diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index 88c8339..6eb0cda 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "daily"
       time: "08:00"
-    target-branch: "nightly"
     open-pull-requests-limit: 10
 
   - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
@@ -18,7 +17,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "daily"
       time: "08:30"
-    target-branch: "nightly"
     open-pull-requests-limit: 10
 
   - package-ecosystem: "npm"
@@ -26,7 +24,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "daily"
       time: "09:00"
-    target-branch: "nightly"
     open-pull-requests-limit: 10
 
   - package-ecosystem: "nuget"
@@ -34,7 +31,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "daily"
       time: "09:30"
-    target-branch: "nightly"
     open-pull-requests-limit: 10
 
   - package-ecosystem: "pip"
@@ -42,7 +38,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "daily"
       time: "10:00"
-    target-branch: "nightly"
     open-pull-requests-limit: 10
 
   - package-ecosystem: "gitsubmodule"
@@ -50,5 +45,4 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "daily"
       time: "10:30"
-    target-branch: "nightly"
     open-pull-requests-limit: 10
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-create-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-create-pr.yml
index 811747c..13705dd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-create-pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-create-pr.yml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Create Pull Request
         uses: repo-sync/pull-request@v2
diff --git a/.github/workflows/automerge.yml b/.github/workflows/automerge.yml
index 4774eb2..49ddebf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/automerge.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/automerge.yml
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Automerging
-        uses: pascalgn/automerge-action@v0.15.5
+        uses: pascalgn/automerge-action@v0.15.6
         env:
           BASE_BRANCHES: nightly
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_BOT_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/autoupdate-labeler.yml b/.github/workflows/autoupdate-labeler.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 974c9fa..0000000
--- a/.github/workflows/autoupdate-labeler.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,72 +0,0 @@
----
-# This action is centrally managed in https://github.com/<organization>/.github/
-# Don't make changes to this file in this repo as they will be overwritten with changes made to the same file in
-# the above-mentioned repo.
-
-# Label PRs with `autoupdate` if various conditions are met, otherwise, remove the label.
-
-name: Label PR autoupdate
-
-on:
-  pull_request_target:
-    types:
-      - edited
-      - opened
-      - reopened
-      - synchronize
-
-jobs:
-  label_pr:
-    if: >-
-      startsWith(github.repository, 'LizardByte/') &&
-      contains(github.event.pull_request.body, fromJSON('"] I want maintainers to keep my branch updated"'))
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    env:
-      GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
-    steps:
-      - name: Check if member
-        id: org_member
-        run: |
-          status="true"
-          gh api \
-            -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
-            /orgs/${{ github.repository_owner }}/members/${{ github.actor }} || status="false"
-
-          echo "result=${status}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - name: Label autoupdate
-        if: >-
-          steps.org_member.outputs.result == 'true' &&
-          contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'autoupdate') == false &&
-          contains(github.event.pull_request.body,
-            fromJSON('"\n- [x] I want maintainers to keep my branch updated"')) == true
-        uses: actions/github-script@v6
-        with:
-          github-token: ${{ secrets.GH_BOT_TOKEN }}
-          script: |
-            github.rest.issues.addLabels({
-              issue_number: context.issue.number,
-              owner: context.repo.owner,
-              repo: context.repo.repo,
-              labels: ['autoupdate']
-            })
-
-      - name: Unlabel autoupdate
-        if: >-
-          contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'autoupdate') &&
-          (
-            (github.event.action == 'synchronize' && steps.org_member.outputs.result == 'false') ||
-            (contains(github.event.pull_request.body,
-              fromJSON('"\n- [x] I want maintainers to keep my branch updated"')) == false
-            )
-          )
-        uses: actions/github-script@v6
-        with:
-          github-token: ${{ secrets.GH_BOT_TOKEN }}
-          script: |
-            github.rest.issues.removeLabel({
-              issue_number: context.issue.number,
-              owner: context.repo.owner,
-              repo: context.repo.repo,
-              name: ['autoupdate']
-            })
diff --git a/.github/workflows/autoupdate.yml b/.github/workflows/autoupdate.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 83f4e16..0000000
--- a/.github/workflows/autoupdate.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
----
-# This action is centrally managed in https://github.com/<organization>/.github/
-# Don't make changes to this file in this repo as they will be overwritten with changes made to the same file in
-# the above-mentioned repo.
-
-# This workflow is designed to work with the following workflows:
-# - automerge
-# - autoupdate-labeler
-
-# It uses an action that auto-updates pull requests branches, when changes are pushed to their destination branch.
