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PaperClipAI/doc/RELEASE-AUTOMATION-SETUP.md
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Devin Foley 8f7b8b3fda feat(release): add human-gated beta channel with stable soak enforcement (#11008) 
> Follow-up to #11006 (merged): rebased onto master and ready for
review.

## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - The release subsystem now publishes canary (every master push),
nightly (scheduled, smoke-gated, added in #11006), and stable (manual)
> - There is still no human-approved release-candidate lane between
nightly and stable, and nothing enforces that a stable actually soaked
anywhere before shipping
> - Betas need a real approval gate, and stables need a soak policy that
is data, not prose
> - This pull request adds the beta channel: a manual promotion of a
chosen nightly behind the `npm-beta` environment gate, re-smoked after
publish, plus a stable preflight that enforces a 3-day beta soak with a
written-justification bypass
> - The benefit is a complete canary → nightly → beta → stable train
where every stable shipped as a beta first, and emergencies leave a
written trace

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

**Subsystem affected**

Release automation: `scripts/release.sh`, `scripts/release-lib.sh`,
`.github/workflows/release.yml`, `.github/workflows/docker.yml`,
`.github/workflows/release-smoke.yml`.

**Problem or motivation**

After #11006 the project has canary and nightly prerelease lanes, but no
release-candidate lane. Stable promotion has no enforced soak: any ref
can ship as stable directly. There is no approval boundary for a
broader-audience prerelease, and no structured way to record why an
emergency release skipped validation.

**Proposed solution**

Add a `beta` channel: a manual dispatch that promotes a chosen nightly's
source commit, publishes behind the `npm-beta` GitHub environment
(required reviewers are the gate), re-smokes the published beta, and
tags `beta/vX`. Enforce in the stable path that the source commit
shipped as a beta at least 3 days earlier (measured from the beta's npm
publish time), with a `skip_soak_justification` input as the recorded
emergency bypass.

**Alternatives considered**

Codifying the soak policy in docs only. Rejected: an unenforced policy
decays; the preflight makes the policy executable while the
justification input keeps the emergency path usable and auditable.

## What Changed

- `scripts/release.sh` + `scripts/release-lib.sh`: `beta` channel —
requires HEAD to carry a `nightly/v*` tag, publishes the package set as
`YYYY.MDD.P-beta.N` under dist-tag `beta`, tags
`beta/vYYYY.MDD.P-beta.N`
- `.github/workflows/release.yml`:
- `channel: beta` dispatch path: `select_beta` resolves the newest (or
an explicit `source_version`) nightly and fails loudly on selection
problems; `publish_beta` runs behind the `npm-beta` environment, pushes
the tag, and dispatches `docker.yml`; `smoke_beta` re-runs the release
smoke suite against the exact published beta version
- stable path: new `preflight_stable` job enforces the 3-day beta soak
from the beta's npm publish time; `skip_soak_justification` bypasses
with the reason echoed into the job summary; dry runs report without
blocking
- `.github/workflows/docker.yml`: `beta/v*` tags publish `:beta` on both
images, with exact version stamping
- `.github/workflows/release-smoke.yml`: `beta` added to the dispatch
choice list
- Docs: `CHANNELS.md` beta entries; `RELEASING.md` beta lane, soak gate,
and failure playbook; `RELEASE-AUTOMATION-SETUP.md` `npm-beta`
environment setup, including the warning to create the environment
before the first beta dispatch (GitHub auto-creates unprotected
environments on first reference)
- Tests: beta version-counting coverage in
`scripts/release-registry-versions.test.mjs`; beta identity and
nightly-tag guard coverage in
`scripts/__tests__/release-dry-run-notes.test.mjs`

## Verification

- `node --test` on the two touched suites: 17 pass, including the 3 new
beta tests
- `bash -n` on both shell scripts and YAML parse of all three workflows
- After merge, in order: create the `npm-beta` environment, dispatch
`channel: beta` with `dry_run: true` to preview, then a real promotion
of a published nightly through the approval gate, then a stable dry-run
against a young beta to see the soak gate report

