33. Release and Versioning Process

Glitchpad follows semantic versioning. Before 1.0.0, a minor release may change unstable application behavior, but save integrity, source privacy, license, and release-evidence guarantees remain compatibility commitments. Patch releases contain compatible fixes and documentation corrections. v0.0.0 is the foundation release, v0.1.0 is the first binary release, v0.1.1 is its first corrective successor, v0.1.2 is its second corrective successor, v0.1.3 is its third corrective successor, and v0.1.4 is its fourth corrective successor.

Every change reaches the default branch through a reviewed pull request with a green aggregate gate. Changelog entries are contributed as fragments to avoid concurrent edits. The release operator assembles fragments, performs the documentation pass, updates the canonical product version and mirrors, reviews generated notices, commits the release, and pushes vX.Y.Z.

The tag pipeline verifies the release contract, runs shared gates, builds the four-platform matrix, validates each platform's declared community trust state, generates checksums/SBOM/provenance, and creates the release only after every automated gate succeeds.

flowchart TB
  slices["Completed Spec Kit slices"] --> reconcile["Documentation and changelog reconciliation"]
  reconcile --> commit["Reviewed release commit"]
  commit --> tag["Operator pushes vX.Y.Z"]
  tag --> verify["Version, docs, tests, security, and license gates"]
  verify --> builds["Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android builds"]
  builds --> smoke["Install and core-behavior smoke tests"]
  smoke --> supply["Sign, checksum, SBOM, and attest"]
  supply --> publish{"Every required artifact and receipt present?"}
  publish -->|No| blocked["Publication blocked"]
  publish -->|Yes| release["Publish official release"]
  release --> post["Post-release verification"]

A failed platform leg blocks the release. Partial publication is not promoted as official. Post-release failure halts channel promotion and opens a release-remediation slice; published assets remain clearly marked until corrected or withdrawn.