-# Auto-updating to the latest destination branch works only in the context of upstream repo and not forks.
-# Dependabot PRs are updated by an action that comments `@depdenabot rebase` on dependabot PRs. (disabled)
-
-name: autoupdate
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - 'nightly'
-
-jobs:
-  autoupdate:
-    name: Autoupdate autoapproved PR created in the upstream
-    if: startsWith(github.repository, 'LizardByte/')
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - name: Update
-        uses: docker://chinthakagodawita/autoupdate-action:v1
-        env:
-          EXCLUDED_LABELS: "central_dependency,dependencies"
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: '${{ secrets.GH_BOT_TOKEN }}'
-          PR_FILTER: "labelled"
-          PR_LABELS: "autoupdate"
-          PR_READY_STATE: "all"
-          MERGE_CONFLICT_ACTION: "fail"
-
-# Disabled due to:
-# - no major version tag, resulting in constant nagging to update this action
-# - additionally, the code is sketchy, 16k+ lines of code?
-# https://github.com/bbeesley/gha-auto-dependabot-rebase/blob/main/dist/main.cjs
-#
-#  dependabot-rebase:
-#    name: Dependabot Rebase
-#    if: >-
-#      startsWith(github.repository, 'LizardByte/')
-#    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-#    steps:
-#      - name: rebase
-#        uses: "bbeesley/gha-auto-dependabot-rebase@v1.3.18"
-#        env:
-#          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_BOT_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-qodana.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-qodana.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..efc5634
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-qodana.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,292 @@
+---
+# This action is centrally managed in https://github.com/<organization>/.github/
+# Don't make changes to this file in this repo as they will be overwritten with changes made to the same file in
+# the above-mentioned repo.
+
+name: Qodana
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [master, nightly]
+    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
+  push:
+    branches: [master, nightly]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  qodana_initial_check:
+    name: Qodana Initial Check
+    permissions:
+      actions: write  # required to use workflow dispatch on fork PRs
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Prepare
+        id: prepare
+        run: |
+          # check the branch variable
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" == "push" ]
+          then
+            echo "This is a PUSH event"
+            # use the branch name
+            destination=${{ github.ref_name }}
+            target=${{ github.ref_name }}
+          else
+            echo "This is a PR event"
+            # use the PR number
+            destination=${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+            target=${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }}
+          fi
+
+          echo "checkout_repo=$checkout_repo" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "checkout_ref=$checkout_ref" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "destination=$destination" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "target=$target" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+          # prepare urls
+          base=https://${{ github.repository_owner }}.github.io
+          report_url=${base}/qodana-reports/${{ github.event.repository.name }}/${destination}
+          echo "report_url=$report_url" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+          # build matrix
+          files=$(find . -type f -iname "qodana*.yaml")
+
+          echo "files: ${files}"
+
+          # do not quote to keep this as a single line
+          echo files=${files} >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+          MATRIX_COMBINATIONS=""
+          REPORTS_MARKDOWN=""
+          for FILE in ${files}; do
+            # extract the language from file name after `qodana-` and before `.yaml`
+              language=$(echo $FILE | sed -r -z -e 's/(\.\/)*.*\/(qodana.yaml)/default/gm')
+            if [[ $language != "default" ]]; then
+              language=$(echo $FILE | sed -r -z -e 's/(\.\/)*.*qodana-(.*).yaml/\2/gm')
+            fi
+            MATRIX_COMBINATIONS="$MATRIX_COMBINATIONS {\"file\": \"$FILE\", \"language\": \"$language\"},"
+            REPORTS_MARKDOWN="$REPORTS_MARKDOWN <br> - [${language}](${report_url}/${language})"
+          done
+
+          # removes the last character (i.e. comma)
+          MATRIX_COMBINATIONS=${MATRIX_COMBINATIONS::-1}
+
+          # setup matrix for later jobs
+          matrix=$((
+            echo "{ \"include\": [$MATRIX_COMBINATIONS] }"
+          ) | jq -c .)
+
+          echo $matrix
+          echo $matrix | jq .
