clawbox-release-packaging

name

clawbox-release-packaging

description

Use when changing ClawBox Tauri packaging, sidecar bootstrapping, version synchronization, Bun backend compilation, or release-related scripts and configuration. This includes the UTC date-based version generator, Tauri and Cargo version sync, Windows installer signing helpers, and GitHub release workflow guards. Do not use for actually cutting and pushing a release tag; use the release publish skill for that.

ClawBox Release Packaging

Use this skill when the task involves ClawBox versioning, Tauri configuration, backend binary packaging, sidecar lifecycle, or release build scripts.

Read first

• package.json
• docs/releasing.md
• .github/release-notes-template.md
• docs/releases/
• scripts/collect-release-assets.mjs
• scripts/release-version.mjs
• scripts/sync-version.mjs
• scripts/sign-win-installer.mjs
• scripts/build-backend.mjs
• .github/workflows/release.yml
• src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
• src-tauri/Cargo.toml
• src-tauri/src/lib.rs
• internal/onboard/ if the task also affects runtime bootstrap or environment setup

Workflow

1. Identify which layer is changing: UTC version generation, version synchronization, Bun backend compile output, Tauri shell, release workflow guard, release-notes lookup, release-asset filtering, or installer/signing script.
2. Preserve package.json as the single source of truth for the app version. Any version automation must keep package-lock.json, src-tauri/tauri.conf.json, and src-tauri/Cargo.toml aligned.
3. Keep the UTC date-based version format semver-safe. The current release flow uses YYYY.M.D-N, with git fetch --tags plus local vYYYY.M.D-N tags determining the next sequence.
4. Keep sidecar naming and resource lookup behavior aligned with scripts/build-backend.mjs and src-tauri/src/lib.rs.
5. Keep Windows installer signing dynamic. tauri:build-win:sign-installer should resolve ClawBox_<version>_x64-setup.exe from package.json, not from a hard-coded filename.
6. Keep release publication scoped to user-facing assets only. The workflow should publish final .dmg, .exe, and the combined CHECKSUMS.txt, not the entire Tauri bundle tree.
7. Keep release notes lookup aligned with the documented flow. Hand-written notes live at docs/releases/<tag>.md, with GitHub-generated notes as the fallback when the file is absent.
8. If the change touches release publication behavior rather than packaging/configuration, hand off to clawbox-release-publish instead of extending this skill.
9. If the change touches Windows signing or platform-specific installers, note any credentials or OS environments you could not validate.

Verification

• Run node scripts/release-version.mjs --dry-run or npm run release:version -- --dry-run when changing release-version logic.
• Run npm run sync-version.
• Run npm run build:backend.
• If Rust is available, run cargo check --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml.
• If the change touches the release workflow, confirm that the workflow still rejects a tag/version mismatch, still publishes only final user assets, and still prefers docs/releases/<tag>.md over auto-generated notes when that file exists.

Guardrails

• Do not guess bundle resource paths or binary names.
• Do not hand-edit version values when changing the automated version flow; keep npm version ... --no-git-tag-version as the writer for package.json and package-lock.json.
• Do not reintroduce a hard-coded Windows installer filename into package.json scripts.
• Do not blur the boundary between "release packaging/config" and "actual release execution"; use clawbox-release-publish when the task is to cut, commit, tag, or push a release.
• Keep cross-platform branches explicit instead of merging them into a single simplified path.
• Mention any skipped platform validation in the final response.