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How to do releases

We distinct between "test" releases and "official" releases. Test releases serve as "Release Candidates" which do not land in the official app stores yet.

Test releases

  • Before every official release we make at least one test release, similar to "Release Candidates"
  • Test releases are published to supporters and the userbase through our community channels, but not through official app stores
  • Incite more broad user testing, look for issues which came up and gather feedback
    • Create a forum post to inform about the test release, mention what this release is about and what should be tested, here is an example
    • Create a delta post in testing groups and channels, and the delta chat dev group
    • toot on mastodon, from private account, with #deltachat and #deltachat_desktop hashtag with release highlights and pointing users to the forum post
  • Usually after a round of feedback and bug reports we do another test release and repeat, until the release stabilized
  • Optional: We can use flatpak for test releases as well (they have a "testing" branch users can opt-in)
  • Optional: Draft an in-app device message for the new version informing users of the release highlights and also thanking the testers for testing the app

Official releases

  • Make sure the latest version number is reflected on the official DeltaChat website, adjust the constants in this file: https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-pages/blob/master/_includes/download-boxes.html
  • An in-app device message for the new official release should exist, if there is no highlight to mention we can say it's a release focused on stability and bug fixes
  • Official releases require individual building steps for each platform we support. The exact steps are not further defined in this document (yet). Please consult one of the maintainers of this repository
  • When making an official release create a new issue following this template to track its status: 
    - [ ] DeltaChat Website
- [ ] flathub
- [ ] GitHub release
     - [ ] downloadable files also on GitHub
- [ ] MacOS store
- [ ] Windows store
- [ ] homebrew
- [ ] arch
- [ ] nix
- [ ] (community) snap
    See example

Both test and official releases follow similar steps described further below.

Before Releasing

  1. Make sure no "blocking" bugs are in the issue tracker. If there's any, try to solve them first: https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-desktop/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Ablocker
  2. Pull translations via pnpm -w translations:update in a separate PR
  3. Update the local help files if necessary in a separate PR: https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-pages/blob/master/tools/create-local-help.py
  4. If you've updated any translations or local help files, make sure that the date of your update is mentioned in the CHANGELOG.md

Releasing

  1. Create a new branch for the new version (you could name it prepare_versioncode, for example prepare_1.3.0)
  2. Update the CHANGELOG.md file (put the stuff in "unreleased" under a section with your new version code)
  3. Do not forget to update the tag links at the end of the CHANGELOG.md file!
  4. Change version field in package.json to X.Y.Z
  5. Run pnpm -w update:target-versions to update versions in the other packages
  6. Open a PR for your branch and get it reviewed.
  7. As soon as your PR is approved merge it to main
  8. After the PR is merged, checkout the latest version on main. Tag the latest commit with your version number: 
    git tag <tagname> # for example v1.43.2
git push origin main --tags
  9. Now create a GitHub release for your tag:
    • Copy the relevant part of the CHANGELOG.md file into the description field
      • for fresh releases this includes the changelog of the test releases
      • for patch releases the full changelog is not needed, the part that changed from the last release is enough
    • Add a header # Downloads with a link to the download page. If it's an official release, add a link to the release progress issue.
    • for testing releases add a link to the testing forum topic: 
      > This release candidate is currently in the testing phase, to learn more read https://support.delta.chat/t/<rest of link>
  10. As soon as the new tag is detected by our build machine, it will start building releases for various platforms (MacOS, Windows, Linux) and upload them to: https://download.delta.chat/desktop/[version_code]. This process takes 2-3 hours.

What if the main branch changed in the meantime

Rebase your PR and redo the steps as necessary. If you are unsure ask another contributor on how to proceed in your case.

Upload build artefacts to GitHub release

You can easily upload the build artefacts into the GitHub release with the help of the GitHub command line tool. Make sure you've followed all steps above and the CI finished its build.

# Specify the version you've just released
export DC_VERSION=v1.42.2

# Download build artefacts from CI
wget -r --no-parent -l1 --reject html https://download.delta.chat/desktop/$DC_VERSION
rm download.delta.chat/desktop/$DC_VERSION/*index.html*

# Upload them to the GitHub release
gh release upload -R deltachat/deltachat-desktop $DC_VERSION download.delta.chat/desktop/$DC_VERSION/*