Release Policy

Alpha release policy

.SYSTEMX is alpha. Use at your own risk. It may change daily. Guidance, interfaces, defaults, and compatibility may change during development. The MIT license provides the terms and warranty disclaimer. Passing template tests does not certify a downstream project for production. Keep recoverable backups and test your workflows before adopting or updating.

Branches and exact versions

main is the default public template branch. Alpha1 is the integration branch for this alpha series. Both contain the consolidated history of the earlier template branches at the first alpha publication. Branches are moving references; use an exact release tag for repeatable installation. Keep only main and Alpha1 as standing branches. Feature branches are temporary: after their work is included in both standing branches and no open pull request or worktree needs them, remove the branch references. Their commits remain in history, and published release tags remain available. The merged feature branches were cleaned up on 2026-09-28.

The first explicitly labeled alpha is 1.6.0-alpha.1, tagged v1.6.0-alpha.1. It follows the existing 1.5.0 history without reusing or rewriting old versions. The Python package spells that same version 1.6.0a1. Subsequent alpha snapshots increment the alpha number, or start a new base version when appropriate. Published tags and assets are not intentionally replaced; corrections get a new version. Daily development does not mean an automatic release every day.

Prior numeric versions and GitHub release labels are retained for compatibility. Those historical labels are not a production-readiness certification. The current development series is explicitly published as GitHub prereleases. There is no stable-release date, support SLA, or promise of compatibility throughout alpha. Changes should document migrations and preserve project-owned data.

Pins and update channels

• New projects are pinned to their chosen version and use manual updates.
• An exact alpha tag or reviewed alpha source explicitly selects alpha defaults.
• Unpinned final-version projects discover only final releases. An alpha tag incorrectly labeled final on GitHub is refused by stable discovery.
• Unpinned alpha projects discover published alpha and final releases, ordered numerically: alpha.2 < alpha.10 < final for the same base version. A final selected version returns the project to final-only discovery.
• Startup selection still requires --auto on-start, stays within the current major version, and checks at most daily after a successful check. Alpha releases can still change interfaces within that major version. Keep manual updates when a review is needed before every change.
• Discovery never silently downgrades a project. Explicit --version or a local --source can select an older version after unpinning and compatibility review.

The channel is derived from activeVersion; no new setting is inserted into user records or the compatible schema-1 installation state. Alpha discovery inspects up to 1,000 GitHub releases and fails with exact-version guidance if that bound is exhausted. Drafts, unsupported version forms, and inconsistently labeled releases are excluded. Failed startup checks retain verified installed defaults.

Upgrade an existing project to alpha

Managers from 1.5.0 and earlier cannot parse alpha IDs. Upgrade the external tool environment first, from outside the project's .SYSTEMX folder. Use the interpreter belonging to that environment; the example assumes it is activated:

python -m pip --log dotsystemx-alpha-install.log install --upgrade "git+https://github.com/WayneTechLab/dotSYSTEMX.git@v1.8.4-alpha.1"
systemx --version
systemx status --target "/path/to/project"
systemx policy --target "/path/to/project" --pin none --auto manual
systemx update --target "/path/to/project" --version 1.8.4-alpha.1 --dry-run
systemx update --target "/path/to/project" --version 1.8.4-alpha.1
systemx policy --target "/path/to/project" --pin current
systemx run --target "/path/to/project" --offline -- validate
systemx run --target "/path/to/project" --offline -- context --agent agent.0

Review the preview before applying. A reviewed checkout's new manager.py offers the same commands without a package install. Old root launchers and VERSION are preserved, so use the new external systemx command to select and run cached defaults. Do not reinstall the old tool to operate a project still selecting an alpha version. Roll back its selected defaults with the new manager first, and check record/schema compatibility before invoking older tools.

Updates add snapshots and missing files. They never remove or replace existing project files or directories; only manager-owned selection/history metadata is updated. Existing project records remain schema 1. A future record migration must be explicit and preserve source records and evidence. For removal, use the logged uninstall and restore workflow.

Public distribution and support

GitHub hosts the source, template, wiki, versioned folder archive, and Python wheel. The library is not currently published to PyPI. No hosted application, background service, telemetry collector, or MCP server is deployed by this release. Network use is for requested release retrieval and opted-in startup discovery; configured project commands can have their own effects and must be reviewed separately.

The release includes SHA-256 checksums and validation evidence. Hashes detect inconsistent files; they are not an independent signature or security audit. Windows, macOS, and Linux are covered by CI on Python 3.9 and 3.13. Python 3.9 is the compatibility floor; prefer a currently maintained interpreter. Drive requires locally available regular files and coordinated writers. Chat requires an export or authorized writable tools; saving a chat alone does not persist project files.

Use support, contributing, and private security reporting. Review logs before sharing; paths, project names, and exported context may be private.

Version references: Semantic Versioning, Python version specifiers, and GitHub release API.