releases.md

Releases and update channels

gstack stamps a version at every merge to main, about a dozen a day. Since late October 2026 there is also a tagged release, cut twice a week, and team-mode installs follow it instead of every merge.

What a release is

Every Monday and Thursday at 14:00 UTC (07:00 Pacific, 06:00 in winter) the Stable release workflow (.github/workflows/weekly-release.yml, which runs scripts/release-cut.ts; the file kept its old name so its run history and the gh workflow run commands below stay valid) takes the newest green commit on main and:

1. tags it v<VERSION> (the VERSION file at that commit, an annotated tag);
2. publishes a GitHub Release whose notes are one line per CHANGELOG version since the previous release, with a compare link and a link to the full CHANGELOG at that tag;
3. fast-forwards the stable branch to it.

A tag and its release never change. stable is a moving pointer: always a commit on main's first-parent history, moved only by this workflow, only forward, and at most once every 72 hours except for a security or regression fix (below).

Green means, on that exact commit: the free-tests check run succeeded (the status main requires), the commit was gated (below), every check run on it has completed and none failed, and refs/notes/gstack-trains holds no active freeze. A cancelled check run counts as red. A commit with a check run still going is skipped and the next older one is considered, back through 7 days or 200 first-parent commits. The workflow runs no tests and no paid evals of its own; it only reads what the trains and the backstop already recorded. With nothing green in the window it fails and lists why each commit was skipped.

Gated means one of two pieces of evidence. The first is the main-backstop check run: the Main backstop gate workflow publishes it on each push to main from a job of its own, success when a green train record covers the tree or the backstop gated it green, neutral when main moved past the push before it was gated (superseded) or a freeze's own backstop run owns it (deferred), failure when it froze the queue or could not finish. The second is a train record in refs/notes/gstack-trains (kind train, state green, merging or merged) whose merged[] lists the commit's sha or its tree: those entries are the main commits gstack-ship-queue verify --train confirmed, so a commit a green train merged is gated even when trains merged faster than the backstop could settle and its own backstop run ended neutral or never ran. The CANDIDATE line says which: gated by main-backstop or gated by train <nonce>. Train evidence relaxes nothing else: a red backstop run, a failed or missing free-tests run, any other red check run or a run still going keeps the commit out, and a record in any other state (red, superseded, free-green, …) is not evidence. A commit with neither a successful backstop run nor a train record is not released: a dependabot push, a policy without a train block, or a tree that was never gated.

Another repository runs the same script with its own names: --required-check <name> (default free-tests), --backstop-check <name> (default main-backstop) and --notes-ref <ref> (default refs/notes/gstack-trains). weekly-release.yml passes none of them.

A cut that stopped half-way (tag and stable pushed, release not created) is finished by the next run, by cron or by hand: stable itself stays a candidate until its release exists, and its notes compare against the release tag before it.

The 72-hour floor

stable moves at most once every 72 hours (Garry, 2026-10-27). Every cut, scheduled or by hand, with or without ref, checks when stable last moved: the creation time of the annotated v<VERSION> tag (VERSION read at stable) pointing at stable, or the publish time of that tag's GitHub Release when it is later (a cut whose stable push was retried after the tag was pushed is dated by its release). Any other tag on that commit is ignored, so a hand-made extra tag can neither date the move nor stall later cuts. A cut inside the floor changes nothing and prints, as its first two lines:

REFUSED_FLOOR: stable moved to v1.91.300.0 at 2026-11-02T14:04:51Z, 47.2 h ago; a hand-run cut needs 72 h; a security fix passes with --security "<GHSA-…|CVE-…|#n>: why" --ref <fix sha>, a regression fix with --regression "#n: worked in v<X>: why" --ref <fix sha>
NEXT_ALLOWED: 2026-11-05T14:04:51Z for a hand-run cut; 2026-11-05T11:04:51Z for a scheduled run

followed by the plan it would have run. Monday to Thursday is exactly 72 hours, so scheduled runs, and only scheduled runs (GITHUB_EVENT_NAME=schedule, which no dispatch input can set), get a 3-hour grace for GitHub's late cron starts: a Thursday run 69 hours after a late Monday cut still cuts. Two regular moves are therefore never less than 69 hours apart, and a hand-run cut always needs the full 72. Thursday to Monday is 96 hours.

A refused hand cut exits 1 with an error annotation. A refused scheduled run exits 0 with a notice annotation and the same lines in the step summary: that is the policy working (a security or regression cut on Wednesday restarts the floor and holds Thursday, and Monday's cut carries everything), not a fault. A dry run prints the plan and the floor verdict (FLOOR: line) and exits 0.

Two cases are not held. The first cut, before stable exists, has nothing to measure. Finishing a half-done cut (stable already at the candidate, release missing) is not a new move, and a run without ref finishes that cut before it considers anything newer.