## Risks

- If the `npm-beta` environment does not exist when the first beta
dispatch runs, GitHub creates it with no protection rules and the beta
publishes without approval. Mitigated by documentation and by creating
the environment before merge (operator step)
- Until the first beta exists, every stable dispatch requires
`skip_soak_justification`. This is deliberate — the first beta ships
immediately after this merges — but it is a behavior change to the
stable dispatch
- The soak clock reads the beta's npm publish time from the registry; a
registry outage makes the preflight fall back to requiring justification
(fail-closed)

## Model Used

Claude Fable 5 (`claude-fable-5`, Anthropic) in Claude Code, with
extended thinking and full tool use (repository exploration, local test
execution, live registry and git verification). All code, tests, and
docs in this PR were model-authored under human direction.

## Checklist

- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked
them above
- [x] I have either (a) linked existing issues with `Fixes: #` / `Closes
#` / `Refs #` OR (b) described the issue in-PR following the relevant
issue template
- [x] I have not referenced internal/instance-local Paperclip issues or
links (only public GitHub `#NNN` / `github.com/paperclipai/paperclip`
URLs)
- [x] My branch name describes the change (e.g. `docs/...`, `fix/...`)
and contains no internal Paperclip ticket id or instance-derived details
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [ ] All Paperclip CI gates are green (pending — will confirm before
merge)
- [ ] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
(pending — will confirm before merge)
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
2026-08-10 16:52:59 -07:00