+          echo "matrix=$matrix" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+          echo "reports_markdown=$REPORTS_MARKDOWN" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Setup initial notification inputs
+        id: inputs
+        if: >-
+          startsWith(github.event_name, 'pull_request') &&
+          steps.prepare.outputs.files != ''
+        run: |
+          # workflow logs
+          workflow_url_a=https://github.com/${{ github.repository_owner }}/${{ github.event.repository.name }}
+          workflow_url=${workflow_url_a}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}
+
+          # multiline message
+          message=$(cat <<- EOF
+            :warning: **Qodana is checking this PR** :warning:
+            Live results available [here](${workflow_url})
+          EOF
+          )
+
+          # escape json control characters
+          message=$(jq -n --arg message "$message" '$message' | sed -e 's/\\/\\\\/g' -e 's/"/\\"/g')
+
+          secondary_inputs=$(echo '{
+            "issue_message": "'"${message}"'",
+            "issue_message_id": "'"qodana"'",
+            "issue_number": "'"${{ github.event.number }}"'",
+            "issue_repo_owner": "'"${{ github.repository_owner }}"'",
+            "issue_repo_name": "'"${{ github.event.repository.name }}"'"
+          }' | jq -r .)
+
+          #escape json control characters
+          secondary_inputs=$(jq -n --arg secondary_inputs "$secondary_inputs" '$secondary_inputs' \
+            | sed -e 's/\\/\\\\/g' -e 's/"/\\"/g')
+
+          echo $secondary_inputs
+
+          # secondary input as string, not JSON
+          # todo - change dispatch_ref to master instead of nightly
+          primary_inputs=$(echo '{
+            "dispatch_repository": "'"${{ github.repository_owner }}/.github"'",
+            "dispatch_workflow": "'"dispatch-issue-comment.yml"'",
+            "dispatch_ref": "'"nightly"'",
+            "dispatch_inputs": "'"${secondary_inputs}"'"
+          }' | jq -c .)
+
+          echo $primary_inputs
+          echo $primary_inputs | jq .
+          echo "primary_inputs=$primary_inputs" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Workflow Dispatch
+        if: >-
+          startsWith(github.event_name, 'pull_request') &&
+          steps.prepare.outputs.files != ''
+        uses: benc-uk/workflow-dispatch@v1.2.2
+        continue-on-error: true  # this might error if the workflow is not found, but we still want to run the next job
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.base_ref || github.ref_name }}  # base ref for PR and branch name for push
+          workflow: dispatcher.yml
+          inputs: ${{ steps.inputs.outputs.primary_inputs }}
+          token: ${{ github.token }}
+
+    outputs:
+      destination: ${{ steps.prepare.outputs.destination }}
+      target: ${{ steps.prepare.outputs.target }}
+      files: ${{ steps.prepare.outputs.files }}
+      reports_markdown: ${{ steps.prepare.outputs.reports_markdown }}
+      matrix: ${{ steps.prepare.outputs.matrix }}
+
+  qodana:
+    if: ${{ needs.qodana_initial_check.outputs.files != '' }}
+    needs: [qodana_initial_check]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix: ${{ fromJson(needs.qodana_initial_check.outputs.matrix) }}
+    name: Qodana-Scan-${{ matrix.language }}
+    continue-on-error: true
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+
+      - name: Get baseline
+        id: baseline
+        run: |
+          # check if destination is not an integer
+          if ! [[ "${{ needs.qodana_initial_check.outputs.destination }}" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]
+          then
+            echo "Running for a branch update"
+            echo "baseline_args=" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          else
+            echo "Running for a PR"
+
+            sarif_file=qodana.sarif.json
+            repo=${{ github.event.repository.name }}
+            target=${{ needs.qodana_initial_check.outputs.target }}
+            language=${{ matrix.language }}
+
+            baseline_file="${repo}/${target}/${language}/results/${sarif_file}"
+            baseline_file_url="https://lizardbyte.github.io/qodana-reports/${baseline_file}"
+
+            # don't fail if file does not exist
+            wget ${baseline_file_url} || true
+
+            # check if file exists
+            if [ -f ${sarif_file} ]
+            then
+              echo "baseline exists"
+              echo "baseline_args=--baseline,${sarif_file}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            else
+              echo "baseline does not exist"
+              echo "baseline_args=" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            fi
+          fi
+
+      - name: Rename Qodana config file
+        id: rename
+        run: |
+          # rename the file
+          if [ "${{ matrix.file }}" != "./qodana.yaml" ]
+          then
+            mv -f ${{ matrix.file }} ./qodana.yaml
+          fi
+
+      - name: Qodana
+        id: qodana
+        continue-on-error: true  # ensure dispatch-qodana job is run
+        uses: JetBrains/qodana-action@v2023.2.6
+        with:
+          additional-cache-hash: ${{ github.ref }}-${{ matrix.language }}
+          artifact-name: qodana-${{ matrix.language }}  # yamllint disable-line rule:line-length
+          args: '--print-problems,${{ steps.baseline.outputs.baseline_args }}'
+          pr-mode: false
+          upload-result: true
+          use-caches: true
+
+      - name: Set output status
+        id: status
+        run: |
+          # check if qodana failed
+          echo "qodana_status=${{ steps.qodana.outcome }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+    outputs:
+      qodana_status: ${{ steps.status.outputs.qodana_status }}
+
+  dispatch-qodana:
+    # trigger qodana-reports to download artifacts from the matrix runs
+    needs: [qodana_initial_check, qodana]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: Dispatch Qodana
+    permissions:
+      actions: write  # required to use workflow dispatch on fork PRs
+    if: ${{ needs.qodana_initial_check.outputs.files != '' }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Setup qodana publish inputs
+        id: inputs
+        run: |
+          # get the artifacts
+          artifacts=${{ toJson(steps.artifacts.outputs.result) }}
+          artifacts=$(echo $artifacts | jq -c .)
