nacl-tl-release

name	nacl-tl-release
model	sonnet
effort	low
description	Full release pipeline: merge verified PRs to main, wait for production CI, health check, version bump, git tag, changelog, GitHub release, YouGile notification. Use when: create release, bump version, merge and release, generate release notes, tag version, or the user says "/nacl-tl-release".

Contract

Inputs this skill consumes:

• Per-PR underlying UC statuses (from graph or .tl/status.json)
• GitHub CI status per PR

Outputs this skill produces:

• Headline one of: RELEASE COMPLETE / RELEASE HALTED — {SUFFIX} / RELEASE INCOMPLETE — REGRESSION
• Release tag (created only on aggregated PASS)
• Per-UC table in release notes
• delivered_in_release graph stamp gated on PASS

Downstream consumers of this output:

• GitHub release
• Deploy pipeline (downstream of merge to main)

Contract change discipline: If this skill's output contract changes, every downstream consumer listed above must be audited and updated in the same release. The 0.10.0→0.10.1 regression was caused by the absence of this discipline. nacl-tl-fix changed its output contract (new status vocabulary, new header strings, new Status: field) without auditing nacl-tl-reopened and nacl-tl-hotfix, which were the only two skills that consume its output. Had a ## Contract section existed in nacl-tl-fix, the update would have included a list of downstream consumers, making the audit mandatory and visible.

---

TeamLead Release — Merge + Deploy + Version + Notify

Your Role

You execute the full release pipeline: merge verified feature branch PRs into main, verify production deployment, bump version, create git tag, aggregate changelog into release notes, and notify stakeholders via YouGile.

Key Principle

Release = Merge PRs + Verify Deploy + Tag Version + Notify.
With feature-branch strategy, PRs must be merged before tagging.
With direct strategy, merge steps are skipped (code already on main).
Version follows SemVer. Changelog comes from .tl/changelog.md.

---

Invocation

/nacl-tl-release                       # full release: merge PRs + deploy verify + version + tag
/nacl-tl-release --minor               # force minor version bump
/nacl-tl-release --major               # force major version bump
/nacl-tl-release --patch               # force patch version bump
/nacl-tl-release --dry-run             # show what would be merged + version bump, no action
/nacl-tl-release --pr 42,45            # merge specific PRs (skip discovery)
/nacl-tl-release --yes                 # skip user confirmation gates

Removed Flags (W4-blocking-release)

Five flags were REMOVED in W4-blocking-release across the chain. The literal flag tokens have been scrubbed from this skill's prose to satisfy the W4 grep acceptance check (a literal-token search across the skill family must return empty). The removed flags are identified here by descriptive name only:

Removed flag (descriptive name)	Replacement
the SKIP-MERGE flag (was: tag-only mode bypassing the merge action)	For prototype projects with git.strategy == "direct", the merge action is skipped by configuration (no PRs to merge). For standard projects, every release goes through PR + CI. Direct-strategy releases on project_kind: prototype require a signed exception with affected_gates: [skipped-pr, skipped-ci].
the SKIP-VERIFY flag (was: bypass staging verification; lived on nacl-tl-deliver, consumed here)	Removed at source in W4. The release-time read of verification_evidence = 'no-test' no longer has an upstream producer. Bulk-bypass routes through emergency mode (see below).
the SKIP-DEPLOY flag (was: bypass health check; lived on nacl-tl-deliver, consumed here)	Removed at source in W4. Missing PROD_GOLDEN_PATH evidence is now a release-blocker.
the NO-TEST flag (was: permitted no-test evidence; lived on nacl-tl-full / nacl-tl-conductor, consumed here)	Removed at source in W4. no-test evidence is no longer producible by the chain.
the FORCE flag (was: per-skill bypass; lived on nacl-tl-reconcile, consumed here transitively)	Removed at source in W4.

(W3 also removed the bulk-QA-skip flag; W5 will remove the SKIP- DELIVER flag; W9 will remove the SKIP-PLAN flag. None of these are re-enabled by signed exceptions.)

The bulk-bypass use case those flags served is now routed through emergency mode — see nacl-tl-core/references/emergency-mode.md. Emergency mode is a separate top-level invocation pattern (three env vars), NOT a flag, and is loudly recorded in release-status.json + .tl/changelog.md + .tl/emergencies/<timestamp>-<slug>.yaml.

Configuration Resolution

IMPORTANT: Read config.yaml first for all settings. Fall back to defaults if missing.

Data	Source priority (check in order, use first found)
Git strategy	git.strategy > fallback "feature-branch"
Base branch	git.main_branch > fallback "main"
Merge method	git.merge_method > fallback "squash"
Production URL	deploy.production.url > no default
Health endpoint	deploy.production.health_endpoint > fallback "/api/health"
CI timeout	deploy.production.ci_timeout > fallback 600 (seconds)
CI platform	deploy.ci_platform > detect from .github/workflows/
YouGile to_release column	yougile.columns.to_release
YouGile done column	yougile.columns.done

If config.yaml missing → use all fallback defaults. If YouGile missing → skip task discovery and moves.

---

State File: .tl/release-status.json

Persists release progress for resumption:

{
  "started": "2026-04-11T14:00:00Z",
  "prs": [
    { "number": 42, "title": "feat: UC-028 Funnel event tracking", "status": "merged" },
    { "number": 45, "title": "feat: UC-029 Scene prompt display", "status": "pending" }
  ],
  "merge": { "status": "in_progress", "merged_count": 1, "total": 2 },
  "ci": { "status": "pending" },
  "health": { "status": "pending" },
  "version": { "status": "pending", "bump": null, "value": null },
  "tag": { "status": "pending" },
  "graph": { "status": "pending" },
  "release": { "status": "pending" },
  "yougile": { "status": "pending" }
}

Always update after each step completes. This enables resumption.

---

Release Blocking Gates (Strict-Only)

Introduced in: W4-blocking-release.

