Release

Release Workflow

Guides the Backend.AI release process: version bump, changelog generation, and RC consolidation for final releases.

Parameters

• target_version (required): Release version (e.g., 26.2.0, 26.2.0rc2)
• webui_version (optional): WebUI version to bundle

Workflow

Phase 1: Pre-flight

1. Parse parameters

   • Extract target_version from user input (required)
   • Extract webui_version if provided

2. Check current state

   • Read VERSION file for current version
   • Verify clean working tree (git status)
   • Confirm on expected base branch (usually main)

3. Determine release type

   • Pre-release: version contains rc, alpha, beta, or dev (e.g., 26.2.0rc1)
   • Final release: clean semver (e.g., 26.2.0)

4. Locate the changelog file

   • The changelog is split per version branch: CHANGELOG/{major}.{minor}.md (26.9.0rc1, 26.9.0, and 26.9.1 all live in CHANGELOG/26.9.md)
   • The root CHANGELOG.md archives the releases made before the split — never write to it
   • The file may not exist yet; the first release of the version branch creates it

5. For final releases, check for prior RC sections

   • Scan CHANGELOG/{major}.{minor}.md for sections matching ## {major}.{minor}.{patch}rc\d+
   • List found RC sections to user
   • These will be consolidated in Phase 3

6. For a {major}.{minor}.0rc1 target, settle the support level

   • That form is the rc that cuts a new release line; the release script recognises it on its own, so nothing else has to be classified by hand
   • Ask the user whether the line is LTS (the March and September sprints are, per the versioning scheme) — a year of support is a commitment and is never inferred
   • If it is, pass --lts to the release script below

7. Confirm with user before proceeding

   • Show: target version, release type, WebUI version (if any), RC sections to consolidate (if any), and for a branch cut, whether the line is LTS
   • Wait for user approval

Phase 2: Release Script Execution

Run scripts/release.sh which performs these steps:

scripts/release.sh {target_version} [webui_version]

When the line being cut is LTS:

scripts/release.sh --lts {target_version} [webui_version]

To override the next development version (year rollover or planned sprint skip):

NEXT_DEV_VERSION={next_version} scripts/release.sh {target_version} [webui_version]

What the script does:

1. Creates branch release/{target_version}
2. Downloads WebUI release (if webui_version provided)
3. Updates VERSION file
4. Freezes NEXT_RELEASE_VERSION placeholders to the actual version (stable releases only; skipped for rc/a/b/dev/post)
5. Runs scripts/run-towncrier.py {target_version}, which consumes the changes/ fragments into CHANGELOG/{major}.{minor}.md (skipped entirely when there are no fragments)
6. Runs .github/scripts/update-maintained-versions.sh {target_version}, which registers the line when the target is an X.Y.0rc1 cut and retires the lines that are due — an LTS line once its recorded retire_after has passed, a regular line as soon as any newer line exists. Report its output to the user: a retirement means that version stops receiving backports and drops out of the installer channel selection from that point on.
7. Generates sample config files
8. Generates API docs (OpenAPI, GraphQL schema)
9. Runs quality checks: pants tailor --check, pants check ::
10. Commits everything as release: {target_version}
11. For sprint releases only ({year}.{sprint}.0): advances NEXT_RELEASE_VERSION in meta.py to the next sprint and commits it separately as chore: bump NEXT_RELEASE_VERSION to {next_version}

NEXT_RELEASE_VERSION auto-advance (step 10):

• Runs only for sprint releases — patch must be 0 (e.g. 26.7.0). Patch releases (26.7.1) and pre-releases (rc/a/b/dev/post) are skipped automatically.
• Default: increments the sprint number, resets patch to 0 (26.7.0 → 26.8.0).
• Override the default by setting NEXT_DEV_VERSION (e.g. 27.1.0 for a year rollover, or to skip sprints).
• Produces a second commit, kept separate from the release: commit (freeze = this release; bump = next dev cycle).

Error handling:

• If quality checks fail, report errors and stop
• If towncrier fails, check pyproject.toml towncrier config and changes/ directory
• If no changelog block was produced, check whether changes/ held any fragment — run-towncrier.py skips towncrier when there is none, by design
• If config generation fails, check component CLI availability
• On any failure, suggest user fix the issue and re-run the script manually

Phase 3: Changelog Editing

For Pre-release (RC/alpha/beta/dev)

• towncrier generates a flat bullet list under ## {version} (date)
• No editing needed - the flat list is the final format for pre-releases
• Skip directly to Phase 4

For Final Release (RC Consolidation Required)

This is the core value of the skill. When releasing a final version (e.g., 26.2.0), all previous RC changelog sections (e.g., 26.2.0rc1, 26.2.0rc2) must be consolidated into the final version section.

Step 1: Collect RC entries

• Find all RC sections for the same major.minor.patch in CHANGELOG/{major}.{minor}.md
  • Pattern: ## {major}.{minor}.{patch}rc\d+ \(.*\)
• Extract all bullet items from each RC section, grouped by category (### Features, ### Improvements, ### Fixes, etc.)

Step 2: Merge with new entries

• towncrier has already generated the new final version section with any remaining changes/ fragments
• Combine: new entries + all RC entries, deduplicated by PR/issue number
• Group by category: Features, Improvements, Fixes, etc.

