GitHop/wiki/Release-Checklist.md

Release checklist

Hop releases are built on a trusted maintainer machine and uploaded by GoReleaser as draft Gitea Releases. Gitea Actions and act runners are not required; the server only stores source, tags, release metadata, and assets.

The canonical repository is githop.xyz/GnosysLabs/Hop.

One-time Gitea setup

• Create the GnosysLabs/Hop repository and set its default branch to main.
• Configure origin as https://githop.xyz/GnosysLabs/Hop.git.
• Keep Gitea Actions disabled when the instance does not have dedicated runner capacity; Hop's release process does not depend on it.
• Create a narrowly scoped maintainer access token that can write releases. Export it as GITEA_TOKEN only for the local publish command, then unset it.
• When upgrading GoReleaser, update its pinned version and four archive checksums in scripts/release-local.sh from the official checksum file.
• Permit release attachment MIME types for .tar.gz, .zip, and .txt in Gitea's [attachment] ALLOWED_TYPES configuration.
• Enable the repository wiki, then push the files in wiki/ to its wiki Git repository.

Public-launch gates

• Choose and add a LICENSE. The local publishing script intentionally fails without one; this is a product/legal decision, not a build default.
• Add SECURITY.md with a monitored private disclosure address.
• Create an offline-controlled release-signing key, publish its public key, and add detached signing for checksums.txt before general availability.
• Confirm the githop.xyz/GnosysLabs/Hop Go import path serves valid go-import metadata.
• Back up the Gitea database, repositories, and release attachments.

Validate before tagging

scripts/release-local.sh --snapshot

Inspect dist/ and test at least one archive on each operating system family. Confirm hop version reports the snapshot/tag-injected version and hop skill install --force installs identical Hop-managed files at both default skill destinations while preserving unrelated user files.

Create a release

1. Update release notes. The signed Git tag is the version source and is injected into the binaries automatically.
2. Run scripts/release-local.sh --snapshot and inspect the artifacts.
3. Create a signed semantic-version tag such as v0.1.0-alpha.1 and push it.
4. Export a locally stored, scoped token: export GITEA_TOKEN=....
5. Run scripts/release-local.sh --publish. It reruns race tests, vet, installer checks, builds six platform archives, generates checksums.txt, and uploads a draft without executing build work on the Gitea server.
6. Immediately run unset GITEA_TOKEN.
7. Download the draft assets and independently verify checksums, version output, skill installation, and a disposable Hop project.
8. Publish the Gitea draft only after those checks pass.
9. Test both one-command installers against the now-published release.

Expected assets

hop_darwin_amd64.tar.gz
hop_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
hop_linux_amd64.tar.gz
hop_linux_arm64.tar.gz
hop_windows_amd64.zip
hop_windows_arm64.zip
checksums.txt

After the first release

• Create a Gitea-hosted Homebrew tap/cask fed by immutable release URLs and checksums; do not publish placeholder hashes.
• Add Windows package-manager metadata only after the Windows artifact has been tested on a real signed build.
• Establish release retention, package cleanup, rollback, and incident-response procedures for the custom Gitea instance.