RELEASE.md

Release Pipeline

This document outlines the release process for Dropbox-Lite, ensuring consistent versioning, branch management, and release creation.

Branch Strategy

main (default branch)
  └── version-1.x.x (major version branch)
       ├── version-1.0.x (minor version branch)
       │    ├── version-1.0.0 (release tag)
       │    ├── version-1.0.1 (patch release tag)
       │    └── ...
       ├── version-1.1.x
       └── ...

Automated Release Process

1. Run the Release Script

   # Execute the release script with the desired version
   ./release.sh <version>
   
   # Example:
   ./release.sh 1.0.0

   The script will automatically:

   • Validate the version number format (x.y.z)
   • Update and pull the main branch
   • Create or checkout the version branch
   • Create the release tag
   • Push the branch and tag to origin

2. Automated GitHub Release

   When the tag is pushed to the repository, GitHub Actions will automatically:

   • Create a new GitHub Release
   • Set the release title to "Release vX.Y.Z"
   • Extract and include the relevant section from CHANGELOG.md
   • Publish the release

   Note: No manual intervention is required for the GitHub Release creation.

Delete a Release

# Execute the delete script with the version to remove
./delete-release.sh <version>

# Example:
./delete-release.sh 1.0.0

The script will:

• Validate the version number format (x.y.z)
• Ask for confirmation before deletion
• Delete local and remote tags (vx.y.z)
• Delete local and remote branches (version-x.y.z)
• Provide feedback for each deletion step

Release Checklist

Before creating a release:

• Documentation is updated
• CHANGELOG.md is updated
• Version numbers are updated in all files
• All dependencies are up to date
• Database migrations (if any) are prepared

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Legacy Manual Release Process (Reference)

The following steps describe the manual release process (kept for reference):

1. Create Version Branch

   # For a new version
   git checkout main
   git checkout -b version-1.x.x

2. Update Version Numbers

   • Update version in frontend/package.json
   • Add new version section in CHANGELOG.md

3. Create Release Commit

   git add .
   git commit -m "chore: prepare release v1.x.x"

4. Create Git Tag

   git tag -a v1.x.x -m "Release version v1.x.x"

5. Push Changes

   # Push the branch
   git push origin version-1.x.x
   
   # Push the tag
   git push origin v1.x.x

6. Github Release

7. Go to GitHub Releases

8. Click "Draft a new release"

9. Choose the tag version that was just created

10. Title: "Release v1.0.0"

11. Description: Copy the relevant section from CHANGELOG.md

12. Mark as latest release if appropriate

13. Publish release