RELEASE_RUNBOOK.md

CodeWhale Release Runbook

This runbook is the source of truth for shipping Rust crates, GitHub release assets, and the codewhale npm wrapper.

Current packaging note:

• codewhale-tui is the live runtime crate shipped to users today.
• codewhale-app-server is a supporting library crate. The shipped entrypoint is codewhale app-server; do not add or publish a standalone app-server binary.

Canonical Publish Targets

• End-user crates:
  • codewhale-tui
  • codewhale-cli
• Supporting crates published from this workspace:
  • codewhale-secrets
  • codewhale-config
  • codewhale-protocol
  • codewhale-state
  • codewhale-agent
  • codewhale-execpolicy
  • codewhale-hooks
  • codewhale-mcp
  • codewhale-tools
  • codewhale-core
  • codewhale-app-server
  • codewhale-whaleflow

Version Coordination

• Rust crates inherit the shared workspace version from Cargo.toml.
• Internal path dependency versions should match the shared workspace version; stale older pins are release blockers once the workspace version moves.
• The npm wrapper version lives in npm/codewhale/package.json.
• codewhaleBinaryVersion controls which GitHub release binaries the npm wrapper downloads.
• Packaging-only npm releases are allowed:
  • bump the npm package version
  • leave codewhaleBinaryVersion pinned to the previously released Rust binaries
  • rerun npm pack smoke checks before npm publish

Preflight

Run these from the repository root before cutting a tag:

./scripts/release/check-versions.sh   # version drift between workspace, npm, lockfile
cargo fmt --all -- --check
cargo check --workspace --all-targets --locked
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --all-features --locked -- -D warnings
cargo test --workspace --all-features --locked
cargo publish --dry-run --locked --allow-dirty -p codewhale-tui
./scripts/release/publish-crates.sh dry-run

check-versions.sh also runs in CI on every push/PR (the versions job in .github/workflows/ci.yml), so drift between Cargo.toml, the per-crate manifests, npm/codewhale/package.json, and Cargo.lock is caught before release time rather than at it.

The source-controlled CNB pipeline mirrors the heavy Linux version/fmt/check/ clippy/test/npm-smoke gates for fix/*, rebrand/*, work/v*, and main. GitHub Actions keeps the cheap drift/fmt statuses plus macOS and Windows coverage, while CNB carries the Linux work.

publish-crates.sh dry-run performs a full cargo publish --dry-run for crates without unpublished workspace dependencies and a packaging preflight for dependent workspace crates. That avoids false negatives from crates.io not yet containing the new workspace version while still validating package contents before publish.

For npm wrapper verification, build the two shipped binaries and run the cross-platform smoke harness. This packs the npm wrapper, installs it into a clean temporary project, serves local release assets over HTTP, and checks both the dispatcher-to-TUI path (codewhale doctor --help) and the direct TUI entrypoint (codewhale-tui --help).

cargo build --release --locked -p codewhale-cli -p codewhale-tui
node scripts/release/npm-wrapper-smoke.js

Set DEEPSEEK_TUI_KEEP_SMOKE_DIR=1 to keep the temporary pack/install directory for inspection.

To exercise npm run release:check locally as well, regenerate the local asset directory with a full asset matrix fixture before starting the server:

DEEPSEEK_TUI_PREPARE_ALL_ASSETS=1 node scripts/release/prepare-local-release-assets.js
cd npm/codewhale
DEEPSEEK_TUI_VERSION=X.Y.Z DEEPSEEK_TUI_RELEASE_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8123/ npm run release:check

Set DEEPSEEK_TUI_VERSION to the npm package version you are verifying for that local run.

The CNB workflow runs the Linux tarball install + delegated-entrypoint smoke test; GitHub Actions keeps macOS and Windows smoke coverage.

After publishing, prove the release is visible in both registries:

./scripts/release/check-published.sh X.Y.Z

Do not mark a Rust release complete until that command sees codewhale@X.Y.Z on npm and every codewhale-* crate at X.Y.Z on crates.io. For a rare npm packaging-only release, run with --allow-npm-binary-mismatch and keep the release notes explicit that no new Rust binary version shipped.

Post-Merge Branch Hygiene

After a release or scratch integration branch lands, run the branch hygiene helper before pruning anything:

./scripts/release/branch-hygiene.sh --release-branch codex/vX.Y.Z

The default mode is a dry run. It reports the current checkout branch, main ref, local and remote release tips, safe local or remote branch deletes, branches kept for contributor work, and branches that still need a human decision. Review that report before running --prune --yes, and add --prune-remote only when you have confirmed the remote branches are safe to delete.

Use --remote upstream when you are working from a fork and the canonical release refs live on the upstream remote instead of origin.

Verify the helper itself after changing it:

bash scripts/release/branch-hygiene.test.sh
bash scripts/release/ensure-release-on-main.test.sh

Those scripts are pinned to LF line endings so the same command works from a Windows checkout under Bash.

Rust Crates Release

Crate publishing to crates.io is manual — there is no automated crates-publish GitHub workflow. Operators run the helpers in scripts/release/ from a developer workstation that has cargo login configured.

Release commits must land on main before any vX.Y.Z tag is pushed. Do not tag a release-only branch. Open the release PR against main, let required review and CI finish, merge it, then tag the commit that is reachable from main or let auto-tag.yml create that tag after the version bump reaches main. This is what lets GitHub process Closes #N lines automatically and show the release PR as merged. The tag release workflow runs scripts/release/ensure-release-on-main.sh for tag pushes and manual dispatches, and fails branch-only release sources before assets are published.

