prepare-code-freeze

name	prepare-code-freeze
description	Prepare a NeMo Relay code freeze by creating the release branch, updating nightly alpha branch config, bumping main to the next version, and opening the required PR
author	NVIDIA Corporation and Affiliates
license	Apache-2.0

Prepare Code Freeze

Use this skill when the user asks to start, prepare, or automate a NeMo Relay code freeze.

Companion Guidance

Use update-project-version for version bump semantics and prepare-pr before opening the PR.

Workflow

This workflow assumes upstream is the NVIDIA repository remote (NVIDIA/NeMo-Relay). The origin remote can be a maintainer's personal fork.

1. Confirm or infer the target release version from upstream/main:Cargo.toml. Derive the release branch as release/<major>.<minor>.

2. Prompt for <next-version> if the user did not provide it. This is the version that main moves to after the release branch is cut.

3. Fetch the latest main and create the release branch from upstream/main:

   git fetch upstream main
   git branch release/<major>.<minor> upstream/main
   git push upstream release/<major>.<minor>
   

   If the remote release branch already exists, verify it points where expected before continuing.

4. Create a PR branch from latest upstream/main, for example docs/code-freeze-<major>.<minor>.

5. Update .github/nightly-alpha-branches.yaml to include the new release branch.

6. Run just set-version <next-version> to bump all release-versioned package surfaces on main. Regenerate the dynamic worker-plugin fixture lockfile so its path dependencies use the new workspace version:

   cargo generate-lockfile --manifest-path crates/core/tests/fixtures/worker_plugin/Cargo.toml
   

7. Search documentation source for references to the old version and update current-version install commands, package examples, and configuration examples to <next-version> where appropriate:

   rg -n '<old-version>' README.md docs fern --glob '!docs/_build/**' || true
   

   Review matches before changing them. Leave intentional historical references alone, such as release notes, changelogs, generated build output, and third-party dependency attribution entries.

8. Validate with targeted checks:

   ruby -e 'require "yaml"; YAML.load_file(".github/nightly-alpha-branches.yaml"); YAML.load_file(".github/workflows/nightly-alpha-tag.yaml")'
   just set-version <next-version>
   cargo generate-lockfile --manifest-path crates/core/tests/fixtures/worker_plugin/Cargo.toml
   cargo build --locked --manifest-path crates/core/tests/fixtures/worker_plugin/Cargo.toml
   rg -n '<old-version>' README.md docs fern --glob '!docs/_build/**' || true
   git diff --check
   

   Any remaining documentation matches for <old-version> should be intentional and called out in the PR description.

9. Open a PR targeting main using .github/pull_request_template.md. The PR must mention:

   • the new release branch
   • the nightly alpha branch config update
   • the just set-version <next-version> bump
   • documentation old-version reference updates or intentional leftovers
   • that release-bound PRs now target the new release/* branch

Guardrails

• Do not create release tags. Code freeze only creates the branch and the main PR.
• Do not target the code-freeze PR at the release branch. It targets main.
• Do not leave uncommitted user changes mixed into the code-freeze PR branch.