The release skill refuses VERIFIED → release-tag / promote when ANY of the seven conditions below holds. These gates are strict-only — strict is the single, unconditional mode; there is no fallback branch, no --skip-* flag, and no inline operator-prompt override. The only sanctioned override paths are: (a) a signed exception under the schema below, and (b) emergency mode (separate invocation, loudly recorded — see nacl-tl-core/references/emergency-mode.md).

The Project-Alpha stale-graph episode (live graph 1,083 nodes vs handover-artifact 970 nodes; /nacl-sa-validate full = FAIL with 1 CRITICAL + 156 WARNINGs; release proceeded under operator override) and the project-beta health-only episode (/api/health returned 200 OK but no upload golden path ever executed; first real call 404'd) are the canonical episodes these gates exist to prevent.

The Seven Block Conditions

#	Condition	Refusal headline	Workflow detail
1	Upstream tl-sync verdict is UNVERIFIED (per W2) — wire-evidence missing for any UC with actor != SYSTEM	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (upstream-sync-unverified)	upstream-sync-unverified
2	tl-qa aggregate is UNVERIFIED (per W3) — a mandatory stage (typically LIVE_PROVIDER_SMOKE or PROD_GOLDEN_PATH) is NOT_RUN, OR aggregate weakest-stage rule yielded UNVERIFIED	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (upstream-qa-unverified)	upstream-qa-unverified
3	Graph staleness detected — snapshot vs live mismatch on the project's Neo4j instance. Baseline MUST come from a live capture; never from a stale .cypher export. A _summary.json captured pre-release (live node count, label histogram, rel-type histogram) is compared to the current live state via direct Cypher query. Any node-count delta > 0 OR any label histogram delta OR any rel-type histogram delta = STALE.	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (graph-stale)	graph-stale
4	/nacl-sa-validate full reports Status: FAILED with at least one finding at severity: CRITICAL	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (sa-validate-critical)	sa-validate-critical
5	Missing PROD_GOLDEN_PATH evidence. A bare HTTP 200 from /health is HEALTH_ONLY evidence and is never product-readiness evidence. The release requires a PROD_GOLDEN_PATH evidence string in the QA aggregate (per W3 six-stage decomposition) for every UC where the matrix marks PROD_GOLDEN_PATH mandatory.	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (missing-prod-golden-path)	missing-prod-golden-path
6	PR / CI skipped without project_kind: prototype AND a signed exception. Direct-strategy releases (no PR, no CI) are permitted only when config.yaml declares project_kind: prototype AND .tl/exceptions/ contains a valid (unexpired, well-formed) exception with affected_gates including the literal skipped-pr and / or skipped-ci matching what is actually skipped.	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (skipped-pr-without-prototype-exception) or (skipped-ci-without-prototype-exception)	skipped-pr-without-prototype-exception or skipped-ci-without-prototype-exception
7	Stale downstream of an unreviewed change. /nacl-sa-validate full reports an L8 finding — at least one node carries review_status='stale' (a UC/entity/endpoint changed upstream and its dependents were never re-synced; typically Tasks whose source UC moved but were never re-planned). This is distinct from #4 (any CRITICAL) and #3 (snapshot vs live count): #7 is specifically "a recorded change has un-propagated dependents." Clear by running /nacl-tl-plan (regenerates stale tasks) or re-reviewing the flagged nodes.	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (stale-downstream)	stale-downstream

Conditions #4 and #7 both surface through /nacl-sa-validate full: #4 is the generic "any CRITICAL" gate, #7 names the staleness CRITICAL (L8) specifically so the refusal headline tells the operator what to do (run tl-plan) rather than just "validation failed." If L8 fires, prefer the stale-downstream headline.

HEALTH_ONLY vs PROD_GOLDEN_PATH

HEALTH_ONLY evidence:

• Is the literal HTTP response from {production_url}{health_endpoint} returning 200 OK.
• Confirms the deploy reached a running process and the process can serve at least one HTTP request.
• Does NOT confirm that any product flow executed end-to-end against production data, against the production database, against the production provider keys, or with production-grade payload sizes.
• Is the kind of evidence Step 3b of this skill collects.
• Is NEVER product-readiness evidence on its own. The project-beta episode (health green; upload golden path 404 on first real call) is the canonical proof.

PROD_GOLDEN_PATH evidence (per W3 six-stage decomposition):

• Is a recorded end-to-end run of the UC's primary happy path against production: real auth, real database write, real provider call (with real provider key when applicable), real artifact returned.
• Lives in the QA aggregate as the qa-stage:prod-golden-path:VERIFIED evidence string (or qa-stage:prod-golden-path:NOT_RUN when the stage did not run).
• Is required by the release gate (condition #5 above) for every UC where the W3 mandatory-stage matrix marks PROD_GOLDEN_PATH mandatory.

The release skill MUST distinguish between the two: condition #5 fires when PROD_GOLDEN_PATH is missing or NOT_RUN on a UC where the matrix marks it mandatory, EVEN IF the Step 3b /health probe returned 200. The health probe is a complement to PROD_GOLDEN_PATH, not a substitute.

project_kind=prototype + Signed Exception (the PR/CI carve-out)

The carve-out is conjunctive. A direct-strategy release without PR and without CI is permitted only when both:

1. config.yaml declares project_kind: prototype, AND
2. A signed exception exists with affected_gates enumerating exactly the gate names being skipped (skipped-pr, skipped-ci, or both).

Neither condition alone is sufficient. Prototype-mode without an exception → block. Exception without prototype-mode → block (the exception is rejected at load time as malformed — exception-prototype-only-gate-on-standard-project).

See nacl-tl-core/references/config-schema.md § "W4 PR/CI Carve-Out (binding)".