1. Write the CHANGELOG entry, then run ./scripts/release/prepare-release.sh X.Y.Z — it bumps every version-bearing file (workspace + crate pins + npm wrapper + README install tags), refreshes the lockfile and generated files, and runs check-versions.sh.
2. Run ./scripts/release/publish-crates.sh dry-run locally; it must be clean.
3. Merge the release PR into main before tagging. The normal path is to push the version bump PR to main and let auto-tag.yml create vX.Y.Z from the main commit; see the npm wrapper release section below for the RELEASE_TAG_PAT requirement.
4. Publish crates in this order with ./scripts/release/publish-crates.sh publish:
   • codewhale-mcp
   • codewhale-protocol
   • codewhale-release
   • codewhale-secrets
   • codewhale-state
   • codewhale-whaleflow
   • codewhale-execpolicy
   • codewhale-hooks
   • codewhale-tools
   • codewhale-config
   • codewhale-agent
   • codewhale-tui
   • codewhale-core
   • codewhale-app-server
   • codewhale-cli
5. Wait for each published crate version to appear on crates.io before publishing dependents.

The publish helper is idempotent for reruns: already-published crate versions are skipped.

GitHub Release Assets

.github/workflows/release.yml builds these binaries:

• codewhale-linux-x64
• codewhale-macos-x64
• codewhale-macos-arm64
• codewhale-windows-x64.exe
• codewhale-tui-linux-x64
• codewhale-tui-macos-x64
• codewhale-tui-macos-arm64
• codewhale-tui-windows-x64.exe

The release job also uploads codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt. The npm installer and release verification script both depend on that checksum manifest.

npm Wrapper Release

The npm publish step is manual. release.yml no longer runs npm publish because the npm account requires 2FA OTP on every publish, and an automation token that bypasses 2FA has not been provisioned. The GitHub Release flow remains fully automated; only the npm wrapper publish requires a developer on a workstation with npm login and an authenticator app.

Steps

1. Set the npm package version in npm/codewhale/package.json to match the workspace Cargo.toml. CI's version-drift guard will catch mismatches before tag.
2. Set codewhaleBinaryVersion to the GitHub release tag that should supply binaries.
3. Push the version bump to main. auto-tag.yml creates the matching vX.Y.Z tag, and release.yml builds the binary matrix and drafts the GitHub Release.
4. Wait for the GitHub Release to finalize with all eight signed binaries plus codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt. The npm prepublishOnly hook (scripts/verify-release-assets.js) requires every asset to be present.
5. From a developer machine, publish the npm wrapper manually:

cd npm/codewhale
npm publish --access public
# (you will be prompted for the npm OTP from your authenticator)

Why not automated?

• release.yml's old publish-npm job used secrets.NPM_TOKEN, but npm's 2FA-by-default policy means a publish token must be either an automation token with "Bypass 2FA for token authentication" enabled OR an account-level 2FA-disabled state. We don't have either configured.
• The standalone publish-npm.yml and crates-publish.yml workflows have been removed; no inert automation plumbing remains. A future move to npm Trusted Publishing (OIDC) would re-introduce a dedicated workflow at that point.

If you fix the token later

To re-enable automated publish: provision an npm automation token with "Bypass 2FA for token authentication" enabled (or set up npm Trusted Publishing via OIDC), store the corresponding secret on the repo, and re-add a publish-npm job to release.yml (or a dedicated workflow) along with reverting this section's "manual" framing.

CNB Cool mirror

Every push to main, fix/*, rebrand/*, work/v*, and every v* tag is mirrored to cnb.cool/codewhale.net/codewhale via the Sync to CNB workflow so users behind GitHub-blocking networks can fetch the source and so CNB can run the heavy Linux CI lane. After a release tag, verify the mirror caught it before declaring the release shipped:

git ls-remote https://cnb.cool/codewhale.net/codewhale.git refs/tags/vX.Y.Z

If the workflow failed for the release tag, the manual fallback is documented in docs/CNB_MIRROR.md (one-time git remote add cnb …, then git push cnb vX.Y.Z).

Recovery and Rollback

• User-facing rollback:
  • npm: npm install -g codewhale@X.Y.Z
  • Cargo: cargo install codewhale-cli --version X.Y.Z --locked --force and cargo install codewhale-tui --version X.Y.Z --locked --force
  • manual assets: download binaries or the platform archive plus the matching codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt or codewhale-bundles-sha256.txt manifest from https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/tag/vX.Y.Z
  • workspace files: use /restore list [N] and /restore <N> for side-git snapshots; this does not change the installed binary version or rewrite conversation history
  • keep docs/INSTALL.md in sync with these commands
• Crates publish partially:
  • rerun ./scripts/release/publish-crates.sh publish
  • already-published crate versions will be skipped
• GitHub assets missing or checksum manifest incomplete:
  • fix .github/workflows/release.yml
  • retag or upload corrected assets before npm publish
• npm packaging-only problem:
  • bump only the npm package version
  • keep codewhaleBinaryVersion on the last known-good Rust release
  • repack and republish the wrapper
• A bad npm publish cannot be overwritten:
  • publish a new npm version with corrected metadata or install logic
• CNB mirror failed for the release tag:
  • check the run via gh run list --workflow=sync-cnb.yml
  • retrigger with gh workflow run sync-cnb.yml, or push the tag manually per docs/CNB_MIRROR.md