Release Operations

Release Operations

This page is for maintainers.

Version Bumps

For a normal release, update:

• Cargo.toml
• Cargo.lock
• CHANGELOG.md
• dev.nicx.mimick.yml
• setup/metainfo/dev.nicx.mimick.metainfo.xml

Signed Distribution Outputs

Mimick publishes:

• a GitHub Pages Flatpak repository
• GitHub release assets including mimick.flatpakrepo and SHA256SUMS.txt

Both publication flows use the Flatpak signing key configured in GitHub Actions secrets.

Current published Flatpak repo signing fingerprint:

04E2 9556 E951 B2EA 15D3 A8EE 632E 1BC5 D956 579C

Required Secrets

• FLATPAK_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY
• FLATPAK_GPG_KEY_ID
• FLATPAK_GPG_PASSPHRASE if the key is protected

Pre-Flight Validation

Before tagging a release, ensure all metadata, manifests, and licenses are updated and valid:

# Validate Desktop Entry and AppStream Metadata
desktop-file-validate setup/dev.nicx.mimick.desktop
appstreamcli validate --explain setup/metainfo/dev.nicx.mimick.metainfo.xml

# Lint Flatpak manifest and build output
flatpak run --command=flatpak-builder-lint org.flatpak.Builder manifest dev.nicx.mimick.yml
flatpak run --command=flatpak-builder-lint org.flatpak.Builder builddir build-dir # Run after a successful build

# Check code quality and formatting
cargo fmt --all
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings

# Refresh Flatpak Cargo sources
python3 flatpak-cargo-generator.py Cargo.lock -o cargo-sources.json

# Update third-party license summaries
cargo about generate about.hbs --output-file THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt
cargo about generate about-summary.hbs --output-file THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES_SUMMARY.txt

Release Flow

1. land the release-prep commit on main
2. make sure Cargo.toml, CHANGELOG.md, the Flatpak manifest tag, and AppStream metadata all agree on the version
3. create an annotated tag such as v8.0.0
4. push main and the tag
5. verify the release workflow and Flatpak Pages workflow complete successfully

The release workflow expects the tag version to exactly match the crate version in Cargo.toml.

Re-Releasing a Version

If a workflow issue needs a tag rerun:

1. fix the workflow on main
2. delete the old tag locally and remotely
3. recreate the annotated tag on the corrected commit
4. push the tag again

Key Rotation

If the Flatpak signing key changes:

1. update the GitHub secrets
2. confirm the generated .flatpakrepo publishes the new public key material
3. update the published fingerprint in README.md and the wiki installation/release pages
4. call out the key rotation in release notes so users know the change was intentional