release-openclaw-ci

name	release-openclaw-ci
description	Run, watch, debug, and summarize OpenClaw full release CI, release checks, live provider gates, install/update proofs, and release-secret preflights.

OpenClaw Release CI

Use this with $release-openclaw-maintainer and $openclaw-testing when a release candidate needs full validation, install/update proof, live provider checks, or CI recovery.

Guardrails

• No version bump, tag, npm publish, GitHub release, or release promotion without explicit operator approval.
• Validate provider secrets before dispatching expensive full release matrices.
• Do not set GitHub secrets from unvalidated 1Password candidates. If a candidate returns 401/403, leave the existing secret alone and report the exact missing provider.
• Use $one-password for secret reads/writes: one persistent tmux session, targeted items only, no secret output.
• Watch one parent run plus compact child summaries. Avoid broad gh run view polling loops; REST quota is easy to burn.
• Fetch logs only for failed or currently-blocking jobs. If quota is low, stop polling and wait for reset.
• Treat live-provider flakes separately from code failures: prove key validity, provider HTTP status, retry evidence, and exact failing lane before editing code.
• A model-list response proves authentication, not billing or inference entitlement. Mandatory live providers must pass a real completion probe before release dispatch. Fix the credential first; do not add an alternate auth path merely to bypass a failed release credential.
• Full Release Validation parent monitors fail fast: once a required child job fails, the parent cancels the remaining child matrix and prints the failed job summary. Inspect that first red job instead of waiting for unrelated matrix tails.
• Treat the product-complete pre-changelog commit as the Code SHA. Full product validation and performance evidence bind to that SHA. The later Release SHA may reuse those results only when it is a descendant whose complete changed path set is exactly CHANGELOG.md.
• In a sparse worktree or Testbox source sync, first confirm package.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, and every source path the selected check reads. If any are absent, that checkout cannot validate a release dependency or Docker lane: stop and use the repo remote changed gate or a full task worktree. When the inputs are present and a release fix changes package.json or pnpm-lock.yaml, rebuild only the task-owned disposable box with CI=true pnpm install --frozen-lockfile, then run an explicit require.resolve() probe before Docker or focused tests. The CI flag permits pnpm to recreate a prewarmed modules directory without an interactive confirmation. Do not weaken the lockfile or label sparse-checkout failures as product/Docker failures.
• If the candidate is rebased or its base SHA changes after warmup, stop the task-owned box and warm a fresh one before testing. Testbox source sync is relative to the warmed source tree; continuing can mix an old base file with a new candidate diff and produce false lockfile or Docker failures.
• Reused Testboxes are provenance-gated after their first successful run. Source-only edits may reuse the lease; base, dependency, wrapper, or Testbox workflow drift requires a fresh lease. Do not set OPENCLAW_TESTBOX_ALLOW_STALE=1 for release evidence.
• For a committed release candidate, warm the box with blacksmith testbox warmup ... --ref <candidate-branch-or-sha>. Do not rely on source sync to overlay committed branch changes onto the workflow's default ref.

Preflight

Before full release validation:

node .agents/skills/release-openclaw-ci/scripts/verify-provider-secrets.mjs --required openai,anthropic,fireworks
gh api rate_limit --jq '.resources.core'
git status --short --branch
git rev-parse HEAD

1Password service-account values are the first source for release provider preflight. Inject those exact targeted keys first, then run the verifier; use ambient env only when it was already intentionally injected for this release. The script prints only provider status and HTTP class, never tokens. The Anthropic check performs a tiny message completion so exhausted or non-billable credentials fail before the expensive release matrix.

Dispatch

Start product performance evidence as early as the Code SHA exists, in parallel with other release work:

gh workflow run openclaw-performance.yml \
  --repo openclaw/openclaw \
  --ref main \
  -f target_ref=<code-sha> \
  -f profile=release \
  -f repeat=3 \
  -f deep_profile=false \
  -f live_openai_candidate=false \
  -f fail_on_regression=true

• Do not wait for full release validation to start this early perf signal.
• Compare available Kova, gateway startup, and CLI startup metrics with earlier release evidence or clawgrit reports before publish/closeout.
• Call out any regression in the release proof. Treat a major regression as a release blocker until it is fixed, waived by the operator, or proven to be infrastructure noise.
• Full Release Validation records blocking product-performance evidence. The early standalone run is for overlap and faster regression discovery, but a regression or missing child run blocks the parent validation.

