cut-alpha

name

cut-alpha

description

Cut an OpenEnlarge (filmrev) ALPHA / pre-release (testing) build: push a vX.Y.Z-alpha.N tag (no version-file bump) to trigger an auto-published GitHub pre-release that mirrors to R2 and appears in the website's "Testing builds" section — fully isolated from stable. Use this whenever the user wants to "cut/ ship/trigger an alpha", "make a test build", "push a pre-release", "let people test", "beta/rc build", or tag a vX.Y.Z-alpha/-beta/-rc version. This is the PRE-RELEASE counterpart to cut-release: for a stable vX.Y.Z release use cut-release instead. Project-specific to this repo (Tauri 2 + tauri-action, Cloudflare R2 + Pages). The big risk it guards: a mistagged build clobbering the stable auto-updater, so verify isolation every time.

Cut an OpenEnlarge alpha (pre-release) build

Alpha builds are download-only pre-releases for testers. They auto-publish as GitHub pre-releases, mirror installers to Cloudflare R2, and surface in the website's "Testing builds" section — and they never touch the stable in-app auto-updater or the main download buttons. The whole feature exists to keep stable users safe, so the one thing you must always confirm is that isolation held.

The design + plan live at:

• docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-20-alpha-release-channel-design.md
• docs/superpowers/plans/2026-06-20-alpha-release-channel.md

How it differs from a stable release (cut-release)

	Stable (cut-release)	Alpha (this skill)
Tag	vX.Y.Z	vX.Y.Z-alpha.N (any - suffix)
Version bump in the 4 files	Required	None — the workflow derives the bundle version from the tag
GitHub release	draft (you publish)	auto-published pre-release
Stable latest.json (updater)	rewritten + published	never written
web/releases.json (main buttons)	regenerated + committed	never written
Download manifest	web/releases.json	web/releases-alpha.json

Channel detection in .github/workflows/release.yml is purely the tag shape: [[ "$TAG" == *-* ]] → pre-release. -beta.N / -rc.N ride the same alpha path.

Key facts about this repo

• Repo: MohaElder/openenlarge. Work directly on main.
• No version-file edits for an alpha. Do NOT bump app/package.json, tauri.conf.json, Cargo.toml, Cargo.lock. The build passes --config {"version":"<tag minus v>"} to tauri-action, so the bundle/updater version matches the tag without committing an alpha version to main.
• Trigger: pushing the vX.Y.Z-alpha.N tag. The release publishes itself.
• Download base: https://download.aako.world/<tag>/.
• The first alpha also commits web/releases-alpha.json to main (the workflow does this) which makes the site's "Testing builds" section appear; it stays hidden until then.

Procedure

Track these as todos.

1. Decide the alpha version

Alpha tags are vX.Y.Z-alpha.N where vX.Y.Z is the stable version this alpha is working toward, and N increments per alpha of that version:

• First alpha for the next minor: v0.6.0-alpha.1.
• Next iteration: v0.6.0-alpha.2.
• -beta.N / -rc.N are valid too (same channel) when you want to signal maturity.

Look at what's on main since the last stable tag to pick the target version (git describe --tags --abbrev=0 for the last stable; read LAST..HEAD). The version number is the user's call — recommend one with a one-line rationale and let them confirm.

2. Make sure the code is on main first

The tag points at a commit, so everything you want testers to get must already be committed and pushed to main:

git push origin main      # if there are unpushed commits
git log --oneline -1      # confirm HEAD is what you want to tag

No version bump, no extra commit — go straight to tagging.

3. Tag and push (this is the whole release)

Annotated tag, with a short human-readable note in the message:

git tag -a vX.Y.Z-alpha.N -m "OpenEnlarge X.Y.Z-alpha.N — <one-line headline>

<short bullets: what testers should look at>"
git push origin vX.Y.Z-alpha.N

Confirm the run started, then wait for it (≈6–13 min, three platforms):

gh run list --workflow=release.yml --limit 2
gh run watch <run-id> --exit-status   # run in the background; you'll be notified

If it goes red, read the failing job (gh run view <run-id> --log-failed) and fix forward.

4. Verify the build + the pre-release

gh release view vX.Y.Z-alpha.N --json isDraft,isPrerelease,assets \
  --jq '{isPrerelease, isDraft, assets:[.assets[].name]}'

Expect isPrerelease: true, isDraft: false, and the full asset set (dmg + .app.tar.gz, Windows .exe/.msi, Linux .AppImage/.deb/.rpm, each with a .sig). A missing .sig means updater-signing secrets weren't set — fine for a download-only alpha, but flag it.

Confirm the mirror + the site manifest:

curl -sI "https://download.aako.world/vX.Y.Z-alpha.N/" >/dev/null && echo "R2 path reachable"
git -c core.pager=cat show origin/main:web/releases-alpha.json   # tag + alpha asset URLs

The website's "Testing builds" section should now show the alpha (the page reads web/releases-alpha.json).

5. Verify isolation (the important part — do this every time)

An alpha must not have moved stable. Capture before/after, or just confirm the stable artifacts still point at the last STABLE version:

# Updater endpoint — must still be the latest STABLE version, NOT the alpha:
curl -s https://download.aako.world/latest.json | python3 -c "import json,sys; print('updater version:', json.load(sys.stdin)['version'])"
# Main download manifest — must still be the last stable tag:
git -c core.pager=cat show origin/main:web/releases.json | python3 -c "import json,sys; print('download page tag:', json.load(sys.stdin)['tag'])"

Both must report the stable version, never …-alpha.N. If either shows the alpha, stop — the isolation broke (check that the Publish stable updater manifest step's if: … env.IS_PRERELEASE != 'true' guard and the manifest builder's channel branch are intact in release.yml).

6. Hand off

Alpha is published and downloadable immediately. Share the testing link (https://openenlarge.io/#download testing section, or the GitHub pre-release). Optionally edit the GitHub pre-release body with what to test — the auto body is generic. There are no in-app updater notes to fix (alpha is download-only; the updater serves only stable).

Notes on judgment

• No latest.json notes step here. Unlike cut-release, the in-app updater is not involved — don't waste time rewriting latest.json; an alpha never publishes one.
• Promoting an alpha to stable is a separate, normal cut-release: bump the four files to vX.Y.Z, tag vX.Y.Z. The alpha tag/artifacts can stay as-is.
• If web/releases-alpha.json ever needs clearing (e.g. retiring the testing section), remove it from main and redeploy Pages — the section hides itself when the file is absent.