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Release process

The tag-driven pipeline, Velopack packaging, and the update feed.

Releases are fully automated from a git tag. There is one workflow, .github/workflows/release.yml, and it only runs on tags matching v*.

Pipeline

flowchart LR
  TAG["Push tag v1.2.3"] --> BUILD["Build matrix<br/>5 runtime identifiers"]
  BUILD --> PACK["dotnet vpk pack<br/>Velopack installers"]
  PACK --> REL["GitHub Release<br/>installers + portable zip"]
  PACK --> FEED["GitHub Pages<br/>update feed per RID"]

The version comes from the tag (v1.2.3 becomes 1.2.3). Each matrix leg publishes self-contained for its runtime identifier, then packs with the Velopack CLI (vpk, pinned in .config/dotnet-tools.json, channel stable, pack ID Mnemo.Desktop).

RIDRunnerArtifact
win-x64windows-latestSetup.exe plus a portable zip
linux-x64, linux-arm64ubuntu-latest.AppImage
osx-x64, osx-arm64macos-14Setup.pkg, icon generated from PNG during the build

A post-publish MSBuild target strips native runtimes for other platforms (ONNX, Whisper, PvRecorder) to keep installers small. Release builds also drop debug symbols via Directory.Build.props.

Two follow-up jobs attach the installers to the GitHub Release and deploy the Velopack update feed (.nupkg, RELEASES-*, JSON manifests) to GitHub Pages under feed/updates/stable/{rid}/.

In-app updates

Program.cs runs VelopackApp.Build().Run() before Avalonia starts, which is what lets an installer apply a pending update. At runtime, VelopackUpdateService checks the Pages feed for the current RID, and UpdateOrchestrator (Mnemo.UI/Modules/Updates/) handles the policy: a check on launch with a six-hour cooldown, toast or badge prompts, snooze keys, and apply-and-restart. The Windows portable build detects that it is not a Velopack install and falls back to pointing at GitHub Releases. UpdateGatePolicyTests covers the gating rules.

Releasing, in practice

  1. Make sure the version-worthy changes are merged and tests pass locally.
  2. Tag the commit vX.Y.Z and push the tag.
  3. Watch the workflow; when it finishes, verify the GitHub Release assets and that an installed build offers the update.

For local installer testing without touching the feed, use scripts/pack-local.ps1.