Step 3: Remove RC sections

• Delete the RC section blocks from CHANGELOG/{major}.{minor}.md
• Only the final version section should remain for this patch level; sections for earlier patch releases of the same version branch (e.g. ## 26.9.0 when releasing 26.9.1) stay untouched below it

Step 4: Subsection grouping

• For each category (Features, Improvements, Fixes), group related items into #### Subsection Title blocks
• Each subsection gets a 1-2 sentence description explaining the group
• Follow the established pattern from previous final releases (e.g., 26.1.0):

### Features

#### Fair Share Scheduler
Implemented a Fair Share scheduling system for equitable resource distribution.

* Add Fair Share row models with tests and migration ([#8008](https://...))
* Implement Fair Share repository layers ([#8030](https://...))

#### Other Features
* Standalone items that don't form a natural group ([#XXXX](https://...))

### Improvements

#### Storage Proxy Improvements
Introduced StorageTarget abstraction for flexible storage configuration.

* Introduce StorageTarget abstraction ([#7938](https://...))

#### Other Improvements
* Standalone improvement items ([#XXXX](https://...))

Grouping criteria (priority order):

1. Feature Initiative: Group PRs that serve the same goal or project, even if they span multiple layers (model, repository, service, API, CLI). A single initiative = a single group.

   • e.g., "Fair Share Scheduler" — includes row models, repository, service, API, CLI, observer, sequencer
   • e.g., "Sokovan Scheduler Redesign" — includes handler unification, status transitions, coordinator redesign
   • e.g., "Email Notification System" — includes SMTP channel implementation + endpoint lifecycle notifications

2. System/Subsystem: Group PRs that improve a specific system across multiple areas under the system name.

   • e.g., "RBAC System Improvements" — Creator/Purger/Granter, entity_fields, data migration
   • e.g., "RBAC System Data Migration" — batch entity migration to RBAC DB

3. Domain Entity: Group PRs that target the same entity's Action/Repository/Service work under the entity name.

   • e.g., "Scaling Group Management" — Create/Modify/Associate/Disassociate actions
   • e.g., "Model Deployment Data Model Extension" — revision, autoscaling, policy row/repository/API

4. Technical Pattern: Group PRs that apply the same technical pattern across multiple entities under the pattern name.

   • e.g., "Repository Pattern Standardization" — batch Admin*Repository consolidation
   • e.g., "GraphQL DataLoader Extension" — DataLoader implementation for multiple entities
   • e.g., "Code Quality and Consistency" — batch linter rule enablement, refactoring

5. Infrastructure: Group PRs that address infrastructure-level changes under the infrastructure area name.

   • e.g., "Agent RPC Connection Pooling" — pool implementation + migration
   • e.g., "CSV Export Infrastructure" — foundation implementation + per-domain exports

Grouping rules:

• If a PR could belong to multiple groups, place it in the most specific initiative group
• A group requires 2+ PRs, except for significant standalone features which may form a single-PR group
• Items that don't fit any group go under #### Other {Category} (e.g., #### Other Features)
• Subsection descriptions should be past tense, summarizing the group's purpose/outcome in 1-2 sentences
• Never group by component (manager, agent, storage-proxy) — always group by functional area

Step 5: User review

• Present the reorganized changelog to the user
• Wait for approval or requested changes
• Iterate until user is satisfied

Step 6: Amend the release commit

git add CHANGELOG/{major}.{minor}.md
git commit --amend --no-edit

Phase 4: Summary

Report final status:

Release Prepared

  Version:     {target_version}
  Branch:      release/{target_version}
  Type:        {Final Release | Release Candidate | Pre-release}
  WebUI:       {webui_version or "not updated"}
  Changelog:   {N} entries across {M} categories
  RC Merged:   {list of merged RC versions, or "N/A"}

Error Handling

Release script failure

Release script failed at: {step}

Error:
{error_output}

Options:
1. Fix the issue and re-run: scripts/release.sh {target_version} [webui_version]
2. Run remaining steps manually
3. Abort: git checkout main && git branch -D release/{target_version}

No changes/ fragments

No news fragments found in changes/ directory.

This means no new changes since the last release.
If this is a final release consolidating RCs, this is expected - proceed to Phase 3.

Changelog merge conflict

Found duplicate entries during RC consolidation (same PR number in multiple RCs).

Deduplicated entries:
{list}

Using the latest version of each entry.

Examples

RC release

User: /release 26.2.0rc2
Agent: [Checks VERSION, runs release.sh, towncrier generates flat list, reports summary]

Final release with RC consolidation

User: /release 26.2.0
Agent: [Checks VERSION, finds rc1/rc2 sections in CHANGELOG/26.2.md, runs release.sh,
        consolidates RC entries + new entries, groups into subsections,
        presents for review, amends commit, reports summary]

Release with WebUI

User: /release 26.2.0 25.3.2
Agent: [Runs release.sh with WebUI version, full workflow]

Related

• scripts/release.sh - The release automation script
• scripts/run-towncrier.py - Runs towncrier against CHANGELOG/{major}.{minor}.md
• scripts/changelog_files.py - Version to changelog path mapping
• pyproject.toml - towncrier configuration (fragment types, template)
• changes/ - News fragment directory
• CHANGELOG/ - Per-version-branch changelogs; root CHANGELOG.md archives the pre-split releases
• /submit - For regular PR submissions (not releases)