Release Cut And Demo Roll

Release Cut And Demo Roll

Overview

Use this skill for the formal release path: update release metadata, cut the release commit and tag, publish the refs, confirm that the release artifacts exist, and then roll demo to the released semver image tag, such as v1.2.41. Prefer the repo's existing release script, CI publish path, and ArgoCD Image Updater over ad hoc local image pushes.

Workflow

1. Work from the repo root on the intended release branch.
2. Update VERSION and the top CHANGELOG entry for the new semver.
3. Dry-run the release cut to verify the changelog entry is wired correctly.
4. Run scripts/cut-release.sh --version <version> and append --push when ready to publish refs.
5. Confirm the release commit and tag landed where expected.
6. Wait for the published release artifacts to exist for the target semver tag.
7. Let ArgoCD Image Updater advance demo to v<version>, or patch the Argo app to v<version> if an immediate manual reconcile is required.
8. Watch Argo until demo reaches Synced|Healthy|Succeeded.
9. Report the release version, release commit, release tag, Image Updater status, and final demo rollout status.

Guardrails

• Use this only for actual release cuts. Do not use it for one-off local testing or unpublished commits.
• Do not bypass scripts/cut-release.sh unless the user explicitly asks for a different path.
• Do not treat the release as deployable until the published artifacts for the release version actually exist.
• Prefer published release artifacts over rebuilding images locally in this workflow.
• Roll formal releases with the semver image tag, for example v1.2.41. The sha-<commit> path is for unpublished local demo testing only.
• Do not switch ArgoCD Image Updater back to newest-build over sha-* tags. Harbor tag timestamps can point demo at an older release; semver policy avoids that failure mode.

Update Release Metadata

Before cutting the release:

• update VERSION
• add the matching top entry in CHANGELOG

Then dry-run the cut:

scripts/cut-release.sh --version <version> --dry-run

Fix metadata issues before continuing.

Cut And Push The Release

Create the release commit and annotated tag:

scripts/cut-release.sh --version <version>

When the user wants the refs published immediately, use:

scripts/cut-release.sh --version <version> --push

Afterward, capture:

git rev-parse HEAD
git describe --tags --exact-match

Keep the release commit SHA for reporting and traceability. Use the release version as the demo image tag source: v<version>.

Published Artifact Expectations

Do not roll demo until the release artifacts for the target semver tag exist.

Typical release build path from this repo:

./scripts/docker-login.sh
bazel build --config=remote $(bazel query 'kind(oci_image, //docker/images:*)')
make push_all_release

In practice, this usually runs in CI instead of locally. The important requirement is that the release images for the target version are published and signed before the demo rollout starts.

If only a single release image must be republished, use the matching Bazel push target. If only Wasm plugins are relevant, use make push_wasm_plugins.

Roll Demo To The Release Tag

The steady-state demo path is ArgoCD Image Updater with a semver strategy. After the release images are published, force a reconcile if needed:

kubectl annotate imageupdater -n argocd serviceradar-demo-image-updater \
  force-reconcile="$(date +%s)" \
  --overwrite

Then check the Image Updater status:

kubectl get imageupdater -n argocd serviceradar-demo-image-updater \
  -o jsonpath='{.status.applicationsMatched}{"|"}{.status.imagesManaged}{"|"}{range .status.conditions[?(@.type=="Error")]}{.reason}{":"}{.status}{":"}{.message}{end}{"\n"}'

Expect one matched application, one managed image, and an Error condition with reason NoErrors and status False.

If an immediate manual override is required, patch the Argo application to the semver tag:

kubectl patch application -n argocd serviceradar-demo-prod \
  --type merge \
  -p '{"spec":{"source":{"helm":{"parameters":[{"name":"global.imageTag","value":"v<version>"}]}}}}'

Do not use sr_demo_deploy for formal releases; that helper rolls demo to a sha-... tag and is only appropriate for local unpublished test builds.

Verify Demo Rollout

Watch the Argo app or Helm result until the deployment is healthy. For Argo-backed environments, wait for:

Synced|Healthy|Succeeded

Useful checks:

kubectl get application -n argocd serviceradar-demo-prod \
  -o jsonpath='{.status.sync.status}{"|"}{.status.health.status}{"|"}{.status.operationState.phase}{"\n"}'

kubectl get pods -n demo

kubectl get deploy -n demo \
  serviceradar-web-ng serviceradar-core serviceradar-agent serviceradar-tools \
  -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{"\t"}{range .spec.template.spec.containers[*]}{.image}{" "}{end}{"\n"}{end}'

Do not report the rollout finished until the key workloads are running the new v<version> tag and the environment is healthy.

Report Back

Close with:

• release version
• release commit SHA
• release tag
• whether refs were pushed
• whether release artifacts were confirmed published
• Image Updater status
• final demo rollout status
• any residual risk or follow-up needed

Source: carverauto/serviceradar — distributed by TomeVault.