commandkit/docs/roadmap/releasekit.md

ReleaseKit adoption roadmap

Status: adoption selected; implementation not started.

Date: 2026-10-08.

Purpose and authority

This roadmap defines the target state for adopting ReleaseKit as CommandKit's maintainer release tooling and the work needed to reach it. The next planning deliverable is a staged implementation plan based on this target. This document does not authorize publication or claim that release tooling already exists.

The release policy, architecture policy, and documentation policy control the work. Apply the OSS policy to dependencies and incorporated material, and the testing policy to integration evidence. Existing accepted ADRs continue to govern the library and its standard CLI contracts.

The reviewed upstream baseline is ReleaseKit v0.2.0, commit e030794969fb7787e647a90bbc4eb81bd0610f07. Its published tag and local checkout matched that revision during adoption review. Upstream references below identify that source; implementation must use the released module rather than require a sibling checkout.

Current baseline

At roadmap preparation, CommandKit is at commit 3871d83 with a clean worktree. Its selected initial library target and documentation reconciliation are complete. The current package inventory is maintained in the internal overview.

Area	Current state	Adoption gap
Module	Go 1.25.5; ConfigKit, PromptKit, and CLI dependencies are declared.	No ReleaseKit tool dependency or version selection.
Publication	origin has effective push URL https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/CommandKit.git; no local version tags were present.	No repository publication command or source-only release profile. Remote version availability must be checked when preparing a release.
Procedure	Release policy is adopted.	docs/release.md does not exist; policy still says ReleaseKit integration has not been selected.
Release history	No docs/releases/ notes are present.	The first candidate will need its own version-matched note.
Delivery	No hosted delivery integration is present.	None for the selected source-only adoption target.
Licensing	Project grant and existing dependency attribution are maintained.	Review the actual tooling and copied-material scope when integration lands.

The adoption review inspected ReleaseKit's implementation and representative tests. It did not execute tests or exercise a CommandKit release integration. This historical baseline is not a claim about later implementation status.

Target state

Release ownership and deliverables

CommandKit releases remain source-only Go module releases: one immutable version tag identifying an exact committed candidate with its matching checked-in release note. ReleaseKit owns candidate validation, automated publication guards, annotated tag creation, tag publication, and publication outcome reporting.

CommandKit maintainers own version selection, candidate contents, compatibility explanations, release-note preparation, dependency preparation, and the repository runbook. The first release version is chosen during release preparation under the release policy; it is not a constant in the publisher or profile.

Adoption adds maintainer tooling without adding a production package, a public ReleaseKit wrapper, or a standard application command family. The root commandkit facade, internal Cobra boundary, and existing version-reporting responsibilities continue to follow their accepted contracts. ReleaseKit's buildinfo package is not needed for this integration.

Tool selection and launcher

Declare gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/ReleaseKit/cmd/releasekit as a Go tool dependency in CommandKit's root go.mod, initially selecting ReleaseKit v0.2.0. Commit the resulting module metadata and checksums. The Go tool directive retains executable tool dependencies without importing them into the library.

Provide a small executable scripts/release launcher whose publication entry point is ./scripts/release VERSION. It builds the ReleaseKit CLI selected by the candidate's module configuration, then executes its publish command for CommandKit's repository and profile. Build the tool with committed module metadata in readonly mode, with workspace discovery disabled and the compatible local toolchain selected. Use an ignored .releasekit/ directory for the local tool binary so bootstrap output does not make the candidate dirty.

The launcher owns argument handling, repository location, tool bootstrap, and invocation. It preserves the executable's output, exit status, and signal handling. It does not reimplement publication guards, run a separate required check first, push main automatically, or turn hosted delivery into a publication gate. Build and execute the CLI directly so its distinct failure statuses remain available to maintainers.

ReleaseKit's requirements expand the module graph, including its Goldmark and golang.org/x/mod dependencies. Review resulting version selections during adoption. Keeping these packages out of library imports avoids runtime linkage; it does not make their module requirements disappear.

Source-only profile

Add a root releasekit.json selecting:

• product CommandKit;
• authoritative remote origin; and
• expected effective push URL https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/CommandKit.git.

Use the default candidate suite. Initially leave additional checks, optional validation selections, binary builds, and hosted delivery unselected. In particular, the adoption does not establish race, full-vet, cross-platform, formatting, Markdown, module-distribution, or file-size gates.

The JSON profile is maintainer configuration for ReleaseKit; it does not change CommandKit's native YAML inspection contracts. Its field definitions remain owned by the upstream configuration reference.

Publication workflow

The runbook selects ReleaseKit's supported sequence:

1. Prepare and commit the candidate and matching release note on main.
2. Prepare the module dependencies and tool dependencies needed by the local compatible toolchain, separately from offline candidate validation.
3. Push the candidate commit to authoritative remote main using explicit refs.
4. Invoke the single publication launcher for the selected version.

ReleaseKit requires remote main to identify the candidate before publication; this adoption uses the branch-first approach permitted by CommandKit policy. An atomic branch-and-tag publication path is not part of this target.