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# Release Automation Setup
This document covers the GitHub and npm setup required for the current Paperclip release model:
- automatic canaries from `master`
- manual stable promotion from a chosen source ref
- npm trusted publishing via GitHub OIDC
- protected release infrastructure in a public repository
Repo-side files that depend on this setup:
- `.github/workflows/release.yml`
- `.github/CODEOWNERS`
Note:
- the release workflows intentionally use `pnpm install --no-frozen-lockfile`
- this matches the repo's current policy where `pnpm-lock.yaml` is refreshed by GitHub automation after manifest changes land on `master`
- the publish jobs then restore `pnpm-lock.yaml` before running `scripts/release.sh`, so the release script still sees a clean worktree
## 1. Merge the Repo Changes First
Before touching GitHub or npm settings, merge the release automation code so the referenced workflow filenames already exist on the default branch.
Required files:
- `.github/workflows/release.yml`
- `.github/CODEOWNERS`
## 2. Configure npm Trusted Publishing
Do this for every public package that Paperclip publishes.
At minimum that includes:
- `paperclipai`
- `@paperclipai/server`
- `@paperclipai/ui`
- public packages under `packages/`
### 2.1. In npm, open each package settings page
For each package:
1. open npm as an owner of the package
2. go to the package settings / publishing access area
3. add a trusted publisher for the GitHub repository `paperclipai/paperclip`
### 2.2. Add one trusted publisher entry per package
npm currently allows one trusted publisher configuration per package.
Configure:
- workflow: `.github/workflows/release.yml`
Repository:
- `paperclipai/paperclip`
Environment name:
- leave the npm trusted-publisher environment field blank
Why:
- the single `release.yml` workflow handles both canary and stable publishing
- GitHub environments `npm-canary` and `npm-stable` still enforce different approval rules on the GitHub side
### 2.2.1. Newly added public packages need a bootstrap phase
Trusted publishing is configured on the npm package itself, not at the repo scope.
That means a brand-new public package must not be auto-enrolled into CI publishing until its npm package exists and its trusted publisher has been configured.
Repo policy:
1. add every non-private package to [`scripts/release-package-manifest.json`](../scripts/release-package-manifest.json)
2. set `"publishFromCi": true` only when CI is expected to publish that package
3. if the package is not ready for CI publishing yet, keep `"publishFromCi": false`
4. complete the package bootstrap before merging any PR that changes a release-enabled new package
Bootstrap sequence for a new package:
1. publish the package once from a trusted maintainer machine using normal npm auth
2. open that package on npm and add the `paperclipai/paperclip` trusted publisher for `.github/workflows/release.yml`
3. rerun or dry-run the release flow as needed to confirm CI publishing now works
4. only then enable `"publishFromCi": true`
PR CI enforces this by checking changed release-enabled package manifests against npm. That keeps `master` canary publishing healthy while preserving the no-long-lived-token model for normal CI releases.
### 2.3. Verify trusted publishing before removing old auth
After the workflows are live:
1. run a canary publish
2. confirm npm publish succeeds without any `NPM_TOKEN`
3. run a stable dry-run
4. run one real stable publish
Only after that should you remove old token-based access.
## 3. Remove Legacy npm Tokens
After trusted publishing works:
1. revoke any repository or organization `NPM_TOKEN` secrets used for publish
2. revoke any personal automation token that used to publish Paperclip
3. if npm offers a package-level setting to restrict publishing to trusted publishers, enable it
Goal:
- no long-lived npm publishing token should remain in GitHub Actions
## 4. Create GitHub Environments
Create three environments in the GitHub repository:
- `npm-canary`
- `npm-beta`
- `npm-stable`
Path:
1. GitHub repository
2. `Settings`
3. `Environments`
4. `New environment`
## 5. Configure `npm-canary`
Recommended settings for `npm-canary`:
- environment name: `npm-canary`
- required reviewers: none
- wait timer: none
- deployment branches and tags:
- selected branches only
- allow `master`
Reasoning:
- every push to `master` should be able to publish a canary automatically
- no human approval should be required for canaries
The scheduled nightly lane also publishes under `npm-canary`: it is the same
trust level (fully automated, no human gate), its runs execute on `master` so
the branch rule is satisfied, and reusing the environment means the nightly
lane required no new environments and no npm trusted-publisher changes
(publishing still happens from `release.yml`, see section 2.2).
## 5.1. Configure `npm-beta`
Recommended settings for `npm-beta`:
- environment name: `npm-beta`
- required reviewers: at least one maintainer
- prevent self-review: enabled when your team size allows it
- wait timer: none
- deployment branches and tags:
- selected branches only
- allow `master`
Reasoning:
- beta promotions are deliberate human decisions; the required reviewer on
this environment is the promotion gate
- create this environment before the first `channel: beta` dispatch. If the
workflow runs first, GitHub auto-creates the environment with no