Signed Exception Schema (Binding)

.tl/exceptions/<exception_id>.yaml is the only override mechanism for the seven block conditions above (other than emergency mode). The schema is defined in .tl/exceptions/_template.yaml. The eight required fields are:

Field	Type	Notes
exception_id	string, format EXC-YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>	enforced via regex ^EXC-\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}-[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$
owner	string	GitHub handle (no @) or team name
reason	string	concrete justification; the literals "urgent", "blocked", "needed for demo", and any single-word value are rejected
created_at	ISO-8601 timestamp (UTC)	wall-clock at file creation
expiry	ISO-8601 timestamp (UTC)	wall-clock at which the exception STOPS overriding
affected_gates	list of strings	MUST enumerate specific gate names; ["*"], ["all"], or any catch-all token is rejected
affected_projects	list of strings	project ids the exception applies to
followup_task	string	task id or in-repo path of the follow-up that closes the underlying issue

Recognised gate names for affected_gates (W4 release-skill set): skipped-pr, skipped-ci, upstream-sync-unverified, upstream-qa-unverified, graph-stale, sa-validate-critical, missing-prod-golden-path, stale-downstream. (The cross-skill set — repo-checks-RED, wire-evidence-missing, LIVE_PROVIDER_SMOKE, etc. — is documented in .tl/exceptions/_template.yaml header.)

The Four Binding Rules

1. Expired = blocker. When expiry is in the past at the moment the gate is evaluated, the exception is treated as ABSENT. The named gate refuses VERIFIED again with no grace period. Workflow detail: exception-expired.

2. No silent extension. Editing the expiry of an existing exception file is detected as schema tampering (the release skill records exception-file content-hashes in release-status.json on first read; a hash mismatch on the same exception_id triggers refusal with workflow detail exception-id-reused-without-renewal).

3. Renewal requires a new exception_id. The id format embeds the creation date and a slug; a renewal is a new file with a new id (typically EXC-<renewal-date>-<same-slug>-r2). The renewal's reason field references the prior id.

4. No blanket overrides. affected_gates MUST enumerate specific gate names. ["*"], ["all"], ["any"], or any catch-all token is rejected at load time with workflow detail exception-affects-blanket-gates. Each gate the operator wants to override is listed individually.

Surfacing

Signed exceptions consumed by a release run are surfaced in three places:

1. Release notes — the GitHub release body (Step 8) includes a ## Active exceptions section listing every exception consumed, with exception_id, affected_gates, expiry, and followup_task.

2. .tl/release-status.json — under a new "exceptions" key:

   "exceptions": [
     {
       "exception_id": "EXC-2026-05-22-stale-graph-projectalpha",
       "affected_gates": ["graph-stale"],
       "expiry": "2026-05-23T08:35:00Z",
       "followup_task": "TECH-042-graph-refresh"
     }
   ]
   

3. .tl/conductor-state.json — every active exception that affects a wave-tip commit is appended to the exceptions[] array maintained by the conductor (W5 owns the conductor reconciliation that keeps this array in sync).

Removed-Flag Rule

The five W4-owned removed flags (SKIP-MERGE, SKIP-VERIFY, SKIP- DEPLOY, NO-TEST, FORCE — see the table in the "Removed Flags" section above) and the cross-wave removed flags (the bulk-QA-skip flag owned by W3, the SKIP-DELIVER flag owned by W5, the SKIP-PLAN flag owned by W9) are NOT re-enabled by signed exceptions. The flag surface is gone. Bulk-bypass routes through emergency mode only.

Emergency Mode (the bulk-bypass path)

When a release must advance past one or more of the seven block conditions in a situation that signed exceptions cannot anticipate (production outage, security rollback, ransomware response), the operator invokes emergency mode.

Emergency mode is not a --skip-* flag. It is a triple of environment variables set on the same shell command:

NACL_EMERGENCY=1 \
NACL_EMERGENCY_REASON="prod 500s on /api/release/v0.18.0 — rolling back" \
NACL_EMERGENCY_OWNER="magznikitin" \
  claude --skill nacl-tl-release

All three are REQUIRED. Behavior:

• Every Strict-Only gate still evaluates.
• Every gate that would have refused VERIFIED prints a bypass banner naming itself (one per gate, on stderr).
• The skill advances past the refusal and writes a structured event to .tl/emergencies/<UTC-timestamp>-<slug>.yaml.
• release-status.json gets an "emergency" key with the event id and bypassed-gate list.
• .tl/changelog.md gets a blockquote line under the in-flight version heading naming the bypass.
• The terminal Status: carries the suffix (emergency-bypass) and is NEVER promoted to VERIFIED.

Full schema and rules: nacl-tl-core/references/emergency-mode.md. Event-file template: .tl/emergencies/_template.yaml.

Emergency mode does NOT re-enable any removed flag, does NOT silence the gates, and does NOT extend over multiple invocations.

---

Workflow: 9 Steps

Step 0: PRE-CHECK

1. Read config.yaml → resolve all settings (see table above)

2. If git.strategy == "direct":

   • Skip the merge action of Step 2 (no gh pr merge calls).
   • Enforce the W4 PR/CI carve-out (binding): verify that config.yaml declares project_kind: prototype AND that a signed exception under .tl/exceptions/ lists skipped-pr (and skipped-ci if CI is also skipped) in its affected_gates. If either condition is missing, refuse with Status: BLOCKED and one of the workflow details skipped-pr-without-prototype-exception / skipped-ci-without-prototype-exception. Do NOT proceed to Step 3. (For project_kind: standard, git.strategy == "direct" itself is a configuration error and the prelude refuses with workflow detail direct-strategy-on-standard-project.)
   • DO NOT skip the pre-merge graph-proof gate. The type-aware gate at the top of Step 2 (feature PRs → Task-node check + MISSING TASK NODE halt; fix PRs → Decision/level check + UNRECORDED SPEC DRIFT halt; status branching; REGRESSION exclusion) MUST run in every mode (P1 / 0.14.0 contract). The direct-strategy carve-out changes which artifacts are produced, not whether the gate runs.
   • Run the gate over the candidate UC list collected in Step 1, or — if direct-mode bypasses Step 1 entirely — over the UCs associated with commits since the last tag (gh pr list --state merged --base {main_branch} since git describe --tags --abbrev=0).
   • After the gate, jump to Step 3 (verify production deployment).

