local base_version=$(echo "$current_tag" | sed 's/-rc[0-9]*$//')
-      # For regular RC releases, find the highest RC tag that is lower than the current tag in the same minor version series
-      prev_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$major_minor\.[0-9]+-rc[0-9]+$" | awk -v curTag="$current_tag" '$0 < curTag' | head -1)
-      # If no previous RC is found within the same minor version, default to the .0 tag of the previous minor version
-      [[ -z $prev_tag ]] && prev_tag="$prev_major_minor.0"
-    ;;
-
+   local type=$2
+   local major_minor=$(echo "$current_tag" | cut -d '.' -f 1,2)
+local patch_version=$(echo "$current_tag" | cut -d '.' -f 3 | grep -oE "^[0-9]+")
+   local prev_major_minor=$(echo "$major_minor" | awk -F. '{$NF = $NF - 1;} 1' | sed 's/ /./g')
+   IFS='.' read -r current_major current_minor current_patch <<< "$current_tag"
+   local prev_tag=""
+   local prev_tags=$(git --no-pager tag --sort=-v:refname)
+
+   case $type in
+   NORMAL)
+     determine_normal_prev_tag
+     ;;
+   RC)
+  # Remove the RC part from the current tag to find the base version
+  local base_version=$(echo "$current_tag" | sed 's/-rc[0-9]*$//')
+  # Extract the RC number from the current tag
+  local rc_number=$(echo "$current_tag" | sed 's/.*-rc\([0-9]*\)$/\1/')
+
+  # Check if there's a previous RC within the same minor version and with a lower RC number
+  local prev_rc_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$major_minor\.[0-9]+-rc[0-9]+$" | awk -v curTag="$current_tag" -v curRc="$rc_number" '$0 < curTag && $0 ~ "-rc[0-9]+$" {split($0, a, "-rc"); if (a[2] + 0 < curRc + 0) print}' | sort -n | tail -1)
+
+  if [[ -n $prev_rc_tag ]]; then
+    prev_tag="$prev_rc_tag"
+    fi
+   # Fallback to 'NORMAL' logic if no previous tag found
+       if [[ -z $prev_tag ]]; then
+         determine_normal_prev_tag
+        fi
+  echo "$prev_tag"
+  ;;
 ALPHA)
-  if [[ $current_tag =~ -alpha[0-9]+-rc[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-    local alpha_version=$(echo "$current_tag" | sed 's/-rc[0-9]*$//')
-    local base_alpha=$(echo "$alpha_version" | sed 's/-alpha[0-9]*$//')
+  local alpha_base=$(echo "$current_tag" | sed 's/-alpha[0-9]*$//')
 
-    # Get the list of all RCs for the current alpha version
-    local rc_tags=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$alpha_version-rc[0-9]+$" | sort -rV)
+ if [[ $current_tag =~ -alpha[0-9]+-rc[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+   local alpha_version=$(echo "$current_tag" | sed 's/-rc[0-9]*$//')
 
-    if [[ -z $rc_tags ]]; then
-      # If no RCs found for the current alpha version, set the previous tag to the highest alpha version before the current alpha
-      prev_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$base_alpha-alpha[0-9]+$" | sort -rV | awk -v curAlpha="$alpha_version" '$0 < curAlpha' | head -1)
-    else
-      # Find the immediate preceding RC for the current tag
-      prev_tag=$(echo "$rc_tags" | awk -v curTag="$current_tag" '$0 < curTag' | head -1)
-      if [[ -z $prev_tag ]]; then
-        # If no preceding RC found, it means the current tag is the first RC of the alpha version
-        # So, set the previous tag to the highest alpha version before the current alpha
-        prev_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$base_alpha-alpha[0-9]+$" | sort -rV | awk -v curAlpha="$alpha_version" '$0 < curAlpha' | head -1)
-      fi
-    fi
-  elif [[ $current_tag =~ -alpha[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-    local alpha_base=$(echo "$current_tag" | sed 's/-alpha[0-9]*$//')
+   # Extract the RC number from the current tag
+   local rc_number=$(echo "$current_tag" | sed 's/.*-rc\([0-9]*\)$/\1/')
 
-    # Find the previous tag within the same major.minor version for alpha releases
-    prev_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$major_minor\.[0-9]+-alpha[0-9]+$" | awk -v curTag="$current_tag" '$0 < curTag' | sort -rV | head -1)
+   # Check if there's a previous RC within the same alpha version and with a lower RC number
+   local prev_rc_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$alpha_version-rc[0-9]+$" | awk -v curTag="$current_tag" -v curRc="$rc_number" '$0 < curTag && $0 ~ "-rc[0-9]+$" {split($0, a, "-rc"); if (a[2] + 0 < curRc + 0) print}' | sort -n | tail -1)
 
-    if [[ -z $prev_tag ]]; then
-      # For the first alpha release of a new minor version, set the previous tag to the base tag of the preceding minor version
-      if [[ $patch_version == 0 ]]; then
-        prev_tag="$prev_major_minor.0"
-      else
-        # For subsequent alpha releases, find the last alpha release before the current tag
-        prev_tag="$major_minor.$((patch_version - 1))"
-      fi
-    fi
+   if [[ -z $prev_rc_tag ]]; then
+     # If no previous RC found for the same alpha version, find the highest alpha version before the current alpha
+     prev_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$base_alpha-alpha[0-9]+$" | sort -rV | awk -v curAlpha="$alpha_version" '$0 < curAlpha' | head -1)
+   else
+     prev_tag=$prev_rc_tag
+   fi
+  elif [[ $current_tag =~ -alpha[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+    local alpha_number=$(echo "$current_tag" | grep -oE "alpha[0-9]+$" | sed 's/alpha//')
+    prev_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$alpha_base-alpha[0-9]+$" | awk -v curAlpha="$alpha_number" 'BEGIN{FS="-alpha"} $2+0 < curAlpha+0' | sort -rV | head -1)
   fi
-  ;;
-    MAJOR)
-      local major=$(echo "$current_tag" | cut -d '.' -f 1)
-      local prev_major=$((major - 1))
-      prev_tag=$(echo "$prev_tags" | grep -E "^$prev_major\.[0-9]+\.0$" | head -1)
-      ;;
-  esac
 
+  # Fallback to 'NORMAL' logic if no previous tag found
+  if [[ -z $prev_tag ]]; then
+    determine_normal_prev_tag
+  fi
+;;
+
+  esac
   echo "$prev_tag"
 }
 
@@ -108,7 +142,6 @@ fi
 TYPE=""
 if [[ $1 =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
   TYPE="NORMAL"
-  [[ $1 =~ ^[0-9]+\.0\.0$ ]] && TYPE="MAJOR"
 elif [[ $1 =~ -alpha[0-9]+(-rc[0-9]+)?$ ]]; then
   TYPE="ALPHA"
 elif [[ $1 =~ -rc[0-9]+$ ]]; then