protection rules, and that first beta would publish without approval
Like nightly, beta publishing lives in `release.yml`, so no npm
trusted-publisher changes are needed (see section 2.2).
## 6. Configure `npm-stable`
Recommended settings for `npm-stable`:
- environment name: `npm-stable`
- required reviewers: at least one maintainer other than the person triggering the workflow when possible
- prevent self-review: enabled
- admin bypass: disabled if your team can tolerate it
- wait timer: optional
- deployment branches and tags:
- selected branches only
- allow `master`
Reasoning:
- stable publishes should require an explicit human approval gate
- the workflow is manual, but the environment should still be the real control point
## 7. Protect `master`
Open the branch protection settings for `master`.
Recommended rules:
1. require pull requests before merging
2. require status checks to pass before merging
3. require review from code owners
4. dismiss stale approvals when new commits are pushed
5. restrict who can push directly to `master`
At minimum, make sure workflow and release script changes cannot land without review.
## 8. Enforce CODEOWNERS Review
This repo now includes `.github/CODEOWNERS`, but GitHub only enforces it if branch protection requires code owner reviews.
In branch protection for `master`, enable:
- `Require review from Code Owners`
Then verify the owner entries are correct for your actual maintainer set.
Current file:
- `.github/CODEOWNERS`
If `@cryppadotta` is not the right reviewer identity in the public repo, change it before enabling enforcement.
## 9. Protect Release Infrastructure Specifically
These files should always trigger code owner review:
- `.github/workflows/release.yml`
- `scripts/release.sh`
- `scripts/release-lib.sh`
- `scripts/release-package-map.mjs`
- `scripts/create-github-release.sh`
- `scripts/rollback-latest.sh`
- `doc/RELEASING.md`
- `doc/PUBLISHING.md`
If you want stronger controls, add a repository ruleset that explicitly blocks direct pushes to:
- `.github/workflows/**`
- `scripts/release*`
## 10. Do Not Store a Claude Token in GitHub Actions
Do not add a personal Claude or Anthropic token for automatic changelog generation.
Recommended policy:
- stable changelog generation happens locally from a trusted maintainer machine
- canaries never generate changelogs
This keeps LLM spending intentional and avoids a high-value token sitting in Actions.
## 11. Verify the Canary Workflow
After setup:
1. merge a harmless commit to `master`
2. open the `Release` workflow run triggered by that push
3. confirm it passes verification
4. confirm publish succeeds under the `npm-canary` environment
5. confirm npm now shows a new `canary` release
6. confirm a git tag named `canary/vYYYY.MDD.P-canary.N` was pushed
Install-path check:
```bash
npm install --prefix "$(mktemp -d)" paperclipai@canary --no-audit --no-fund
```
The release script runs this clean-prefix install after publishing every workspace
package dependency-first and publishing `paperclipai` last. A package that is not
yet registry-visible stops the train before the channel entrypoint can advance.
## 12. Verify the Stable Workflow
After at least one good canary exists:
1. resolve the target stable version with `./scripts/release.sh stable --date YYYY-MM-DD --print-version`
2. prepare `releases/vYYYY.MDD.P.md` on the source commit you want to promote
3. open `Actions` -> `Release`
4. run it with:
- `source_ref`: the tested commit SHA or canary tag source commit
- `stable_date`: leave blank or set the intended UTC date like `2026-03-18`
do not enter a version like `2026.318.0`; the workflow computes that from the date
- `dry_run`: `true`
5. confirm the dry-run succeeds
6. rerun with `dry_run: false`
7. approve the `npm-stable` environment when prompted
8. confirm npm `latest` points to the new stable version
9. confirm git tag `vYYYY.MDD.P` exists
10. confirm the GitHub Release was created
Implementation note:
- the GitHub Actions stable workflow calls `create-github-release.sh` with `PUBLISH_REMOTE=origin`
- local maintainer usage can still pass `PUBLISH_REMOTE=public-gh` explicitly when needed
## 13. Suggested Maintainer Policy
Use this policy going forward:
- canaries are automatic and cheap
- stables are manual and approved
- only stables get public notes and announcements
- release notes are committed before stable publish
- rollback uses `npm dist-tag`, not unpublish
## 14. Troubleshooting
### Trusted publishing fails with an auth error
Check:
1. the workflow filename on GitHub exactly matches the filename configured in npm
2. the package has the trusted publisher entry for the correct repository
3. the job has `id-token: write`
4. the job is running from the expected repository, not a fork
### Stable workflow runs but never asks for approval
Check:
1. the `publish` job uses environment `npm-stable`
2. the environment actually has required reviewers configured
3. the workflow is running in the canonical repository, not a fork
### CODEOWNERS does not trigger
Check:
1. `.github/CODEOWNERS` is on the default branch
2. branch protection on `master` requires code owner review
3. the owner identities in the file are valid reviewers with repository access
## Related Docs
- [doc/RELEASING.md](RELEASING.md)
- [doc/PUBLISHING.md](PUBLISHING.md)
- [doc/plans/2026-03-17-release-automation-and-versioning.md](plans/2026-03-17-release-automation-and-versioning.md)
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