# Release > Operate the three-tier release process — instant builds, nightlies, stable releases — plus crash-log symbolization. Read before touching anything release-related. Hard rule — tags and manual releases need explicit maintainer approval first. - Skill: `clice-io/release` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add clice-io/release` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/clice-io/release/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: clice-io (https://skillmd.com/u/clice-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/clice-io/release --- Operate the three-tier release process: instant builds, nightlies, and stable releases. ## Versioning One version number everywhere: git tag `vX.Y.Z` == extension version == release page. Odd minor = pre-release channel, even minor = stable (the VS Code Marketplace convention). Nightlies compute `X..YYYYMMDDHH` (UTC hour) on the odd minor above the newest release — `0.1.*` today, `0.3.*` after stable `v0.2.0` — so nobody edits version numbers by hand. The versions in `CMakeLists.txt`, `pixi.toml`, and `editors/vscode/package.json` are permanent placeholders (`0.1.0`); the real version is injected from the tag at build time (binary via git describe, vsix via CI). A local `vsce publish` with the placeholder is rejected by the Marketplace — that is intentional accident protection. ## Tier 1 — Instant builds (every green CI run) Nothing to operate. Every `main` push and PR run repackages the test-suite binaries (no LTO, no strip) into `vsix-build-` workflow artifacts, and the raw binaries are in `native-build-*` / `cross-build-*` artifacts. To hand a fix to a user: point them at the run's artifact (GitHub login required), or have them set `clice.executable` to the extracted binary. ## Tier 2 — Nightly (pre-release channel) `nightly.yml` runs daily (cron) or via `gh workflow run nightly.yml`: skips when main has no new commits, otherwise tags the nightly version and **promotes** — nothing is rebuilt. Every main CI run already packages the binaries its test suites validated (strip + GSYM happen in the build jobs); nightly picks the newest main commit whose green run still has live package artifacts (path-filtered runs such as docs-only commits build nothing), tags exactly that commit, downloads its packages, attaches them to a GitHub pre-release plus the Marketplace `--pre-release` channel, and prunes odd-minor pre-releases older than 30 days. Promotion fails loudly if no packaged green run exists. A failed nightly just means no nightly that day — fix main and rerun via dispatch. The vsix packaging matrix runs in parallel, but release upload and Marketplace publishing happen in one serial job (`publish-release`) with 3 attempts per vsix — concurrent publishes trip Marketplace internal errors (TF400898). The job is rerun-safe: `gh run rerun --failed` re-uploads with `--clobber` and skips already-published versions, so a transient Marketplace failure is recovered by rerunning just that job — never by a new tag. The binary embeds its build identity (`git describe`: nearest tag + commit hash), not the release tag — the tag is applied after the build. Match crash logs to releases by the commit hash; the release notes state the hash. ## Tier 3 — Stable release (manual, even minor) 1. Freeze: stop merging features; the last nightlies of the freeze are the RCs. 2. When a nightly is judged good, tag its commit: `git tag v0.2.0 && git push origin v0.2.0`. The tag push runs the release path of `main.yml`, which promotes the already-tested packages from that commit's green CI run and publishes the extensions (Marketplace without `--pre-release`). The promote path creates the GitHub release if the tag push did not. Package artifacts expire 30 days after the CI run, so the tagged commit's run must be less than a month old — for an older commit, rerun its main workflow first to regenerate the packages. 3. Write the release notes on the GitHub release page (the download table format from the nightly notes is a good template). 4. Verify: assets present (6 packages + 4 symbol archives + 2 PDB zips + 6 vsix), Marketplace shows the new stable version. ## Plumbing changes There is no separate dry run: packaging runs on every CI build (the `Package release artifacts` steps in native-test/cross-pair) and the vsix path runs as `instant-vscode`, so release plumbing is exercised by every code-touching PR. Only the promote/upload glue (`publish-clice.yml`, nightly orchestration) is release-time-only. ## Crash log support Ask the user for the log (worker `.log` from the session log directory — printed at startup in the editor's clice output panel, by default `~/.cache/clice/-/logs//`, falling back to the workspace `.clice/logs/` when no home directory is available). The crash section starts with `clice ` — download that release's `*.symbols.tar.xz` (GSYM) and run: ```bash python scripts/symbolize.py crash.log --symbols clice.gsym ``` For core-dump-level debugging, fetch the full DWARF from the `debug-info-*` artifact of the main CI run that built the release (90-day retention; find it via the commit hash in the release notes). If the log predates the version line or the release was pruned, symbolization is not possible — ask the user to reproduce on a current nightly.