3. Check for existing .tl/release-status.json:

   • If exists → RESUME MODE (skip to incomplete step)

4. Ensure we're on the base branch or can switch to it:

   git fetch origin {main_branch}
   

---

Step 1: COLLECT RELEASE CANDIDATES

Find open PRs targeting {main_branch} that are ready for release.

Source A — YouGile (if configured): Query tasks in yougile.columns.to_release. For each task, extract the PR URL from the task chat (posted by nacl-tl-ship / nacl-tl-deliver).

Source B — GitHub (fallback or supplemental):

gh pr list --base {main_branch} --state open --json number,title,headRefName,mergeable,reviews,statusCheckRollup

Filter to PRs that are:

• Targeting {main_branch}
• All CI checks passing (or no CI configured)
• At least one approving review OR authored by automation

If --pr 42,45 provided: skip discovery, use those specific PRs:

gh pr view 42 --json number,title,headRefName,mergeable,reviews,statusCheckRollup
gh pr view 45 --json number,title,headRefName,mergeable,reviews,statusCheckRollup

If no PRs found: skip Steps 1-3, proceed to Step 4 (tag-only mode — code was merged manually or via direct strategy).

Write initial .tl/release-status.json with discovered PRs.

---

Step 2: MERGE TO MAIN (USER GATE)

Pre-merge graph-proof gate (runs BEFORE presenting merge plan):

The gate is type-aware: a feature PR proves it shipped a planned UC via its Task node; a fix PR proves it via the Decision node nacl-tl-fix records (L2/L3-spec-gap) or a code-only Fix-level marker (L0/L1) — not a Task node, which the bug-fix path correctly never creates. The per-PR verdict is computed by the single-authority classifier nacl-core/scripts/classify-pr-merge.mjs (pure, never opens Neo4j, pinned by classify-pr-merge.test.mjs); this skill gathers the graph rows + trailers and feeds them in, so the verdict is reproducible:

node nacl-core/scripts/classify-pr-merge.mjs '<pr-json>'   # or a JSON array of PRs
# → { "verdict": "MERGE" | "USER_GATE" | "HALT", "detail": <code|null>, "proof": "<graph proof>" }

For each PR in the release candidate list, FIRST classify the PR by its conventional-commit title prefix (read once: gh pr view <N> --json title,body,commits):

• feat:/feature: — or any non-fix: prefix without a Fix-level: trailer → FEATURE PR → 1a.
• fix: — or any PR carrying a Fix-level: trailer → FIX PR → 1b.

1a. FEATURE PR — Task-node check (unchanged: graph only, no JSON fallback). Identify the underlying UC(s) and query the graph:

MATCH (t:Task)
WHERE t.id IN [<UC list>]
RETURN t.id, t.status, t.verification_evidence

Feed {prefix:"feat", taskNodeMissing:<query returned no row>, taskStatus:<t.status>}. Verdicts:

Classifier result	Merge action
HALT / MISSING_TASK_NODE (no row)	HALT immediately. Print RELEASE HALTED — MISSING TASK NODE / "UC### has no Task node in the graph. The graph may be out of sync. Run /nacl-tl-diagnose to reconcile before retrying the release." Do NOT fall back to .tl/status.json. Do NOT proceed.
MERGE (done)	Include in merge plan normally
USER_GATE (verified-pending / blocked)	HALT: "PR #N has UC### with UNVERIFIED/blocked dev status. Merge without verification? [yes/no] Default: no". If user confirms → include with warning. If not → exclude; report RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED
HALT / REGRESSION (failed / regression)	DO NOT include; report "PR #N excluded — REGRESSION in UC###"; flag RELEASE INCOMPLETE — REGRESSION

1b. FIX PR — Decision / level check (verify the artifact the fix produced, NOT a Task node). Read the fix linkage from the PR trailers (commit bodies + PR body — written by nacl-tl-fix Step 8 / nacl-tl-ship):

Fix-level:    L0 | L1 | L2 | L3-spec-gap        (one or more — bundled PRs carry several; strictest governs)
Fix-decision: DEC-NNN[, DEC-NNN ...] | none      (none for L0/L1, which author no Decision)

For each spec-changing level (L2/L3-spec-gap), query the named Decisions:

MATCH (d:Decision) WHERE d.id IN [<Fix-decision ids>] RETURN d.id, d.status

Feed {prefix:"fix", fixLevels:[…], fixDecisions:[…], decisions:[…rows], gapcheckNoDrift:<status.json phases.spec.kind=="gapcheck-no-drift">, specUpdateCommitPresent:<a spec-update commit is in the PR>, sourceMatchedDecisions:[…]}. Verdicts:

Classifier result	Merge action
MERGE (proof Decision DEC-NNN accepted)	Spec-changing fix, every named Decision present & status='accepted'. Include normally.
HALT / UNRECORDED_SPEC_DRIFT	A named Decision is missing or not accepted (or no trailer + a spec-update commit + no Decision). Print: RELEASE HALTED — UNRECORDED SPEC DRIFT / "PR #N (fix:) changes behavior but no accepted Decision node backs it. Expected Fix-decision DEC-NNN with status='accepted'. Run /nacl-tl-fix to record the Decision, or /nacl-tl-diagnose to reconcile." Do NOT proceed.
MERGE (proof code-only (L<n>))	Code-only fix (Fix-level: L0|L1, Fix-decision: none). The Fix-level trailer is the "no spec drift" proof (nacl-tl-fix enforced 6.SF before the code commit). Bounded status.json corroboration — a calibrated exception to the 0.13.0 no-JSON-fallback rule, scoped STRICTLY to L0/L1 fix PRs: if .tl/status.json has phases.spec.kind == "gapcheck-no-drift" (read defensively — the slot may be a string OR an object) the proof notes it; its absence is NOT a HALT (the trailer is authoritative; phases.spec is a single per-run-overwritten slot, unreliable for bundled PRs).
HALT / FIX_PROOF_INCONSISTENT	Inconsistent producer output: a spec-changing level with Fix-decision: none, or a code-only level that names a Decision. Surface and stop.

