Release

Cut a new release. Releases are a two-step process:

1. Branch cut → staging bake: create-release-branch.yml computes the version from the bump type, deletes any stale release/v<X.Y.Z> branch, cuts a fresh one from main HEAD with the version-bump commit, and pushes it. That push triggers a Release run on the branch which is a staging deploy (push-triggered and main-dispatched Release runs are always staging).
2. Production: dispatching release.yml on the release/v<X.Y.Z> branch runs the full production release — tag, GitHub Release, DMG sign/notarize/publish, npm packages, Docker Hub images, iOS TestFlight, platform dependency bump, and the merge-back of the release branch to main.

Step 1 is a manual workflow_dispatch of create-release-branch.yml (the Tue/Thu 7:52am ET cron is disabled). A human performs step 2 after the staging bake is green. A release/v<X.Y.Z> branch with no corresponding GitHub Release means a cut was never promoted. Re-running step 1 refreshes it from current main.

The user may pass $ARGUMENTS as the bump type for step 1: patch, minor, major, or hotfix (patch cut from the latest release tag's commit instead of main, pushed [skip ci] for manual cherry-picks). Default to patch.

Steps

1. Pull latest main and show the payload

bashCopy code
git checkout main && git pull
git describe --tags --abbrev=0
git log --oneline "$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)"..origin/main | head -20

Confirm with the user before proceeding unless they already asked for the release explicitly.

2. Cut the release branch (staging bake)

bashCopy code
gh workflow run create-release-branch.yml \
  --repo vellum-ai/vellum-assistant \
  --ref main \
  --field bump=<patch|minor|major|hotfix>

Then wait for the branch cut and find the staging Release run its push triggered:

bashCopy code
gh run list --workflow="Create Release Branch" --limit 1
gh run list --workflow=Release --branch "release/v<X.Y.Z>" --limit 1

The version appears in the branch name; the staging run takes ~15-20 minutes. Wait for it to succeed — it is the CI bake for the exact release payload. If it fails, fix main and re-run this step (it recuts the branch from main HEAD).

3. Dispatch the production release

bashCopy code
gh workflow run release.yml \
  --repo vellum-ai/vellum-assistant \
  --ref "release/v<X.Y.Z>"

The only dispatch input is the optional slack_user_id (--field slack_user_id=U…) for the release notification; omit it when unknown.

4. Verify

The production run takes ~20 minutes. When it completes:

bashCopy code
gh release list --limit 1        # v<X.Y.Z> should be Latest
git fetch --tags && git tag -l "v<X.Y.Z>"
git log --oneline origin/main -1 # merge-back commit "Release v<X.Y.Z>"

If the merge-back to main failed, the run's Slack notification includes the manual-merge command.

5. Report

Output:

• The version number and a link to the production run
• Confirmation that the GitHub Release, tag, and merge-back all landed