After publication preflight, ReleaseKit runs one go test -mod=readonly -count=1 ./... suite with module and toolchain downloads disabled. It rechecks the candidate and endpoint, creates an annotated tag from the committed note, and pushes only the intended tag object. A successful push completes publication without waiting for CI, module availability, artifacts, or consumer installation. The upstream publication guide owns the implementation contract.

The runbook must distinguish failures before publication, known unsuccessful pushes, conflicts, and unknown push outcomes. ReleaseKit retains a local tag after a failed push; blindly rerunning the ordinary publisher is not a recovery procedure. Document authoritative remote inspection and the permitted recovery actions under the release policy, preserving published tags and unresolved tag state. Never force an update to bypass a guard.

Documentation and release notes

Create docs/release.md when the launcher and profile exist. It owns the copyable preparation/publication commands, prerequisites, automated guards, completion point, and recovery instructions. Link to ReleaseKit's owning references for detailed CLI statuses and profile definitions rather than maintaining a second upstream reference in CommandKit's CLI documentation.

The procedure explains that ReleaseKit validates the note's product/version heading but does not assess compatibility prose or enforce CommandKit's license footer. Prepare and review that content through ordinary change review. Each release note must include the immutable-tag COPYRIGHT | LICENSE | ATTRIBUTION links required by the OSS policy. This introduces no additional network check, manual approval gate, or custom note checker.

Update the release policy's undecided-adoption statement when integration lands, preserving its substantive rules and provenance. Update README and developer navigation to point to the implemented runbook and remove their obsolete release-tooling status statements. Current procedures belong in the runbook; this roadmap and the forthcoming staged plan retain target/status information.

Licensing and incorporated material

Review the selected ReleaseKit source, dependency notices, and any copied launcher or integration material under the OSS policy. Update applicable attribution entries and license texts together with incorporation, identifying selected upstream revisions and preserving required notices.

Tool use alone does not establish an attribution requirement under that policy. Determine treatment from actual incorporation or distribution rather than add entries for every development tool. Any copied or adapted documentation needs its own applicable treatment. Author the CommandKit runbook for this integration and reuse upstream guidance through links where practical.

Work needed from the baseline

These are implementation work areas, not the staged execution instructions. The next plan must order them, specify concrete edits and proportionate evidence, and preserve any changes made after this baseline.

ID	Work	Completion result
RK-01	Add the released Go tool dependency and review module resolution.	Root module metadata selects v0.2.0 and retains the tool through normal module maintenance; no sibling replacement or library import is needed.
RK-02	Add the source-only profile.	Product, authoritative remote, and effective push destination are explicit; only the default suite is selected.
RK-03	Add the executable launcher and ignore its local build output.	One repository publication command builds the module-selected CLI without changing candidate metadata and preserves its outcomes.
RK-04	Write the implemented release runbook and reconcile navigation/policy status.	Maintainers have one canonical procedure for preparation, publication, and recovery; current documents describe available tooling accurately.
RK-05	Review licensing scope and maintain affected notices.	Incorporated material receives policy-conforming attribution and texts without blanket tooling requirements.
RK-06	Establish focused integration evidence and record completion.	The launcher/profile work together and the adoption respects existing library boundaries; the roadmap records actual completion and remaining release preparation.

Completion evidence and handoff

Select evidence for the new integration rather than duplicate ReleaseKit's entire candidate and Git test inventory. During implementation, establish that:

• The repository's committed module configuration selects the tool, including after ordinary module maintenance; bootstrap leaves module files unchanged.
• The launcher finds the repository/profile, handles its version argument, preserves ReleaseKit's diagnostic output and distinct exit statuses, and leaves no untracked bootstrap output in candidate status.
• A representative disposable repository exercise reaches source publication through the selected launcher/profile without binary or hosted-service work. Use local fixtures, not CommandKit's live remote, for publication evidence.
• Invalid candidate or publication preflight state fails through ReleaseKit without bypassing its guards. Focus new coverage on integration mistakes; upstream already owns comprehensive publication and recovery behavior.
• The library has no new ReleaseKit runtime imports or exported surface, and affected documentation, notices, paths, and intended release links agree with the implemented integration.

The staged plan should identify the checks appropriate to these risks and reuse existing evidence where sufficient. Adoption checks are not automatically permanent release gates. Diagnostic check remains optional; the actual release publisher validates its final candidate once.

Adoption is complete when RK-01 through RK-06 are implemented and reviewed, focused evidence is recorded, and the runbook is executable from the documented prerequisites. Publishing CommandKit's first release remains separate work: select a fresh version, prepare its note and final candidate, and follow the runbook with publication authorization. Do not create a placeholder release note or publish a tag merely to complete tooling adoption.

Deferred capabilities

Hosted Gitea release-page delivery is deferred. If selected later, reuse the checked-in release note and report delivery separately from source publication. Use ReleaseKit's module-selected tooling approach so retries select the tool from the released source rather than current main. CI integration and credentials become relevant only when that delivery work is selected.

Binary targets, assets, build matrices, runtime buildinfo integration, and additional validation gates are outside this adoption target. They may be considered later for concrete needs under the owning policies; ReleaseKit's support for them does not establish CommandKit requirements.