The floor fails closed when it cannot date the move. Three cases are FLOOR_UNKNOWN, red on every trigger, and only a verified security cut gets past them (a regression cut passes a dated floor only). They are a stable that no annotated v<VERSION> tag dates (only this tool moves stable and it tags first, so that state means someone moved it by hand), a release that cannot be read (a GitHub API error is not "no release"), and a ref cut while stable's own release is still unpublished (its tag may be days older than the push). A tag dated in the future holds the floor from now, not from that date. The floor binds the release tool, not a writer pushing stable directly; that would take a branch ruleset limiting stable to the Actions bot.

Breakage that is not a regression of an earlier stable release (a new feature that misbehaves, say) waits for the floor; an affected install can follow main meanwhile (gstack-config set update_channel main) and the next scheduled cut brings it back.

Security releases

A security fix is one of the two exceptions to the floor (the other is a regression fix, below); a cut carries one exception, never both. Run the workflow by hand with ref set to the fix commit on main and security set to a reason that names what it fixes:

gh workflow run weekly-release.yml -f ref=<full sha of the fix> -f security="GHSA-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx: tar path traversal" -f dry_run=false

The reason must name a GHSA-…, a CVE-… or an issue or pull request #<n>, and the tool checks that it is tied to the commits being released (stable..ref). One of these must hold:

1. a commit message in that span names the same GHSA or CVE;
2. issue or pull request #<n> carries the security label and a commit in the span references #<n> (the squash subject (#<n>) does);
3. the GitHub Advisory Database entry for the GHSA or CVE (the data OSV imports) lists an npm package whose own entry changes in the span's package.json or bun.lock (a dependency line or a lockfile package key, never a name listed inside another package's entry): a dependency bump that fixes a known advisory. The direction of the bump and the patched range are not checked.

Verified: the identifier exists in the reason, the label exists on the issue, and the link between the identifier and a released commit or bumped package. Attested, not verified: that the change actually fixes the vulnerability, how severe it is, and that it cannot wait; the security label itself is applied by a person with triage access. A reason the tool cannot tie to the span is REFUSED_SECURITY with what it checked, red on every trigger, as is security without ref: a security cut releases up to the fix, never whatever happens to be newest. Every version between stable and the fix still ships with it (there are no cherry-picks); the plan's RIDING_ALONG: line counts them.

The reason is public. It goes, as one line of at most 300 characters (control characters become spaces and backticks become apostrophes), into the tag message and the release notes: **Security release:** `<reason>` (verified: <evidence>). For an embargoed fix, use path 2 with a neutral commit subject and a labelled issue whose title says no more than the fix does, and keep advisory details out of the reason until disclosure. A security cut that stopped half-way after moving stable is finished by the next run with the reason and evidence its tag recorded, without checking them again. A tag that records a security cut but never moved stable gets no such pass: the cut is refused (REFUSED_SECURITY) until it runs again with security, ref and the reason its tag recorded, and verifies. The floor then counts from the security release, and the next regular cut's notes list only the versions after it.

Regression releases

A regression fix is the other exception (Garry, 2026-10-28: "Regression"). A regression is a fix for behavior that worked in an earlier stable release and is broken on the current one. A maintainer declares it by putting the regression label on the issue or pull request (labelling needs triage access; create the label once if the repository lacks it), and the person running the cut names it in the regression input, with ref set to the fix commit on main:

gh workflow run weekly-release.yml -f ref=<full sha of the fix> -f regression="#3601: worked in v1.91.300.0: the update check stopped running" -f dry_run=false

The reason must name exactly one release v<X> and at least one #<n>. All of these must hold, or the cut is REFUSED_REGRESSION with what it checked:

1. v<X> is an annotated release tag strictly behind the current stable whose GitHub Release is published (not a draft): an earlier stable release team installs actually ran, which a tag left behind by a half-done cut is not. The current stable itself does not count, since a fix for something it still does right needs no exception.
2. #<n> carries the regression label (a security label does not count, nor the reverse) and a commit in stable..ref references it (the squash subject (#<n>) does).

Verified: the release tag, its place behind stable and its published release, the label, and that the labelled issue or PR is in the released span. Attested, not verified: that the behavior really worked in v<X> and that this change restores it; the label and the public reason carry that claim.

Everything else matches a security cut. ref is required, regression and security together are refused, every version between stable and the fix rides along (RIDING_ALONG:), and the sanitized reason and evidence go into the tag message (Regression: / Verified:) and the notes (**Regression release:** `<reason>` (verified: <evidence>)). A half-done regression cut finishes from its tag's record, and a regression tag that never moved stable is refused until it runs again with regression and the reason its tag recorded, and verifies. Unlike a security cut, a regression cut does not pass FLOOR_UNKNOWN. The floor counts from the regression release, so the next scheduled cut may be held.

