Github Release

sqd-portal release

End-to-end release procedure. Bumps Cargo.toml, tags vX.Y.Z, pushes, lets .github/workflows/docker.yml build and publish the docker image, then creates the GitHub release page with standardized notes.

Preconditions

Confirm before starting:

• git status is clean on master (or the user has staged the version bump deliberately).
• The user named a target version, e.g. 0.10.1. If not, ask.
• The current version in Cargo.toml is the previous release. Mismatched bumps that landed silently in earlier commits happen — verify before tagging.
• For RCs use a suffix: v0.10.1-rc1. The CI trigger is tags: ['v**'] so both release and rc tags fire it.

Steps

1. Bump version

Edit Cargo.toml:

version = "X.Y.Z"

Run cargo build once so Cargo.lock updates. Don't ship a bump without the matching lockfile change — CI will surface it later otherwise.

2. Commit and tag

git add Cargo.toml Cargo.lock
git commit -m "Bump version"
git tag vX.Y.Z
git push origin master
git push origin vX.Y.Z

Both pushes are required — the docker workflow triggers on the tag push, not the commit.

3. Watch the docker build

RUN_ID=$(gh run list --repo subsquid/sqd-portal --workflow=docker.yml --limit 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId')
gh run watch "$RUN_ID" --repo subsquid/sqd-portal --exit-status

The workflow delegates to subsquid/github-workflows/.github/workflows/docker-on-tag.yml and publishes subsquid/sqd-portal:vX.Y.Z (+ :latest). Build time ~5–10 min for multi-arch. If it fails, surface the log — common causes are dep resolution timeouts and registry hiccups; don't retry blindly.

4. Create the GitHub release page

The docker workflow does not create the release page — do it explicitly. Use release-template.md for the body.

gh release create vX.Y.Z --repo subsquid/sqd-portal --title "vX.Y.Z" --notes "$(cat <<'EOF'
## <Headline>

<lead, bullets, doc link, compare link — see release-template.md>
EOF
)"

For a tag that was pushed earlier without a release page:

gh release edit vX.Y.Z --repo subsquid/sqd-portal --title "vX.Y.Z" --notes "..."

5. Confirm

Print: https://github.com/subsquid/sqd-portal/releases/tag/vX.Y.Z

Release notes format

See release-template.md. Hard rules learned the hard way:

• GitHub title = vX.Y.Z. This repo's convention. The body's ## <Headline> is the prose headline; the UI shows tag and title side-by-side.
• No deployment / ops instructions. Release notes describe what changed in the software, not how to roll it out. terminationGracePeriodSeconds, preStop hooks, kubelet config — all of that belongs in docs/X.md or a runbook. If you catch yourself writing "Action required for Kubernetes", move it out.
• No CI / internal-only changes. Skip cargo test workflow additions, clippy fixes, refactors that don't change observable behavior.
• General > specific. Don't name specific tools (nginx-ingress), config keys (pre_drain_grace_period_sec), or your own benchmark numbers in the body. Point to a doc for those details.
• Doc + PR ref as a one-liner at the end of the prose, before the compare link: See [docs/X.md](url) for ... (#PR).
• Compare link. Always end with **Full Changelog**: https://github.com/subsquid/sqd-portal/compare/vPREV...vNEW. Resolve vPREV with git merge-base vPREV vNEW when branching is non-linear — the previous tag in git tag --list sorted order is not always the right base.

Failure modes

• Tag exists: git tag vX.Y.Z fails. Either the user already tagged or a previous attempt didn't complete. Check gh release view vX.Y.Z and gh run list --workflow=docker.yml. For an RC that needs to move to a different commit, force-update: git tag -f vX.Y.Z <newcommit> + git push -f origin vX.Y.Z. Destructive — confirm with the user first.
• Local docker build with --platform linux/amd64 from a Mac silently produces a broken image. The default Dockerfile uses FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM, so on an arm64 Mac you get an arm64 ELF in an amd64 OCI manifest — exec format error on the target host. Never recommend the local-build-and-push path for production images. CI handles multi-arch correctly; route the user there instead.
• CI build fails on tag push but a release page already exists. The page is independent of the image. Delete or skip the page; fix the build; retag if needed.