+
+          # get the target branch
+          target=${{ needs.qodana_initial_check.outputs.target }}
+
+          # get the destination branch
+          destination=${{ needs.qodana_initial_check.outputs.destination }}
+
+          # client payload
+          secondary_inputs=$(echo '{
+            "destination": "'"${destination}"'",
+            "ref": "'"${{ github.ref }}"'",
+            "repo": "'"${{ github.repository }}"'",
+            "repo_name": "'"${{ github.event.repository.name }}"'",
+            "run_id": "'"${{ github.run_id }}"'",
+            "reports_markdown": "'"${{ needs.qodana_initial_check.outputs.reports_markdown }}"'",
+            "status": "'"${{ needs.qodana.outputs.qodana_status }}"'"
+          }' | jq -r .)
+
+          #escape json control characters
+          secondary_inputs=$(jq -n --arg secondary_inputs "$secondary_inputs" '$secondary_inputs' \
+            | sed -e 's/\\/\\\\/g' -e 's/"/\\"/g')
+
+          echo $secondary_inputs
+
+          primary_inputs=$(echo '{
+            "dispatch_repository": "'"${{ github.repository_owner }}/qodana-reports"'",
+            "dispatch_workflow": "'"dispatch-qodana.yml"'",
+            "dispatch_ref": "'"master"'",
+            "dispatch_inputs": "'"$secondary_inputs"'"
+          }' | jq -c .)
+
+          echo $primary_inputs
+          echo $primary_inputs | jq .
+          echo "primary_inputs=$primary_inputs" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Workflow Dispatch
+        uses: benc-uk/workflow-dispatch@v1.2.2
+        continue-on-error: true  # this might error if the workflow is not found, but we don't want to fail the workflow
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.base_ref || github.ref_name }}  # base ref for PR and branch name for push
+          workflow: dispatcher.yml
+          inputs: ${{ steps.inputs.outputs.primary_inputs }}
+          token: ${{ github.token }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bedd996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+---
+# This action is centrally managed in https://github.com/<organization>/.github/
+# Don't make changes to this file in this repo as they will be overwritten with changes made to the same file in
+# the above-mentioned repo.
+
+# This workflow will analyze all supported languages in the repository using CodeQL Analysis.