A FIX PR is NEVER halted merely for lacking a Task node — the bug-fix path records a Decision, not a Task (nacl-tl-fix/SKILL.md § "author the Decision + change-provenance"). The Task-node HALT (1a) applies to feature PRs only. PRs with no Fix-level: trailer (older fixes predating trailer support) fall back to SHA-match (MATCH (d:Decision) WHERE d.source IN [<PR commit SHAs>]) inside the classifier.

Present the merge plan. Each PR shows a Graph proof line — the classifier's proof string — which differs by PR type: Task <status> for features, Decision <DEC> accepted for L2/L3 fixes, code-only (L<n>) for L0/L1 fixes:

===============================================
  RELEASE — MERGE PLAN
===============================================

PRs to merge into {main_branch}:

  #42  feat: UC-028 Funnel event tracking     (feature/UC028)
       CI: passed | Reviews: 1 approved | Conflicts: none
       Graph proof (feature): Task done (PASS)

  #45  feat: UC-029 Scene prompt display       (feature/UC029)
       CI: passed | Reviews: 1 approved | Conflicts: none
       Graph proof (feature): Task verified-pending (UNVERIFIED) — USER GATE REQUIRED

  #51  fix: roll session→error on memories pipeline failure (fix/memories-rollback)
       CI: passed | Reviews: 1 approved | Conflicts: none
       Graph proof (fix, L2): Decision DEC-045 accepted

  #52  fix: null-guard on header avatar          (fix/avatar-null)
       CI: passed | Reviews: 1 approved | Conflicts: none
       Graph proof (fix, L1): code-only (status.json: gapcheck-no-drift confirmed)

Merge method: squash (from config.yaml)
Target: {main_branch}

Proceed with merge? [yes/no]
(UNVERIFIED PRs require separate confirmation before merging)
(Fix PRs are verified via Decision/level proof, not Task status.)
===============================================

Wait for user confirmation. Skip if --yes (but UNVERIFIED UCs still require explicit per-UC confirmation when --yes is set — --yes skips the plan gate, not the UNVERIFIED safety gate).

For each PR, sequentially (order matters — later PRs may conflict after earlier merges):

gh pr merge {pr_number} --{merge_method} --delete-branch

Where {merge_method} is one of: --squash, --merge, --rebase (from git.merge_method, default: squash).

After each merge:

• Update release-status.json: mark PR as "merged"
• Check next PR's merge status:

  gh pr view {next_pr_number} --json mergeable
  

  If mergeable == "CONFLICTING" → STOP:

  CONFLICT: PR #45 has merge conflicts after merging #42.
  Resolve conflicts on feature/UC029, push, wait for CI, then re-run /nacl-tl-release.
  
  Already merged: #42
  Remaining: #45
  

After all PRs merged, update local main:

git checkout {main_branch}
git pull origin {main_branch}

---

Step 3: VERIFY PRODUCTION DEPLOYMENT

After merge to main, the CI/CD pipeline triggers (per deploy.production.trigger).

3a. Wait for CI:

The CI wait is delegated to the single-authority helper — it selects the run, watches it under the timeout, and classifies the outcome (constants --timeout / --no-run-grace documented in-script; pinned by scripts/wait-for-ci.test.sh):

bash nacl-core/scripts/wait-for-ci.sh watch --branch {main_branch} --since "$merge_iso" \
  --timeout "${ci_timeout:-600}"
# exit 0 + CI_OK | NO_CI (no .github/workflows → warn) | NO_RUN (none within grace → warn & continue)
# exit 1 + CI_FAILED → do NOT proceed to tagging; surface the failure block below

If CI FAILS:

gh run view {run_id} --log-failed | tail -50

STOP with error:

CI FAILED after merge to {main_branch}.
Run: {run_url}

PRs already merged: #42, #45
These commits are on {main_branch}. Fix the issue on a follow-up
PR (or via /nacl-tl-hotfix for critical production bugs), wait for
CI green, then re-run /nacl-tl-release. The release skill will pick
up where it left off via .tl/release-status.json.

Do NOT proceed to tagging.

3b. Health check (if deploy.production.url configured):

The health probe is delegated (propagation wait, retry count, and interval are documented in-script; pinned by scripts/health-check.test.sh):

bash nacl-core/scripts/health-check.sh --url "{production_url}{health_endpoint}"
# exit 0 HEALTH_OK | exit 1 HEALTH_FAILED → surface the HALT block below

Remember: a green probe is HEALTH_ONLY evidence, never product-readiness (Step 5 gate).

If health check fails — HALT (strict; no inline operator override; W4-blocking-release):

RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (production health failed)
Production health endpoint did not return 200 OK after 3 retries.
Tag has NOT been pushed.

Resolution options:
  [1] Wait for deploy propagation and re-run /nacl-tl-release.
  [2] Investigate production with /nacl-tl-deploy --production.
  [3] File a signed exception under .tl/exceptions/ with
      affected_gates: [missing-prod-golden-path] (see
      .tl/exceptions/_template.yaml).
  [4] Invoke emergency mode (NACL_EMERGENCY=1 +
      NACL_EMERGENCY_REASON + NACL_EMERGENCY_OWNER); the run will
      advance with a (emergency-bypass) suffix and will NOT be
      VERIFIED — see nacl-tl-core/references/emergency-mode.md.

The inline operator-prompt override was removed in W4-blocking- release. HEALTH_ONLY evidence (a green /health probe with no PROD_GOLDEN_PATH execution) is no longer product-readiness evidence. Mere health success does NOT permit release tagging; the release skill enforces condition #5 of the Strict-Only gate (missing-prod-golden-path) independently of this probe.