Prefer an immutable trusted-main workflow revision, target the exact Code SHA:

• Keep trusted-workflow checks compatible with frozen release targets. If main adds a target-owned guard script or package command after the release branch cut, make the trusted workflow skip only when that target surface is absent. Heal the trusted workflow before rerunning validation; do not port an unrelated runtime refactor or mutate the release candidate just to satisfy a newer main-only check.

node scripts/full-release-validation-at-sha.mjs \
  --sha <code-sha> \
  --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH

For immutable workflow proof on a moving main, use pnpm ci:full-release --sha <code-sha> --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH. Its canonical release-ci/* ref keeps evidence reuse enabled after proving the workflow commit is still on trusted main lineage. Pass -f reuse_evidence=false only when the operator intentionally needs a fresh full run.

After the Code SHA is green, commit only CHANGELOG.md and run the same helper against the Release SHA. The parent must report policy=changelog-only-release-v1, evidenceSha=<code-sha>, and changedPaths=["CHANGELOG.md"]; it should reuse the product matrix instead of dispatching child lanes. Npm preflight and package/install acceptance still run against the exact Release SHA and its new tarball bytes.

The SHA-pinned helper infers beta for alpha/beta package versions and stable for stable/correction versions. Pass release_profile=full only when the operator explicitly asks for the broad advisory provider/media matrix. Stable and full profiles force the release soak; the beta profile may opt in with run_release_soak=true. Use narrow rerun_group after focused fixes. Publish with openclaw-release-publish.yml using release_profile=from-validation unless a maintainer intentionally wants to cross-check a specific profile; the publish workflow reads the effective profile from the full-validation manifest.

Watch

Use the transition-only summary watcher instead of repeated raw polling:

node scripts/release-ci-summary.mjs <full-release-run-id> --watch

For a one-shot snapshot:

node scripts/release-ci-summary.mjs <full-release-run-id>

Stop watchers before ending the turn or switching strategy.

Failure Triage

1. Confirm parent SHA and child run IDs.
2. List failed jobs only:

   gh run view <child-run-id> --repo openclaw/openclaw --json jobs \
     --jq '.jobs[] | select(.conclusion=="failure" or .conclusion=="timed_out" or .conclusion=="cancelled") | [.databaseId,.name,.conclusion,.url] | @tsv'
   

3. Fetch one failed job log. If rate-limited, note reset time and avoid more REST calls.
4. For secret-looking failures, validate a real completion from the same secret source before editing code. A successful model-list request is insufficient. Claude CLI subscription credentials are a separate native auth path; prove them in a clean-home CLI probe, never as a substitute for a required Anthropic API-key lane.
5. For live-cache failures, inspect whether it is missing/invalid key, empty text, provider refusal, timeout, or baseline miss. Do not weaken release gates without clear provider evidence.
6. Classify before editing:
   • product/code failure: fix the release branch, freeze a new Code SHA, run focused proof, then obtain green full validation for that new SHA
   • workflow/harness/infrastructure/credential failure: fix that owner separately and rerun the same Code SHA
   • changelog/release-note failure: change only CHANGELOG.md, keep Code SHA evidence, and repeat Release SHA proof
   • publish child/registry selector failure: keep Release SHA and resume the failed child; never rebuild an immutable version that already published
7. If a required PR CI run is capacity-stalled with queued jobs and no active jobs, do not cancel unrelated work or accept a generic manual dispatch. First check the target-owned workflow with git show <full-pr-sha>:.github/workflows/ci.yml | rg -q '^ +pr_number:'. When it declares pr_number, dispatch the explicit exact-SHA fallback: gh workflow run ci.yml --repo openclaw/openclaw --ref <pr-head-branch> -f target_ref=<full-pr-sha> -f pr_number=<pr-number> -f include_android=true -f release_gate=true. The workflow authenticates that PR's head/base, validates GitHub's current synthetic merge tree, and runs the LOC task from that tree. Older workflow schemas cannot provide equivalent LOC evidence; update the head to contain the current pr_number workflow, then restart exact-head proof on the new SHA instead of dispatching them. It runs on GitHub-hosted runners and is accepted only when its run title is CI release gate <full-pr-sha>. Record the stalled Blacksmith run and the fallback run in release evidence. If Blacksmith Build Artifacts Testbox is the only remaining required gate and remains queued without a runner, that completed exact fallback may cover it because CI's job already builds, packages, and smoke tests the artifacts. Do not use this coverage after the artifact workflow starts or completes non-successfully.

Evidence

Record:

• Code SHA and Release SHA
• evidence-reuse policy and complete changed-path set
• full parent run URL
• child run IDs and conclusions: CI, Release Checks, Plugin Prerelease, NPM Telegram, Product Performance
• performance comparison result versus earlier releases when available
• targeted local proof commands
• provider-secret preflight result
• known gaps or unrelated failures

For lessons and recovery patterns, read references/release-ci-notes.md.