+
+name: "CodeQL"
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: ["master", "nightly"]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: ["master", "nightly"]
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '00 12 * * 0'  # every Sunday at 12:00 UTC
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  languages:
+    name: Get language matrix
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      matrix: ${{ steps.lang.outputs.result }}
+      continue: ${{ steps.continue.outputs.result }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Get repo languages
+        uses: actions/github-script@v6
+        id: lang
+        with:
+          script: |
+            // CodeQL supports ['cpp', 'csharp', 'go', 'java', 'javascript', 'python', 'ruby', 'swift']
+            // Use only 'java' to analyze code written in Java, Kotlin or both
+            // Use only 'javascript' to analyze code written in JavaScript, TypeScript or both
+            // Learn more about CodeQL language support at https://aka.ms/codeql-docs/language-support
+            const supported_languages = ['cpp', 'csharp', 'go', 'java', 'javascript', 'python', 'ruby', 'swift']
+
+            const remap_languages = {
+              'c++': 'cpp',
+              'c#': 'csharp',
+              'kotlin': 'java',
+              'typescript': 'javascript',
+            }
+
+            const repo = context.repo
+            const response = await github.rest.repos.listLanguages(repo)
+            let matrix = {
+              "include": []
+            }
+
+            for (let [key, value] of Object.entries(response.data)) {
+              // remap language
+              if (remap_languages[key.toLowerCase()]) {
+                console.log(`Remapping language: ${key} to ${remap_languages[key.toLowerCase()]}`)
+                key = remap_languages[key.toLowerCase()]
+              }
+              if (supported_languages.includes(key.toLowerCase()) &&
+                  !matrix['include'].includes({"language": key.toLowerCase()})) {
+                console.log(`Found supported language: ${key}`)
+                matrix['include'].push({"language": key.toLowerCase()})
+              }
+            }
+
+            // print languages
+            console.log(`matrix: ${JSON.stringify(matrix)}`)
+
+            return matrix
+
+      - name: Continue
+        uses: actions/github-script@v6
+        id: continue
+        with:
+          script: |
+            // if matrix['include'] is an empty list return false, otherwise true
+            const matrix = ${{ steps.lang.outputs.result }}  // this is already json encoded
+
+            if (matrix['include'].length == 0) {
+              return false
+            } else {
+              return true
+            }
+
+  analyze:
+    name: Analyze
+    if: ${{ needs.languages.outputs.continue == 'true' }}
+    needs: [languages]
+    runs-on: ${{ (matrix.language == 'swift' && 'macos-latest') || 'ubuntu-latest' }}
+    timeout-minutes: ${{ (matrix.language == 'swift' && 120) || 360 }}
+    permissions:
+      actions: read
+      contents: read
+      security-events: write
+
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix: ${{ fromJson(needs.languages.outputs.matrix) }}
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+
+      # Initializes the CodeQL tools for scanning.
+      - name: Initialize CodeQL
+        uses: github/codeql-action/init@v2
+        with:
+          languages: ${{ matrix.language }}
+          # If you wish to specify custom queries, you can do so here or in a config file.
+          # By default, queries listed here will override any specified in a config file.
+          # Prefix the list here with "+" to use these queries and those in the config file.
+
+          # yamllint disable-line rule:line-length
+          # For more details on CodeQL's query packs, refer to: https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/code-scanning/automatically-scanning-your-code-for-vulnerabilities-and-errors/configuring-code-scanning#using-queries-in-ql-packs
+          # queries: security-extended,security-and-quality
+
+      # Pre autobuild
+      # create a file named .codeql-prebuild-${{ matrix.language }}.sh in the root of your repository
+      - name: Prebuild
+        run: |
+          # check if .qodeql-prebuild-${{ matrix.language }}.sh exists
+          if [ -f "./.codeql-prebuild-${{ matrix.language }}.sh" ]; then
+            echo "Running .codeql-prebuild-${{ matrix.language }}.sh"
+            ./.codeql-prebuild-${{ matrix.language }}.sh
+          fi
+
+      # Autobuild attempts to build any compiled languages (C/C++, C#, Go, Java, or Swift).
+      - name: Autobuild
+        uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@v2
+
+      - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
+        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v2
+        with:
+          category: "/language:${{matrix.language}}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dispatcher.yml b/.github/workflows/dispatcher.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c83a233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/dispatcher.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+---
+# This action is centrally managed in https://github.com/<organization>/.github/
+# Don't make changes to this file in this repo as they will be overwritten with changes made to the same file in
+# the above-mentioned repo.
+
+# This action receives a dispatch event and passes it through to another repo. This is a workaround to avoid issues
+# where fork PRs do not have access to secrets.
+
+name: Dispatcher
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      dispatch_repository:
+        description: 'Repository to dispatch to'
+        required: true
+      dispatch_workflow:
+        description: 'Workflow to dispatch to'
+        required: true
+      dispatch_ref:
+        description: 'Ref/branch to dispatch to'
+        required: true
+      dispatch_inputs:
+        description: 'Inputs to send'
+        required: true
+
+jobs:
+  dispatcher:
+    name: Repository Dispatch
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Unescape JSON control characters
+        id: inputs
+        run: |
+          # get the inputs
+          dispatch_inputs=${{ github.event.inputs.dispatch_inputs }}
+          echo "$dispatch_inputs"
+
+          # temporarily replace newlines with a placeholder
+          dispatch_inputs=$(echo ${dispatch_inputs} | sed 's/\\\\n/_!new_line!_/g')
+
+          # remove newline characters
+          dispatch_inputs=$(echo ${dispatch_inputs} | sed 's/\\n//g')
+
+          # replace placeholder with newline
+          dispatch_inputs=$(echo ${dispatch_inputs} | sed 's/_!new_line!_/\\n/g')
+
+          # replace escaped quotes with unescaped quotes
+          dispatch_inputs=$(echo ${dispatch_inputs} | sed 's/\\"//g')
+
+          # debug echo
+          echo "$dispatch_inputs"
+
+          # parse as JSON
+          dispatch_inputs=$(echo "$dispatch_inputs" | jq -c .)
