pulse/docs/RELEASE.md

Pulse Release Guide

This document outlines the key requirements for creating new releases of Pulse.

Release Criteria

Create releases for:

• New features
• Bug fixes
• Security updates
• Breaking changes
• Significant dependency updates affecting runtime behavior

Release Requirements

Version Consistency

Ensure version numbers match in ALL these files:

• frontend/src/utils/version.js
• package.json
• frontend/package.json
• docker/Dockerfile (LABEL version)

CHANGELOG Generation

• Review ALL commits since the last release tag to create a comprehensive changelog
• Use git log <last-tag>..HEAD --oneline to see commits since the last release
• Ensure all significant changes, features, and fixes are documented
• Organize changes by type (Added, Changed, Fixed, etc.)

Git Requirements

• Create and push a version tag (format: vX.Y.Z)
• Create GitHub release with meaningful release notes
• Reference the CHANGELOG

Docker Requirements

• Build multi-architecture images (amd64, arm64)
• Tag with both specific version and latest
• Verify image version labels match release version
• Push to DockerHub

Pre-Release Validation

• Tests pass
• Documentation updated
• CHANGELOG.md updated with new features, fixes, and changes
• Application runs correctly in both development and production modes

Common Issues

Version Mismatch

When versions don't match across files, the release appears inconsistent to users. Rebuild Docker images if labels are incorrect.

Docker Build Problems

For multi-architecture builds, ensure buildx is configured properly and Docker daemon is running.

Command Pager Issues

For commands that invoke a pager (git log, docker logs, etc.), append | cat to avoid interactive pager issues:

git log | cat
docker logs container_name | cat