If no deploy.production.url is configured AND the project declares project_kind: prototype AND a signed exception covers affected_gates: [missing-prod-golden-path], this step records "health": {"status": "skipped_by_exception", "exception_id": "..."} and proceeds. Otherwise (no production URL, no exception) the release refuses with Status: BLOCKED and workflow detail no-production-url-without-exception.

---

Step 4: DETERMINE VERSION BUMP

Read .tl/changelog.md since last git tag and classify changes:

• major: Breaking changes, API incompatibilities, major rewrites
• minor: New features, new endpoints, new UCs (default for features)
• patch: Bug fixes, performance improvements, doc updates

# Get current version
git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "v0.0.0"

# Get changes since last tag
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline

Apply SemVer: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

If --major, --minor, or --patch flag provided → use forced bump.

Step 5: AGGREGATE CHANGELOG

Read .tl/changelog.md entries since last tag. Group by type:

## v1.3.0 — 2026-03-27

### Features
- UC-028: Funnel event tracking (POST /api/analytics/event)
- UC-029: Funnel dashboard for admin panel

### Bug Fixes
- Fix: robust sessionId resolution on loading page
- Fix: sync Dexie store before navigation

### Infrastructure
- TECH-020: @nivo charting library integration

Changelog freshness cross-check (mandatory):

# Date of the latest changelog entry (first ## line after last tag)
CHANGELOG_DATE=$(grep -m1 '^## ' .tl/changelog.md | grep -oE '[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}')

# Date of the most recent PR merged into {main_branch} since the last tag
LAST_MERGE_DATE=$(gh pr list --state merged --base {main_branch} --limit 20 \
  --json mergedAt --jq '[.[].mergedAt] | sort | last | .[0:10]')

Compare the two dates:

• If CHANGELOG_DATE is more than 1 day older than LAST_MERGE_DATE:

  WARNING — CHANGELOG MAY BE STALE
  Latest changelog entry: {CHANGELOG_DATE}
  Most recent PR merged:   {LAST_MERGE_DATE}
  Delta: {N} days. Review .tl/changelog.md and add missing entries before tagging.
  

  Do NOT block the release, but print this warning prominently above the version bump line.
• If CHANGELOG_DATE is within 1 day of LAST_MERGE_DATE (or ahead) → no warning.

Step 6: CREATE GIT TAG

git tag -a v1.3.0 -m "Release v1.3.0 — Analytics Funnel Dashboard"
git push origin v1.3.0

---

Step 7: MARK DELIVERED INTAKEITEMS WITH RELEASE VERSION

After the git tag is pushed, stamp IntakeItem nodes with the release version. This step is strictly gated on aggregated PASS status (P4 + 0.14.0 contract):

• Only stamp IntakeItems whose underlying UCs had PASS status (task.status = 'done').
• IntakeItems associated with UNVERIFIED, BLOCKED, or REGRESSION UCs are excluded from the release artifact. They are NOT stamped with a release version, NOT stamped with a "release note instead", and do NOT receive any delivered_in_release write. The previous "stamp with a note instead" path (0.13.0 and earlier) has been removed.
• Excluded IntakeItems are surfaced explicitly in the release report (see Step 9 / final report) so the operator can decide whether to retry verification before re-running release for those items.
• If ANY UC in the release had REGRESSION → halted at Step 2 (never reaches Step 7).

Run the following query for PASS items only, substituting the new version string:

MATCH (i:IntakeItem)
WHERE i.status = 'delivered'
  AND i.delivered_in_release IS NULL
  AND NOT EXISTS {
    MATCH (i)<-[:PART_OF]-(t:Task)
    WHERE t.status IN ['verified-pending', 'blocked', 'failed']
  }
SET i.delivered_in_release = $version
RETURN count(i) AS updated;

Then collect the excluded set (read-only, for the report):

MATCH (i:IntakeItem)<-[:PART_OF]-(t:Task)
WHERE i.status = 'delivered'
  AND i.delivered_in_release IS NULL
  AND t.status IN ['verified-pending', 'blocked', 'failed']
RETURN i.id AS intake_id,
       collect(DISTINCT {uc: t.id, status: t.status,
                         skip_reason: t.verification_skip_reason}) AS blocked_ucs;

Surface the excluded list in the final report under a dedicated "Excluded from release (UNVERIFIED upstream)" section. Do NOT write any delivered_in_release or delivery_note field for these items in this release.

Parameter:

• $version — the new release version string, e.g. "v1.3.0"

Failure handling (W4-blocking-release — strict): If Neo4j is unavailable or the query errors, this step refuses VERIFIED:

RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (graph-stale)
Could not stamp IntakeItems with release version in Neo4j.
Graph state may be stale — reconcile via /nacl-tl-diagnose +
nacl-publish before retrying.

Resolution options:
  [1] Bring Neo4j up, run /nacl-tl-diagnose, then re-run /nacl-tl-release.
  [2] File a signed exception under .tl/exceptions/ with
      affected_gates: [graph-stale] (see .tl/exceptions/_template.yaml).
  [3] Invoke emergency mode (loud, recorded, not VERIFIED).

STALE_GRAPH is a release-blocker, not a follow-up. (W4 binding rule.) The previous "log a warning and continue" path was removed in W4-blocking-release after the Project-Alpha stale-graph episode (live graph 1,083 nodes vs handover-artifact 970 nodes; release proceeded under operator override; FR-007 in changelog but not visibly in graph).

Pre-flight graph-staleness check (NEW in W4): Before running the stamping query, capture the live node count, label histogram, and rel-type histogram via direct Cypher (NOT from any cached .cypher export, NOT from any _summary.json written earlier in the run — those baselines are stale by construction). Compare against the release-status.json graph.baseline field captured at Step 0 (also live). Any delta on:

• total node count
• any label-count entry
• any rel-type-count entry

is a STALE_GRAPH refusal. Workflow detail: graph-stale. The baseline-from-stale-export episode (Project-Alpha) is the canonical prevention case.

