Skymap.release

Steps involved in making a release of Sky Map v2. Makes use of other v2 skills (skymap.whatsnew, skymap.deploy-play-store) and overlaps with skymap.deploy-play-store. Some steps need input from the user.

Before running this for the first time, confirm with the user that v2 is actually ready to ship a real release — as of the last recorded decision, v2's release signing / app/no-checkin.properties wiring was still being finalized. Ask rather than assuming this gap has since been closed.

Step 1. Bring the version up to date

1. Ask for a release name (e.g. Jupiter) and version number (e.g. 2.0.0). Infer the next version number from the current versionName in app/build.gradle.kts, and suggest a release name by inferring the pattern from recent git tags — but confirm both with the user before proceeding.
2. Update the version name using fastlane, substituting the confirmed version and name:

   bundle exec fastlane android bump_version name:"<version>:<ReleaseName>"
   # e.g. bundle exec fastlane android bump_version name:"2.0.0:Jupiter"
   

   This writes to app/build.gradle.kts (Kotlin DSL) — see skymap.deploy-play-store for the fastlane-plugin-versioning_android caveat.
3. Ask the user for an appropriate portrait image for the release's changelog/GitHub-release icon (mirroring v1's step). Use the skymap.release-splashscreen skill for this — note that unlike v1, this only produces a small circular icon for CHANGELOG.md/the GitHub release; it does not touch the app's actual splash screen. v2 uses the stock AndroidX SplashScreen API (installSplashScreen() in MainActivity.kt) with a single static image not swapped per release — don't fabricate an app-branding step that doesn't exist. If the user has no image handy, it's fine to skip and publish without an icon.

Step 2. Bring the metadata up to date

Regenerate the What's New text (skymap.whatsnew skill) for the app (whats_new_content string in app/src/main/res/values/whatsnew.xml), the fastlane changelog, and the GitHub changelog.

v1's release process also syncs sponsors and contributors here (skymap.sponsors, skymap.contributors skills). v2 now mirrors this too: the Buy Me a Coffee supporter list and GitHub contributor list live in app/src/main/res/values/contributors.xml (sponsors_text, contributors_text, both translatable="false"), spliced into credits_text (app/src/main/res/values/credits.xml) via stringResource format args in HelpScreen.kt. Ask the user whether they want sponsors and/or contributors refreshed for this release, then use the skymap.sync-credits skill to do it — v2 has its own sync process (tools/sync-credits.py plus the buymeacoffee MCP server for sponsor data), separate from v1's token-based scripts.

Step 3. Remove unneeded text

v2 has a beta_user_help_text string (app/src/main/res/values/whatsnew.xml), mirroring v1's usually-empty beta-instructions string shown in the What's New dialog and Help screen. Check its current content and ask the user whether it should be updated or cleared for this release, same as v1's equivalent step.

Step 4. Translations

v2's translation pipeline (.tmconfig.toml + the tm CLI, same tool as v1) is now live — see stardroid-v2/AGENTS.md's Translations section. Any translatable content touched in Steps 1–3 (whatsnew.xml, strings.xml, the fastlane changelog, etc.) goes stale in every locale the moment its English source changes, so run this before moving on:

tm translate --all-primary --include-stale

Then verify with tm languages — every locale in .tmconfig.toml's primary_languages list should read 100% coverage, 0 stale. ca, hu, and ru are intentionally excluded from that list and will show low coverage — that's expected, not a gap to fix.

Step 5. Upload to the Google Play Store

Use the skymap.deploy-play-store skill to build and upload a new bundle and store metadata to the internal track. Note: the internal fastlane lane automatically increments versionCode in app/build.gradle.kts. Do not commit before this step — the Step 6 commit captures everything including this bump.

Step 6. Update GitHub with a new release

After getting explicit confirmation from the user:

In all commands below, substitute <version> and <ReleaseName> with the values confirmed in Step 1 (e.g. 2.0.0 and Jupiter).

1. Update ../CHANGELOG.md (repo root, shared with v1) for this release. If the skymap.whatsnew skill was run (Step 2), it will have prepended content without a version heading — add the heading now. If not, add a new entry manually based on commits since the last tag (git log <last-tag>..HEAD --oneline):

   ## [<version>] (v2) - YYYY-MM-DD
   
   <img src="stardroid-v2/assets/release-icons/<version>_<name_lowercase>_icon.png" width="80" alt="<ReleaseName>" />
   
   ### Added / Fixed / Changed
   - ...
   

   Use today's date. Follows Keep a Changelog. Since both v1 and v2 share this changelog, make the entry heading clearly identify it as a v2 release (e.g. include "(v2)" or similar) to avoid confusing it with v1 tags. Include the <img> tag only if Step 1.3 produced an icon for this release — omit it entirely otherwise, same as v1.

2. Commit all changes from Steps 1–5 (version bump, whatsnew content, translations if any, CHANGELOG) in a single commit to master:

   git add -A
   git commit -m "Prepare v2 <version>:<ReleaseName> release"
   git push origin master
   

3. Tag the commit — the established convention (already used for v2.0.0, v2.0.1, and v2.0.0-betaXX) is v2.<version>, e.g. v2.0.2. Confirm with the user if a release ever needs to deviate from this:

   git tag v2.<version>
   git push origin v2.<version>
   

4. Build the signed release APK for direct download (the internal fastlane lane builds an AAB for Play Store, not an installable APK):

   ./gradlew :app:assembleGmsRelease
   

   Output: app/build/outputs/apk/gms/release/app-gms-release.apk. Requires app/no-checkin.properties to be present and correctly configured for release signing — if this fails, stop and check signing config with the user rather than working around it.

5. Extract the release notes for this version from ../CHANGELOG.md and upload the GitHub release:

   # Substitute the actual version number in the awk pattern
   awk '/^## \[<version>\]/{flag=1; next} /^## \[/{flag=0} flag' ../CHANGELOG.md \
     | sed '/^[[:space:]]*---[[:space:]]*$/d' \
     > /tmp/release_notes.md
   

   If Step 1.3 produced an icon, the <img> tag's path is relative to the repo root (stardroid-v2/assets/release-icons/...), which does not resolve inside a standalone GitHub release description. Rewrite it to an absolute raw.githubusercontent.com URL pinned to the commit just pushed in step 2, so the icon keeps rendering even if the file is later renamed or moved — run this before gh release create:

   commit=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
   sed -i '' "s#stardroid-v2/assets/release-icons/#https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sky-map-team/stardroid/${commit}/stardroid-v2/assets/release-icons/#" /tmp/release_notes.md
   

   gh release create <agreed-tag> \
     app/build/outputs/apk/gms/release/app-gms-release.apk \
     --title "Sky Map v2 <version>: <ReleaseName>" \
     --notes-file /tmp/release_notes.md
   

Step 7. Progress the new release to beta

Before promoting, pause and explicitly ask the user to confirm that the internal build has been reviewed and tested. Do not proceed until you receive explicit approval.

Once approved:

1. bundle exec fastlane android promote_to_alpha
2. bundle exec fastlane android promote_to_beta