OneCAD-Simulation/docs/releasing.md

Releasing FieldCraft

Releases are deliberate. Development lands on develop, the trunk; main holds released code only. Fast-forwarding main to the chosen, verified develop commit builds every package and creates a draft GitHub Release; a maintainer verifies the draft and publishes it. Pushes to develop and tags never start a release, and nothing bumps the version automatically. The workflow is .github/workflows/release.yml; the packaging scripts are in packaging/ and run the same way on a developer machine.

What a release contains

Platform	Files	Script
macOS 11+, universal (arm64 + x86_64)	fieldcraft-<v>-macos-universal.dmg (FieldCraft.app on a drag-to-Applications image), fieldcraft-cli-<v>-macos-universal.zip	packaging/macos/package.sh
Linux x86_64, glibc 2.35+	fieldcraft-<v>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz (bin/, share/), fieldcraft-<v>-linux-x86_64.AppImage, fieldcraft_<v>_amd64.deb (Debian, Ubuntu 22.04+), fieldcraft-<v>.x86_64.rpm (Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE)	packaging/linux/package.sh
Windows x64	fieldcraft-<v>-windows-x64.zip (fieldcraft.exe, fieldcraft-cli.exe)	packaging/windows/package.ps1

Plus SHA256SUMS.txt, its signature SHA256SUMS.txt.minisig (below), and the notes from .github/release-notes.md followed by GitHub's generated list of changes. Every package carries README.md, LICENSE-MIT, LICENSE-APACHE, NOTICE and THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.txt (on macOS in FieldCraft.app/Contents/Resources/Licenses). The application id is io.github.jyviko.fieldcraft: the macOS bundle id, the Linux .desktop entry and icon name, and the window's Wayland app_id / X11 class. The icons come from assets/app-icon: icon.icns and Assets.car (macOS 26 and later) in the app bundle, icon.ico embedded in fieldcraft.exe (apps/fieldcraft/build.rs), the iconset PNGs as the Linux hicolor icons.

The .deb and .rpm are built by cargo-deb and cargo-generate-rpm (versions pinned in release.yml) from the same stripped release binaries as the tar.gz, with the same files under /usr (/usr/bin, the desktop entry, the hicolor icons, the licences in /usr/share/doc/fieldcraft); their metadata and file lists are in apps/fieldcraft/Cargo.toml. The binaries link only glibc; the windowing, GPU and file-dialog libraries they open at run time are listed as dependencies by hand (Debian package names, RPM soname capabilities). A pre-release 0.2.0-rc.1 is versioned 0.2.0~rc.1 inside the packages so it sorts before 0.2.0; the file names keep the release version. The Linux job compares both file lists with the tar.gz, runs lintian, and installs the packages in Ubuntu 22.04 and Fedora containers to run fieldcraft-cli --version.

Signing

macOS. When the repository has the secrets below, the app, the dmg and the CLI are signed with a Developer ID (hardened runtime, packaging/macos/entitlements.plist) and notarized, and the tickets are stapled. Without them the build is ad-hoc signed, which runs on Apple silicon but which Gatekeeper blocks on first launch until the user right-clicks › Open; a run warns about it, and the release notes say which of the two the draft contains.

Secret	What it is
APPLE_CERTIFICATE	The "Developer ID Application" certificate with its private key, exported as .p12 and base64-encoded (base64 -i cert.p12 | pbcopy)
APPLE_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD	The .p12's password
KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD	Optional: the temporary CI keychain's password (random when unset)
APPLE_ID	The Apple ID used for notarization
APPLE_PASSWORD	An app-specific password for that Apple ID (appleid.apple.com › Sign-In and Security)
APPLE_TEAM_ID	The 10-character team id of the Developer ID

Add them to the release environment (Where the secrets live) with gh secret set <NAME> --env release -R jyviko/fieldcraft. With the certificate but without the three notarization secrets the app is signed and not notarized. A dmg made locally with packaging/macos/package.sh is ad-hoc signed unless MACOS_SIGN_IDENTITY names an identity in the keychain.

The release key (updates). The app installs a release only when SHA256SUMS.txt is signed with the FieldCraft release key (updates.md): an Ed25519 key in minisign's format. Its public half is built into the app (fieldcraft_update::PUBLIC_KEY in crates/update/src/lib.rs):

untrusted comment: minisign public key: FEF410EFEF5BAB21
RWQhq1vv7xD0/uAOt8fqERP1hP+1UCM9U9QHTDYTYytWKiuedTkT7Lgr

The secret half is the release environment secret FIELDCRAFT_SIGNING_KEY: the whole secret key file (two lines), made without a password. With it, the release job signs SHA256SUMS.txt with rsign2 (pinned in release.yml), checks the signature against the public key in the source, and uploads SHA256SUMS.txt.minisig. Without it the draft is built unsigned, the run warns, and the notes say the app cannot install that release itself (users download it from the page). Anyone can check a release by hand with minisign -Vm SHA256SUMS.txt -P RWQhq1vv7xD0/uAOt8fqERP1hP+1UCM9U9QHTDYTYytWKiuedTkT7Lgr.

Setting it up, once:

cargo install --locked rsign2 --version 0.6.7
rsign generate -W -p fieldcraft-release.pub -s fieldcraft-release.key   # -W: no password
gh secret set FIELDCRAFT_SIGNING_KEY --env release -R jyviko/fieldcraft < fieldcraft-release.key

Keep an offline copy of the secret key file (a password manager, an encrypted backup) and delete it from the working machine. Never commit it.

