Release process

Reproducible steps to cut an Chronacta release. Assumes compatibility policy and compatibility architecture.

Roles

Role	Responsibility
Release owner	Tag, notes, release checklist
Reviewer	Confirms breaking-change checklist

For solo development, same person performs both with explicit checklist.

Version numbering

Choose next version per SemVer (compatibility architecture).
Create an annotated git tag for the release, for example v1.1.0.
Release notes reference tag; binaries built from that commit.

Build-time version strings come from const Version in internal/version/version.go; Makefile only injects commit and build time (see versioning.md).

Pre-release checks

From repository root at release commit:

make proto test test-race vet build

Additional checks when HA or integration touched:

go test ./pkg/server/ -run 'Replication|HA|Cluster|Partition' -count=1

Optional (recommended before minor/major):

make bench-smoke
CHRONACTA_SYNC_WRITES=true make bench

See performance methodology.

All commands must exit 0.

Release checklist

Copy for each release:

## Release vX.Y.Z

- [ ] CHANGELOG entry (Added / Changed / Fixed / Deprecated / Breaking)
- [ ] Compatibility classified: wire / disk / none
- [ ] If disk format bumped: migration doc + test referenced
- [ ] If the protobuf contract changes incompatibly: document the new API version and compatibility window
- [ ] `make proto test test-race vet build` green
- [ ] Tag `vX.Y.Z` created
- [ ] Binaries built from tag (see below)
- [ ] Release notes published (GitHub release or internal note)
- [ ] Upgrade guide section added if operator action required

Building release artifacts

Automated (recommended)

make release VERSION=v1.0.0

Produces dist/v1.0.0/:

chronacta-server, chronacta, chronacta-cli, chronacta-admin
sbom.json (CycloneDX)
SHA256SUMS (+ optional SHA256SUMS.asc if GPG key available)
RELEASE.txt

Validate packaging without full release build:

make release-validate

Manual

git checkout vX.Y.Z
make build

Artifacts in bin/:

chronacta-server
chronacta (CLI)
chronacta-admin
chronacta-cli
Example binaries (optional for distribution)

Record in release notes:

Go version from go.mod
Whether auth/TLS/cluster require config flags

CHANGELOG format

File: CHANGELOG.md (create on first stable release if absent).

Sections per Keep a Changelog:

## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
### Changed
### Fixed
### Deprecated
### Removed
### Security

Breaking changes MUST appear under Changed or Removed with Breaking: prefix.

Branch and tag policy (recommended)

main — integration; release checks must pass before tagging.
Release tags on commits that passed the pre-release checks.
Hotfix: branch from tag → fix → vX.Y.Z+1 patch tag.

Post-release

Announce supported upgrade path (upgrade-guide.md).
If HA release: link HA rolling upgrade.
Update docs/README.md current surface if API changed.

Deprecation process

Mark feature deprecated in release notes (minor N).
Document the replacement and removal timeline in the release notes.
Log runtime warning if applicable (optional).
Remove only after documented window.

What blocks a release

Failing pre-release checks
Undocumented breaking disk change
Silent proto semantic change
Known data-loss bug without mitigation note