# Release policy

Published tags and release assets are immutable.

A tag that has been published must never be moved, reused, deleted and recreated, or supplied with replacement assets under the same names. If a published build or installer is wrong, preserve the existing release and publish a new, higher version tag containing the correction.

`.github/workflows/linux-release.yml` is the sole GitHub Release publisher. On a version tag, it builds the Linux and Windows packages from the tagged commit, generates the signed manifest, and publishes the complete release asset set. `.github/workflows/windows-release.yml` is manual-only and may package and verify a Windows installer as a workflow artifact, but it never publishes or replaces GitHub Release assets. The tracked production source for the convenience installer is `deploy/smm-setup.sh`; the Linux release workflow copies that exact file to the release artifact set, records its SHA-256 in the signed manifest, and publishes its standalone checksum. The default release in that source must match the tag being produced.

For `v0.1.0-alpha.9`, this makes `smm-setup.sh`, `smm-setup.sh.sha256`, the bootstrap script, platform archives, SBOMs, and the signed manifest reproducible from the tagged tree. The installer fetches only same-tag assets and verifies the bootstrap checksum before execution. Corrections after publication require another tag; the `v0.1.0-alpha.9` tag and assets remain unchanged.

Known release history:

- `v0.1.0-alpha.8` contains the v1 `server-monitor-manager-bootstrap-manifest.json` layout and an orphaned `server-monitor-manager-manifest.sig` without the corresponding manifest v2. Published assets remain immutable; the anomaly is documented rather than repaired in place.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.10` exists as a tag, but its Release pipeline failed before a GitHub Release was published. The version number is burned and must not be moved, deleted, recreated, or reused.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.11` exists as a tag, but its Release pipeline failed before a GitHub Release was published. The version number is burned and must not be moved, deleted, recreated, or reused.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.12` was published with a keyless manifest signature but without the Fulcio signing certificate, so consumers cannot verify that signature. Its Windows `SHA256SUMS` asset also used CRLF and was not consumable by GNU `sha256sum -c`. The immutable release remains published as historical evidence; neither defect is repaired in place.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.13` corrected the checksum portability defect, but it was also published with a keyless manifest signature and without the Fulcio signing certificate required by production consumers. The immutable release remains published as historical evidence; the producer/consumer certificate contract is corrected under a higher version.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.14` is the first release with the complete manifest, keyless signature, and Fulcio certificate set, so its published assets can be verified. A clean host cannot install it because the release does not provision cosign. Preserve it for verification and historical evidence; do not use it for installation.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.15` is the first release that provisions a pinned, checksum-verified cosign binary. Its automatically triggered Release Verification proved the clean-host Hub installation and manifest verification, then stopped before the clean-host Node installation because the acceptance script retained the deliberately removed cosign path in Bash's command hash. The immutable release and failed verification remain as evidence; the acceptance harness is corrected in the next version.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.16` clears the acceptance shell's command hash after removing its test-provisioned cosign. Its automatic verification proved clean-host Hub installation, but the convenience installer wrote the bootstrap checksum success line to stdout before the machine-readable `SMMNODE2` enrollment code. Node installation therefore rejected the contaminated value. The immutable release and failed verification remain as evidence; stdout isolation is corrected in the next version.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.17` keeps checksum verification fail-closed while suppressing its success line, so pass-through commands such as `node-code` return only their machine-readable bootstrap output. Its automatic verification completed the clean-host Hub and Node installation, then the negative-test harness stopped while creating a wrong-identity signature because cosign v3 requires an explicit bundle or legacy detached-output mode. The immutable release and failed harness run remain as evidence; the negative test is corrected in the next version.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.18` makes the wrong-identity negative test select cosign v3's explicit detached-output mode, matching the production consumer's detached signature and certificate contract. It is the first release required to complete both automatic `workflow_run` verification and manual `workflow_dispatch` re-verification.
- `v0.1.0-alpha.19` exists as a tag, but its Release pipeline failed when the packaged convenience installer's `DEFAULT_RELEASE_TAG` did not match the immutable tag. No GitHub Release was published. The version number is burned and must not be moved, deleted, recreated, or reused.

Every release candidate must pass a branch `workflow_dispatch` run of the Release pipeline before its immutable version tag is created. The release owner has sole write ownership of version sources, `deploy/**`, `tests/bootstrap/**`, release workflows, the root README release status, and translated README release statuses. Other contributors request changes to those paths in their report; they do not edit or bump them directly. One pull request covers one release topic and may merge only after required CI is green.