Rotating it (a key that leaked, or a planned change): generate a new pair, put the new public key into PUBLIC_KEY and the block above, re-sign crates/update/tests/data/SHA256SUMS.txt with it (rsign sign -W -s <new key> -x crates/update/tests/data/SHA256SUMS.txt.minisig crates/update/tests/data/SHA256SUMS.txt, which a test checks), release that version, and only then replace the secret. Copies that still carry the old public key cannot verify releases signed with the new one: they still show the update, but Install refuses it ("not signed by the FieldCraft release key"), and a download from the release page brings the new key. If the old key leaked, also delete the secret at once (releases go out unsigned until the new one is in place) and say so in the next release notes.

Linux and Windows builds are not signed; the checksums are the integrity check. On Windows SmartScreen warns about an unsigned download (More info › Run anyway) until a code-signing certificate is added.

Usage analytics key

The release builds (macOS, Linux and Windows jobs) build in the PostHog project key from the release environment secret POSTHOG_KEY as FIELDCRAFT_POSTHOG_KEY (privacy.md). Without the secret the builds ask nothing and send nothing, as local, fork and dry-run builds do. The web build on Pages gets the key only when it runs from main: its build job then runs in the release environment (the deploy job already uses github-pages, and a job has one environment).

Where the secrets live

Every release secret (the APPLE_* secrets, KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD, FIELDCRAFT_SIGNING_KEY, POSTHOG_KEY) is a secret of the GitHub Environment release, whose deployment branches allow main only. Repository secrets are readable by any workflow a writer can run on any branch; environment secrets reach only jobs that name the environment and run from an allowed branch, so a contributor with write access cannot read the signing keys from a branch of their own. The jobs that read them (release.yml's macos, linux, windows and release jobs, pages.yml's build job) ask for release only on main (environment: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && 'release' || '' }}); elsewhere the name is empty, the job runs in no environment, sees no secrets and builds unsigned. .github/CODEOWNERS keeps the workflows, packaging and updater under the owner's review.

Moving them from repository secrets, once (the owner; each value comes from its own source file, never the shell history):

for n in APPLE_CERTIFICATE APPLE_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD APPLE_ID APPLE_PASSWORD \
         APPLE_TEAM_ID FIELDCRAFT_SIGNING_KEY POSTHOG_KEY; do
  gh secret set "$n" --env release -R jyviko/fieldcraft < "$n.txt"
done
gh secret list --env release -R jyviko/fieldcraft     # all eight listed
# After a release run on main has signed with them:
for n in APPLE_CERTIFICATE APPLE_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD APPLE_ID APPLE_PASSWORD \
         APPLE_TEAM_ID FIELDCRAFT_SIGNING_KEY POSTHOG_KEY; do
  gh secret delete "$n" -R jyviko/fieldcraft
done

Choose and prepare the version

1. Look at the previous published release (gh release list -R jyviko/fieldcraft) and the changes since it, and choose one version for the batch: a patch for compatible fixes; a minor for new capabilities, and while on 0.x also for breaking changes (say what breaks in the notes); -rc.N for a release candidate. 1.0 is the owner's decision.
2. Set [workspace.package] version in the root Cargo.toml and run cargo update --workspace --offline, which changes only the workspace crates' versions in Cargo.lock. Land it on develop through a pull request like any change, and let CI on develop pass. Note the commit to release.

Build the draft

git fetch origin
git push origin <commit>:main      # fast-forward main to the verified develop commit

main holds released code only: it moves only by fast-forwarding to a verified develop commit (a maintainer push; the branch is protected), never by merges, rewrites or force-pushes. The run builds the three platforms; when all succeed, the last job checks that every file is there, writes SHA256SUMS.txt and the notes, and creates the draft FieldCraft v<version> targeting the pushed commit. Pushing main again with the same version rebuilds and replaces the draft's files (its notes are kept). The job refuses a version whose tag exists or whose release is already published: bump the version instead.

Verify and publish

Publishing is a maintainer's call; an agent preparing a release stops at the draft.

1. Check the run succeeded for the intended commit and the draft targets it (gh release view v<version> -R jyviko/fieldcraft).
2. Download the assets into an empty folder (gh release download v<version> -R jyviko/fieldcraft), run shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS.txt, check the signature (minisign -Vm SHA256SUMS.txt -P <the public key above>, or rsign verify -P …), and check every platform's files are there.
3. Smoke-test what you can run: open the dmg, drag the app to Applications, launch it with --sample cantilever; run fieldcraft-cli --version from the zip or tar.gz; on Linux run the AppImage, or install the .deb (sudo apt install ./fieldcraft_<v>_amd64.deb) or .rpm (sudo dnf install ./fieldcraft-<v>.x86_64.rpm); on Windows unzip and start fieldcraft.exe. Look at the run's logs for the platforms you could not try (each job checks its own package).
4. Edit the notes: what is new, fixes, breaking changes, known limitations. Keep the install and signing paragraphs; never claim signing the notes don't state.
5. Publish: gh release edit v<version> -R jyviko/fieldcraft --draft=false --latest (a release candidate: --draft=false --prerelease --latest=false). Publishing creates the tag at the draft's commit; never push release tags by hand.

Dry runs

gh workflow run release.yml -R jyviko/fieldcraft --ref <branch> builds every package and uploads them with the notes as the release-assets artifact of the run, without creating a release. -f draft=true creates or updates the draft, and is accepted on main only. Locally, packaging/macos/package.sh --arch aarch64 (or x86_64, universal) and packaging/linux/package.sh write to dist/release/ (the .deb and .rpm need cargo install --locked cargo-deb cargo-generate-rpm at the versions in release.yml; --formats "tar appimage" skips them).