Channels

Channel	Follows	Who
stable	refs/heads/stable: the twice-weekly release (at most once per 72 hours), plus any security or regression cut off-cycle	team mode (./setup --team) by default
main	every merge to main	plain ./setup, contributors, Capy crew machines

The config key is update_channel (bin/gstack-config):

gstack-config get update_channel          # auto (default) | stable | main
gstack-config set update_channel main     # a team install that wants every merge
gstack-config set update_channel stable   # a solo install that wants stable releases
gstack-config unset update_channel        # back to auto

auto resolves to stable when team_mode is true and to main otherwise, so existing team installs moved to stable releases with nothing to migrate and contributor installs did not move at all. GSTACK_UPDATE_CHANNEL=stable|main overrides the key for one command. The resolution lives in one helper, bin/gstack-update-channel.sh, used by:

• bin/gstack-session-update, the team-mode session-start hook: it fetches the channel ref and fast-forwards to it. Its log (<state root>/analytics/session-update.log) carries CHANNEL stable target=<sha> when it follows a release.
• bin/gstack-update-check, the "update available" line in every skill preamble: it reads <channel>/VERSION and compares with refs/heads/<channel>, so a stable install is not told every hour that main moved.
• bin/gstack-upgrade and /gstack-upgrade: they fast-forward to the channel ref (UPSTREAM_REF=origin/stable in the skill's output) and say which channel they followed.

Two edge cases are handled on purpose:

• Before the first release exists origin has no stable. Every caller then follows main and says so (CHANNEL_FALLBACK stable->main in the hook log, channel stable has no release on origin yet from gstack-upgrade).
• An install already past the release (it followed main until now, or a hotfix was cut below it) stays where it is until stable passes it. The updater never moves a checkout backwards. A depth-1 clone cannot see that an older release is its ancestor, so the VERSIONs decide: main stamps a higher version at every merge and stable is always a main commit.

The local branch stays main either way. A stable install is a main checkout parked at the last released commit, which is why fast-forward-only still holds and nothing about version stamping changed.

Cutting a release by hand (hotfixes)

A hotfix is an ordinary PR: it merges to main through a train and gets its version like any other change. To put it on stable before the next scheduled cut, run the workflow by hand with the merge commit's SHA, once the 72-hour floor allows it (a security or regression fix uses its input instead):

gh workflow run weekly-release.yml -f ref=<full sha on main> -f dry_run=false

or open Actions, pick Stable release and press Run workflow, on main (the cut job runs only from refs/heads/main, with main's tooling; ref must be the full 40-hex SHA). The same green checks apply. The commit is tagged with its VERSION, the release notes say "hotfix release" and list every version since the previous release (everything merged in between ships with it), and stable fast-forwards. Team installs pick it up at their next hourly check.

There is no release branch and no cherry-picking: stable only ever names main commits. If main carries a change that must not ship yet, revert it on main first, then promote.

Dry runs

Run the workflow with dry_run=true (the default for a manual run) to see the plan without changing anything: the candidate, its VERSION and tag, the stable move, how many version lines the notes would carry, every skipped commit with its reason, the floor verdict, and the exact commands a real cut would run. The scheduled runs are never dry runs.

gh workflow run weekly-release.yml -f dry_run=true
gh run watch

The step summary carries the same plan plus the full release notes.

A pull request that touches .github/workflows/weekly-release.yml or scripts/release-cut.ts runs the same dry run against main as its own job (Dry run against main, read-only token), so a change to the release tooling is exercised against real check runs before it merges.

Outcomes

Line	Meaning
`CANDIDATE: () gated by main-backstop	train `
NOTHING_NEW: origin/main <sha> is already released as v<X>	nothing merged since the last release; exit 0
NO_GREEN_COMMIT: ... with SKIPPED: lines	nothing in the window passed the gate; exit 1 (a dry run exits 0: the skips are its answer)
REFUSED: non-fast-forward: ...	the candidate is behind stable; stable only moves forward
REFUSED: queue frozen since train ...	the main backstop froze the queue; clear it first (docs/ship-policy.md)
REFUSED: tag v<X> already names <other sha>	a version was stamped twice; needs a look before anything is cut
REFUSED_FLOOR: stable moved to v<X> at <time>, <h> h ago; ...	inside the 72-hour floor; nothing changed. Exit 1 by hand, 0 on the schedule or a dry run
NEXT_ALLOWED: <time> for a hand-run cut; <time> for a scheduled run	follows every REFUSED_FLOOR (and FLOOR_UNKNOWN, where it says why there is no time)
FLOOR_UNKNOWN: ...	stable's last move cannot be dated (no annotated v<VERSION> tag, an unreadable release, or an unpublished release under a ref cut); exit 1 on every trigger
REFUSED_SECURITY: ...	security without ref, a reason the tool cannot tie to the released commits, a security tag that never moved stable run without security, or a rerun whose reason differs from the one its unmoved tag recorded; exit 1 on every trigger (the workflow stops security without ref before the script runs)
REFUSED_REGRESSION: ...	regression without ref or beside security, a reason without one earlier stable v<X> and a regression-labelled #<n> in the span, a regression tag that never moved stable run without regression, or a rerun whose reason differs from the one its unmoved tag recorded; exit 1 on every trigger (the workflow stops regression without ref before the script runs)
`FLOOR: clear	refused
SECURITY: `<reason>` (verified: <evidence>) or REGRESSION: `<reason>` (verified: <evidence>), RIDING_ALONG: <n> other versions ship with the fix	an exception cut's plan
TAG:, STABLE:, RELEASE:	what the cut did; a re-run reports each step as already done and finishes a step an earlier run did not reach