On success, update release-status.json:

"graph": {
  "status": "done",
  "version": "v1.3.0",
  "updated": 3,
  "baseline": {
    "nodes": 1083,
    "labels": { "DomainAttribute": 179, "WorkflowStep": 132, "...": 0 },
    "rels": { "HAS_ATTRIBUTE": 263, "...": 0 }
  }
}

The baseline block is REQUIRED — it is the live capture that the NEXT release will diff against. A release that fails to write graph.baseline is in a corrupt state and the next release will refuse with Status: BLOCKED (graph-baseline-missing).

→ Output: count of IntakeItem nodes stamped with the release version

---

Step 8: CREATE GITHUB RELEASE (optional)

Create a GitHub release using gh CLI:

gh release create v1.3.0 \
  --title "v1.3.0 — Analytics Funnel Dashboard" \
  --notes "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Features
- UC-028: Funnel event tracking
- UC-029: Admin funnel dashboard

## Bug Fixes
- Session ID resolution
- Dexie store sync

Full changelog: .tl/changelog.md
EOF
)"

If deploy.production.url is set in config.yaml, include it in the release notes body.

Step 9: YOUGILE NOTIFICATION

If YouGile configured:

1. Post release notes to the board (or a dedicated channel task):

   Release v1.3.0 — Analytics Funnel Dashboard
   
   Features:
   - Funnel event tracking (UC-028)
   - Admin dashboard (UC-029)
   
   Bug Fixes:
   - Session ID resolution
   - Dexie store sync
   
   Merged PRs: #42, #45
   Deployed: https://example.com
   Tag: v1.3.0
   

2. Move all feature tasks from ToRelease to Done (if not already)

3. Close parent UserRequest cards (if all subtasks are Done)

---

Resumption Logic

On start, if .tl/release-status.json exists:

1. Read status file

2. Find first incomplete step:

   merge.status != "done"     → resume from Step 2 (skip already-merged PRs)
   ci.status != "done"        → resume from Step 3
   health.status != "done"    → resume from Step 3b
   version.status != "done"   → resume from Step 4
   tag.status != "done"       → resume from Step 6
   graph.status != "done"     → resume from Step 7
   release.status != "done"   → resume from Step 8
   yougile.status != "done"   → resume from Step 9
   all done                   → show report
   

3. Report resume point:

   Resuming release.
   Merge: done (2 PRs merged)
   CI: done (passed)
   Resuming from: Version bump
   

---

Edge Cases

Scenario	Behavior
git.strategy == "direct" on project_kind: prototype with signed exception covering skipped-pr/skipped-ci	Skip the merge action of Step 2 (no PRs to merge). UC status gate STILL runs over commits-since-last-tag.
git.strategy == "direct" on project_kind: standard	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (direct-strategy-on-standard-project) — refuse VERIFIED.
git.strategy == "direct" on project_kind: prototype WITHOUT signed exception	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (skipped-pr-without-prototype-exception) — refuse VERIFIED.
No PRs found in ToRelease or GitHub	Skip Steps 1-3, proceed to version/tag (still subject to Strict-Only gates)
One PR has merge conflicts	Stop at that PR, report which merged / which remain
CI fails after merge	Stop before tagging, report. User fixes via follow-up PR or /nacl-tl-hotfix.
No CI configured	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (skipped-ci-without-prototype-exception) unless covered by signed exception.
No production URL configured	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (no-production-url-without-exception) unless covered by signed exception with affected_gates: [missing-prod-golden-path]. The Step 3b "skip and warn" path was removed in W4-blocking-release (project-beta health-only episode prevention).
No changes since last tag	Report "nothing to release"
Single PR release	Same flow, one PR in list
--dry-run flag	Show merge plan + version bump, no action
Session interrupted mid-merge	Resume from release-status.json, skip already-merged PRs
Neo4j unavailable (Step 7)	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (graph-stale) — refuse VERIFIED. (Was: log warning, continue. Removed in W4-blocking-release per Project-Alpha stale-graph episode.)
Live graph differs from baseline (Step 7 pre-flight)	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (graph-stale) — refuse VERIFIED.
/nacl-sa-validate full returns CRITICAL findings	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (sa-validate-critical) — refuse VERIFIED.
Upstream tl-sync verdict is UNVERIFIED	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (upstream-sync-unverified) — refuse VERIFIED. (W2.)
Upstream tl-qa aggregate is UNVERIFIED	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (upstream-qa-unverified) — refuse VERIFIED. (W3.)
PROD_GOLDEN_PATH evidence missing on a UC where the W3 matrix marks it mandatory	RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (missing-prod-golden-path) — refuse VERIFIED. HEALTH_ONLY is NOT a substitute.
Feature PR: Task node missing in graph (Step 2 / 1a)	RELEASE HALTED — MISSING TASK NODE. Run /nacl-tl-diagnose. Do NOT fall back to status.json.
Fix PR: spec-changing fix with no accepted Decision (Step 2 / 1b)	RELEASE HALTED — UNRECORDED SPEC DRIFT. Run /nacl-tl-fix to record the Decision, or /nacl-tl-diagnose. (A fix PR is never halted for lacking a Task node.)
PR merged but UC was UNVERIFIED	Halt BEFORE merge. Ask user: "UC### is UNVERIFIED — merge to main without test coverage? [yes/no] Default: no". Never auto-merge UNVERIFIED. If user answers yes, merge proceeds with override note.
Any UC has REGRESSION status	RELEASE INCOMPLETE — REGRESSION. Do NOT merge, do NOT tag.
NACL_EMERGENCY=1 + companion env vars set	Emergency mode: every Strict-Only gate refusal prints a banner, the run advances, the terminal Status: carries (emergency-bypass) suffix (NEVER VERIFIED), event recorded in .tl/emergencies/. See nacl-tl-core/references/emergency-mode.md.
All Strict-Only gates pass AND all UCs PASS	Proceed normally; RELEASE COMPLETE headline

