matrix-spec/meta/releasing.md

How to release the specification

The whole specification is now released as a single unit/artifact. This document is the process for releasing the specification and a description of how the (public) machinery works.

Timeline

The spec is released each calendar quarter. The target release dates are within the following ranges:

• Q1: January 20-27 (if needed before FOSDEM) or February 21-28.
• Q2: May 15-22.
• Q3: August 1-7 or August 20-27 depending on feature requirements.
• Q4: November 1-15 (before recurring November conflicts, like IETF).

The SCT aims to have dates picked out 2 weeks before the chosen release date. When possible, releases should be scheduled for Thursdays and Fridays to allow a few consecutive business days for identifying blockers.

When a release date is picked, a checklist issue is created to track details of the release. Release blockers should continue to be accepted at the discretion of whoever is doing the release (typically, blockers should be allowed up to 1-2 days before the release date).

Release dates are not promises. The SCT reserves the ability to change, cancel, postpone, etc a release for any reason. Do not rely on a release happening on a given day until the release has actually happened & blog post published.

Once a release is scheduled, the SCT will begin planning what the next release is expected to look like. The plan should be included in the spec release blog post, and be ready for execution on spec release day. Plans are guides and not promises.

A blog post for the SCT members to review should be ready 2-3 days prior to the release at minimum. Preferably a week in advance.

1-2 days before the release itself, the prerequisite steps below are executed to ensure the spec release can go ahead.

Release composition

This section is a work in progress.

Spec releases do not currently have attached themes, though when planning a release a broad theme may be considered. Ideally, each release contains a "hero feature" which is highlighted in the later blog post.

Maintenance-only releases are discouraged, but typical in Q4 to give implementations a small bit of reprieve from feature development.

Prerequisites / preparation

First, can we even release the spec? This stage is mostly preparation work needed to ensure a consistent and reliable specification.

1. Ensure main is committed with all the spec changes you expect to be there.
2. Review the changelog to look for typos, wording inconsistencies, or lines which can be merged. For example, "Fix typos" and "Fix spelling" can be condensed to "Fix various typos throughout the specification".
3. Do a quick skim to ensure changelogs reference the MSCs which brought the changes in. They should be linked to the GitHub MSC PR (not the markdown document).

The release

Assuming the preparation work is complete, all that remains is the actual specification release.

1. Create a release/v1.2 branch where v1.2 is the version you're about to release.
2. Update the params.version section of config.toml to use the following template:

   [params.version]
   status = "stable"
   current_version_url = "https://spec.matrix.org/latest"
   
   # This will be the spec version you're releasing. If that's v1.2, then `major = "1"`
   # and `minor = "2"`
   major = "1"
   minor = "2"
   
   # Today's date. Please use the format implied here for consistency.
   release_date = "October 01, 2021"
   

3. Commit the changes.
4. Generate the changelog.
   1. Activate your python virtual environment.
   2. Run ./scripts/generate-changelog.sh v1.2 "October 01, 2021" (using the correct version number and same release_date format from the hugo config).
   3. Commit the result.
5. Tag the branch with the spec release with a format of v1.2 (if releasing Matrix 1.2).
6. Push the release branch and the tag.
7. GitHub Actions will run its build steps. Wait until these are successful. If fixes need to be made to repair the pipeline or spec build, delete and re-tag the release. You may need to fix up the changelog file by hand in this case.
8. Check out and fast-forward main to the release branch.
9. Create a new release on GitHub from the newly created tag.
   • The title should be just "v1.2" (for example).
   • The description should be a copy/paste of the changelog. The generated changelog will be at content/changelog/v1.2.md - copy/paste verbatim.
   • Upload the artifacts of the GitHub Actions build for the release to the GitHub release as artifacts themselves. This should be the tarball that will be deployed to spec.matrix.org.
10. Commit a reversion to params.version of config.toml on main:

    [params.version]
    status = "unstable"
    current_version_url = "https://spec.matrix.org/latest"
    # major = "1"
    # minor = "2"
    # release_date = "October 01, 2021"
    

11. Push pending commits and ensure the unstable spec updates accordingly from the GitHub Actions pipeline.
12. Deploy the release on the webserver. See internal wiki.

Patching a release

Patch releases are used to fix the most recent release on record. Typically a patch release will be deployed if there is an issue with the build machinery, a factual error is introduced by the release, or there are notable clarity issues introduced by the release which may affect implementation. In all cases, patch releases should not be used if more than 2-4 weeks have passed since the release.

Typos and similar do not generally require a patch release.

Patch releases must not to be used for spec changes (new MSCs, etc) beyond fixing factual errors.

1. Add the required changes to the release branch (release/v1.2 for example).
2. Fast forward the v1.2 tag to the release branch head.
3. Push both the release branch and fast-forwarded tag.
4. Wait for the GitHub Actions build to complete on the tag.
5. Update the assets on the GitHub release to those generated by the latest Actions build.
6. Deploy the release on the webserver. See internal wiki.
7. Remove the changelog entries from main, if the changes landed on main.
8. Update the github release changelog and changelog on main, likely by hand.