Releasing Kata Agents

Releasing Kata Agents

Guide the release process for the Kata Agents Electron desktop application.

Release Flow Overview

1. Check status / run checks
2. Bump version in package.json AND apps/electron/package.json
3. Update CHANGELOG.md
4. Create release branch and PR
5. Merge PR to main
6. CI automatically: detects version → builds all platforms → code signs/notarizes macOS → creates GitHub Release

Step 1: Pre-Release Verification

Our workflow is PR-driven:

• Development happens on feature branches
• Releases happen on release branches created from main

1a. Ensure you're ready to release

Before creating a release branch, verify:

1. Check current branch: Must be on main (not a feature branch)

   git branch --show-current
   

2. If on a feature branch: The PR must pass CI and be merged first

   # Check PR status
   gh pr status
   
   # Monitor PR CI checks
   gh pr checks --watch 2>&1 | tail -10
   
   # After PR merges, switch to main
   git checkout main && git pull
   

3. Verify working directory is clean:

   git status  # Should show "nothing to commit, working tree clean"
   

1b. Run pre-release checks

Once on main with a clean working directory, verify the codebase is ready:

# Run all tests
bun test

# Build the app
bun run electron:build

# Test local production build (run from apps/electron directory)
cd apps/electron && bun run dist:mac

# Check for uncommitted changes
git status

Stop if tests fail. Fix issues before proceeding.

Step 2: Determine Version Bump

Ask the user what type of release this is:

Step 3: Bump Versions

Both files must have matching versions:

1. Update package.json (root) version field
2. Update apps/electron/package.json version field

# Get current versions
cat package.json | grep '"version"' | head -1
cat apps/electron/package.json | grep '"version"'

# After updating both files, verify they match
diff <(grep '"version"' package.json | head -1) <(grep '"version"' apps/electron/package.json)

Step 4: Update Docs

1: Update CHANGELOG

Add entry to CHANGELOG.md following Keep a Changelog format:

## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
- New feature descriptions

### Fixed
- Bug fix descriptions

### Changed
- Modification descriptions

Guidelines:

• Use today's date
• Group changes by type (Added, Fixed, Changed, Removed)
• Write user-facing descriptions (what changed, not how)
• Reference issue numbers if applicable

2: Update README (if needed)

If there are significant changes affecting usage, update README.md accordingly.

Step 5: Run Tests Again

After version bump, rebuild and test:

bun run electron:build && bun test

Step 6: Create Release PR

# Create release branch
git checkout -b release/vX.Y.Z

# Stage release files
git add package.json apps/electron/package.json CHANGELOG.md

# Commit with conventional format
git commit -m "chore(release): bump version to X.Y.Z"

# Push and create PR
git push -u origin release/vX.Y.Z
gh pr create --title "Release vX.Y.Z" --body "## Release vX.Y.Z

### Changes
- [List key changes from CHANGELOG]

### Checklist
- [ ] Version bumped in package.json
- [ ] Version bumped in apps/electron/package.json (matches root)
- [ ] CHANGELOG updated
- [ ] Tests passing
- [ ] Local production build tested"

Step 7a: Monitor PR Status Checks

• PR cannot be merged unless validate GitHub Actions CI workflow passes
• Monitor status checks on the PR before merging

Step 7b: Merge and Monitor CI

# Merge the PR (after review if required)
gh pr merge --merge --delete-branch

# Monitor CI workflows
gh run list --limit 5
gh run watch  # Watch the latest run

CI Pipeline:

1. release.yml triggers on push to main
2. Detects version change (compares package.json to existing tags)
3. Builds for macOS (arm64 + x64), Windows (x64), Linux (x64)
4. Code signs and notarizes macOS builds
5. Creates GitHub Release with all platform artifacts

Step 8: Verify Release

After CI completes (~10-15 minutes for all platforms), verify the release.

8a. Verify GitHub Release

# Verify GitHub Release created with tag
gh release view vX.Y.Z

# Check all artifacts are attached
gh release view vX.Y.Z --json assets --jq '.assets[].name'

Expected artifacts:

• Kata-Agents-arm64.dmg (macOS Apple Silicon)
• Kata-Agents-x64.dmg (macOS Intel)
• Kata-Agents-arm64.zip / Kata-Agents-x64.zip
• Kata-Agents-x64.exe (Windows)
• Kata-Agents-x64.AppImage (Linux)

8b. Verify CI Workflow Success

# Check release workflow ran successfully
gh run list --workflow=release.yml --limit 3

8c. Manual App Test

This is the one test that can't be fully automated. Download and test the released app:

# Download the release artifact
gh release download vX.Y.Z --pattern "Kata-Agents-arm64.dmg" --dir /tmp

# Mount and test
open /tmp/Kata-Agents-arm64.dmg

Verify:

• App launches without errors
• Sessions load and display correctly
• Agent execution works
• No code signing warnings

# Cleanup
rm /tmp/Kata-Agents-arm64.dmg

Local Production Builds

For testing production builds without releasing:

# IMPORTANT: Run from apps/electron directory, not repo root
cd apps/electron && bun run dist:mac          # Apple Silicon
cd apps/electron && bun run dist:mac:x64      # Intel
cd apps/electron && bun run dist:win          # Windows

Output: apps/electron/release/Kata-Agents-{arch}.dmg

Testing the local build:

# Clear stale window state first
rm ~/.kata-agents/window-state.json

# Open the built app
open "apps/electron/release/mac-arm64/Kata Agents.app"

Troubleshooting

See ./release-troubleshooting.md for common issues:

• CI workflow failures
• Build path errors (must run from apps/electron)
• Code signing issues
• Sessions not displaying after build

Acceptance Criteria

Pre-release:

• package.json version updated
• apps/electron/package.json version updated (matches root)
• CHANGELOG.md has entry for new version
• All tests pass locally (bun test)
• Local production build works (cd apps/electron && bun run dist:mac)

Release:

• PR merged to main
• GitHub Release created with correct tag (gh release view vX.Y.Z)

Post-release verification:

• GitHub Release created with tag (gh release view vX.Y.Z)
• All platform artifacts attached to release
• Manual app test passes (download, launch, verify sessions)