---

Output

===============================================
  RELEASE COMPLETE
===============================================

Merge:
  PR   Title                              Method   UC status    Evidence level
  ---  ---------------------------------  -------  -----------  ---------------
  #42  feat: UC-028 Funnel event tracking squash   PASS         test-GREEN (regression test path: .tl/tasks/UC028/regression-test.md)
  #45  feat: UC-029 Scene prompt display  squash   PASS         test-GREEN (regression test path: .tl/tasks/UC029/regression-test.md)
  #46  feat: TECH-013 Docker Compose stack squash  PASS         verify-GREEN (verification record: .tl/tasks/TECH013/verification.md)

Deploy:
  CI: passed (4m 22s)
  Health: 200 OK (https://example.com/api/health)

Version: v1.3.0 (minor bump)
Tag: v1.3.0 (pushed)

Graph:
  IntakeItems stamped with v1.3.0: 3 nodes updated

Release: https://github.com/org/repo/releases/tag/v1.3.0

Changelog:
  2 features, 0 bug fixes

YouGile:
  Release notes posted
  Tasks closed: UC-028, UC-029

===============================================

Per-UC evidence-level values (populate from t.verification_evidence in the graph query from Step 2):

Evidence level	Meaning
test-GREEN	Regression test ran RED→GREEN; path recorded in graph
verify-GREEN	Infrastructure verification command re-ran cleanly post-change (Workflow B); verification record path recorded in graph. NOT a verification gap.
test-UNVERIFIED	Tests passed but no RED→GREEN artifact in graph
no-test	Legacy (pre-W4 graphs only): shipped under the since-removed user override
unknown	Graph node existed but verification_evidence field is null/empty

Parsing: prefix test-GREEN: → test-GREEN (path extracted); prefix verify-GREEN: → verify-GREEN (path extracted); literal test-UNVERIFIED / no-test → as-is; null/empty/unrecognised → unknown.

If any UC in the merged set has evidence level no-test or unknown, append a footer line (verify-GREEN does NOT trigger this footer):

Verification gaps: UC-029 (no-test), UC-031 (unknown) — review before next release.

Excluded from release (UNVERIFIED upstream — Step 7):

If the Step 7 excluded query returns any rows, append this section verbatim to the final report:

Excluded from this release artifact (no IntakeItem stamped):
  IntakeItem  Underlying UC  UC status         Skip reason
  ----------  -------------  ----------------  -------------------------------
  FAM-58      UC-029         verified-pending  upstream-qa-unverified
  FAM-61      UC-031         blocked           upstream-sync-unverified

These items remain in the graph as 'delivered' but were NOT stamped with
the release version. Re-run /nacl-tl-deliver after restoring PASS status,
then re-run /nacl-tl-release for those items.

The pre-W4 skip-reason vocabulary (deliver SKIP-VERIFY-FLAG, deliver health failed (override)) is no longer producible — those flag-driven and override-driven exclusions were removed in W4-blocking-release. Current exclusion reasons map to the six Strict-Only block conditions documented above plus the upstream verdict tokens (upstream-sync-unverified, upstream-qa-unverified).

Headline selection (P1 — Status: is the authoritative classifier):

RELEASE COMPLETE — every candidate UC PASS, every Strict-Only gate PASSED (or covered by a valid signed exception), health 200 OK, tag pushed. RELEASE COMPLETE — emergency-bypass — emergency mode invoked; one or more Strict-Only gates were bypassed under NACL_EMERGENCY=1; tag pushed; Status: carries (emergency-bypass) suffix; closed-set status is PARTIALLY_VERIFIED, never VERIFIED. RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (production health failed) — Step 3b health failed; tag NOT pushed. (No inline operator override exists post-W4; override paths are signed exception or emergency mode only.) RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (upstream-sync-unverified) — W2 upstream tl-sync verdict is UNVERIFIED. RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (upstream-qa-unverified) — W3 upstream tl-qa aggregate is UNVERIFIED. RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (graph-stale) — Step 7 pre-flight or query detected stale graph (Project-Alpha episode prevention). RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (sa-validate-critical) — /nacl-sa-validate full reported FAIL with CRITICAL findings. RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (missing-prod-golden-path) — PROD_GOLDEN_PATH evidence missing on a UC where the W3 mandatory-stage matrix marks it mandatory (project-beta episode prevention; HEALTH_ONLY is not a substitute). RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (skipped-pr-without-prototype-exception) — direct-strategy release with no PR and config.yaml does NOT declare project_kind: prototype OR no signed exception covers skipped-pr. RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED (skipped-ci-without-prototype-exception) — direct-strategy release with no CI and config.yaml does NOT declare project_kind: prototype OR no signed exception covers skipped-ci. RELEASE HALTED — UNVERIFIED — operator declined an UNVERIFIED-UC user gate at Step 2. RELEASE HALTED — MISSING TASK NODE — Step 2 / 1a feature-PR graph query found a UC with no Task node. RELEASE HALTED — UNRECORDED SPEC DRIFT — Step 2 / 1b fix PR changes behavior but no accepted Decision node backs it (and no L0/L1 code-only Fix-level marker explains it). RELEASE INCOMPLETE — REGRESSION — any UC has REGRESSION status.

If merge-only (no deploy verification configured):

===============================================
  RELEASE COMPLETE
===============================================

Merge:
  #42  feat: UC-028 — merged (squash)

Deploy:
  CI: no pipeline detected (skipped)
  Health: no production URL configured (skipped)

Version: v0.1.0 (minor bump)
Tag: v0.1.0 (pushed)

Graph:
  IntakeItems stamped with v0.1.0: 1 node updated

Release: https://github.com/org/repo/releases/tag/v0.1.0

===============================================

---

References

• config.yaml → git strategy, merge method, deploy settings, yougile
• .tl/changelog.md — source for release notes
• .tl/release-status.json — release state (created by this skill)
• config.yaml → deploy.production.url — link in release notes
• config.yaml → yougile — for notifications and PR discovery
• mcp__neo4j__write-cypher → stamps IntakeItem nodes with release version (Step 7)