release-ritual

name	release-ritual
description	Cut a release of Alex_ACT_Edition — preflight, brain-qa, changelog, version bump, tag, push
lastReviewed	2026-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

Release Ritual

Cut a versioned release of Alex_ACT_Edition. Releases are high-stakes operations: they ship the brain template to heir projects across the fleet. Run the full 7-step ACT pass before invoking the irreversible steps.

When to Use

• Accepted PRs accumulate to a meaningful release
• A critical bug requires a patch release
• The 60-day re-evaluation cycle ends and a checkpoint release is appropriate

Do not use for: in-progress drafts, single-skill experiments, untested submissions.

Preflight (must all pass before any irreversible step)

Check	Tool	Pass criterion
All accepted PRs merged	git log against ../Alex_ACT_Edition	No open PRs marked "ship in this release"
Working tree clean	git status	No uncommitted changes
brain-qa exits 0	node ../Alex_ACT_Edition/scripts/brain-qa.cjs (when present)	Exit code 0
Self-contained check	grep for ../master-wiki/ or absolute paths in .github/	Zero matches
CHANGELOG.md updated	manual review	Entry for the new version with all merged PRs
Version bumped	grep version package.json (when present) or currency: in frontmatter	New version > previous
ACT pass complete	this skill	Full 7-step trail recorded

Release Steps (in order)

1. Confirm scope

List every PR being released. Categorize:

Category	Examples
Breaking	API changes, removed skills, renamed files heirs depend on
Feature	New skills, new instructions, new prompts
Fix	Bug fixes, typo fixes, link repairs
Chore	Dependency bumps, dev-only changes

If breaking is non-empty, bump major version (X.0.0). Else if feature is non-empty, bump minor (x.X.0). Else bump patch (x.x.X).

2. Update CHANGELOG.md

## [x.y.z] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Breaking
- ...

### Added
- ...

### Fixed
- ...

### Chore
- ...

3. Bump version

Update version in:

• package.json (if present)
• README.md version badge (if present)
• .github/copilot-instructions.md if it carries a version stamp

4. Run preflight

All checks from the table above must pass. If any fail, stop. Fix and re-run.

5. Commit

git add CHANGELOG.md package.json README.md .github/
git commit -m "Release vX.Y.Z"

6. Tag

git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "Alex_ACT_Edition vX.Y.Z"

7. Push (irreversible)

This is the high-stakes step. Run the full ACT pass before:

git push origin main
git push origin vX.Y.Z

8. Announce

Write a one-line entry to feedback/announcements.md (create if absent):

- vX.Y.Z (YYYY-MM-DD) — <one-line summary>. See CHANGELOG for details.

Heirs poll this on next session-start.

Rollback Procedure

If a release introduces a regression and is caught within 24 hours:

git tag -d vX.Y.Z
git push origin :refs/tags/vX.Y.Z
git revert <release-commit-sha>
git push origin main

Then immediately cut a patch release with the revert + a Fixed entry citing the regression.

If the regression is caught after 24 hours, do not delete the tag — heirs may have already pulled. Cut a patch release instead and document the bug in CHANGELOG.

Anti-Patterns

Anti-pattern	Correction
Pushing before preflight	Preflight is non-negotiable — even for "obvious" patch releases
Skipping ACT pass on a "small" release	Releases are always high-stakes; small does not mean low-risk
Forgetting the tag	Heirs pull by tag; an untagged commit is invisible to the fleet
Editing CHANGELOG after the fact	CHANGELOG must be committed as part of the release commit, not after

Related

• release-discipline — the always-on rule
• act-pass — full pass mandatory for releases
• /cut-release prompt