+
+          # debug echo
+          echo "$dispatch_inputs"
+
+          echo "dispatch_inputs=$dispatch_inputs" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+      - name: Workflow Dispatch
+        uses: benc-uk/workflow-dispatch@v1.2.2
+        with:
+          repo: ${{ github.event.inputs.dispatch_repository }}
+          ref: ${{ github.event.inputs.dispatch_ref || 'master' }}  # default to master if not specified
+          workflow: ${{ github.event.inputs.dispatch_workflow }}
+          inputs: ${{ steps.inputs.outputs.dispatch_inputs }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.GH_BOT_TOKEN || github.token }}  # fallback to default token if not specified
diff --git a/.github/workflows/issues-stale.yml b/.github/workflows/issues-stale.yml
index 5fe1d77..3ba3886 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/issues-stale.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/issues-stale.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Stale
-        uses: actions/stale@v7
+        uses: actions/stale@v8
         with:
           close-issue-message: >
             This issue was closed because it has been stalled for 10 days with no activity.
@@ -31,16 +31,19 @@ jobs:
           exempt-pr-labels: 'dependencies,l10n'
           stale-issue-label: 'stale'
           stale-issue-message: >
-            This issue is stale because it has been open for 90 days with no activity.
-            Comment or remove the stale label, otherwise this will be closed in 10 days.
+            :wave: @{issue-author}, It seems this issue hasn't had any activity in the past 90 days.
+            If it's still something you'd like addressed, please let us know by leaving a comment.
+            Otherwise, to help keep our backlog tidy, we'll be closing this issue in 10 days. Thanks!
           stale-pr-label: 'stale'
           stale-pr-message: >
-            This PR is stale because it has been open for 90 days with no activity.
-            Comment or remove the stale label, otherwise this will be closed in 10 days.
+            :wave: @{issue-author}, It looks like this PR has been idle for 90 days.
+            If it's still something you're working on or would like to pursue,
+            please leave a comment or update your branch.
+            Otherwise, we'll be closing this PR in 10 days to reduce our backlog. Thanks!
           repo-token: ${{ secrets.GH_BOT_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Invalid Template
-        uses: actions/stale@v7
+        uses: actions/stale@v8
         with:
           close-issue-message: >
             This issue was closed because the the template was not completed after 5 days.
@@ -48,7 +51,6 @@ jobs:
             This PR was closed because the the template was not completed after 5 days.
           days-before-stale: 0
           days-before-close: 5
-          exempt-pr-labels: 'dependencies,l10n'
           only-labels: 'invalid:template-incomplete'
           stale-issue-label: 'invalid:template-incomplete'
           stale-issue-message: >
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pull-requests.yml b/.github/workflows/pull-requests.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 5824387..0000000
--- a/.github/workflows/pull-requests.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
----
-# This action is centrally managed in https://github.com/<organization>/.github/
-# Don't make changes to this file in this repo as they will be overwritten with changes made to the same file in
-# the above-mentioned repo.
-
-# Ensure PRs are made against `nightly` branch.
-
-name: Pull Requests
-
-on:
-  pull_request_target:
-    types: [opened, synchronize, edited, reopened]
-
-# no concurrency for pull_request_target events
-
-jobs:
-  check-pull-request:
-    name: Check Pull Request
-    if: startsWith(github.repository, 'LizardByte/')
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: Vankka/pr-target-branch-action@v2
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-        with:
-          target: master
-          exclude: nightly  # Don't prevent going from nightly -> master
-          change-to: nightly
-          comment: |
-            Your PR was set to `master`, PRs should be sent to `nightly`.
-            The base branch of this PR has been automatically changed to `nightly`.
-            Please check that there are no merge conflicts
diff --git a/.github/workflows/yaml-lint.yml b/.github/workflows/yaml-lint.yml
index 6327d5d..7e1fd46 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/yaml-lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/yaml-lint.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Find additional files
         id: find-files