Release checklist

No step below implies that a release or registry publication has occurred.

Source and version

• Clean checkout on the intended protected revision; CI green.
• Git author and repository destination verified.
• One explicit version across all workspace crates and the extension.
• Changelog contains complete notes for that version.
• Documentation no longer describes the selected version as unpublished.
• No signing files, environment files, generated platform artifacts, or developer-specific paths tracked.

Licensing

• Run python3 scripts/check-licenses.py --generate; inspect the inventory diff instead of accepting it mechanically.
• Run python3 scripts/check-licenses.py with no stale inventory.
• Confirm RustFerry root licenses and the release license bundle are present.
• Record the Slint license path for every generated mobile binary considered for attachment. Do not attach such binaries when the choice is unresolved.
• Confirm release notes retain the official #MadeWithSlint badge unchanged and explain the downstream publisher’s attribution or alternate-license duty.
• Recheck third-party notices if the VSIX gains any production npm import.

Rust and packages

• cargo fmt --all -- --check
• cargo clippy --locked --workspace --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings
• cargo test --locked --workspace --all-targets --all-features
• RUSTDOCFLAGS="-D warnings" cargo doc --locked --workspace --all-features --no-deps
• python3 scripts/check-release-contract.py reports every internal edge exact.
• cargo package --workspace --exclude rustferry-worker-macos --locked --list
• cargo package --workspace --exclude rustferry-worker-macos --locked
• cargo publish --workspace --exclude rustferry-worker-macos --dry-run --locked
• python3 scripts/check-release-archives.py --check-sources --target-dir target/package-source-check target/package/*.crate
• Inspect all nine .crate archives and their normalized manifests; confirm both canonical license files are regular root members.

VS Code extension

• npm ci from editors/vscode.
• npm run check passes, including VSIX structural smoke.
• npm run test:host passes with the intended real cargo-ferry binary.
• Ordinary Rust stays inactive; a ferry.toml workspace auto-activates, registers commands, discovers the project, and opens its manifest.
• npm run perf results reviewed and recorded with host and revision context.
• Views and trust gating checked manually when their behavior changed.
• VSIX size and SHA-256 recorded from the final bytes.

Platform evidence

• Android and iOS Simulator artifact workflows green for the release commit.
• Exact artifact validation recorded; no simulator/device/signing claim beyond observed evidence.
• Physical-device binaries excluded unless signing, installation, launch, and required license notices were actually validated.

Release assembly

1. Run the Draft release workflow with the exact workspace version and create_draft_release disabled.
2. Download the release assembly. Verify package count, schema, versioned VSIX, license bundle, notes, and every entry in SHA256SUMS.
3. Confirm the release commit has successful exact-SHA push jobs for CI, VS Code, both platform artifacts, and mdBook/Pages.
4. Keep the assembly private until registry publication and registry-only smoke testing succeed.

Registry and Marketplace publication

• Publish crates manually in the order documented in Rust package readiness, waiting for registry visibility between dependency groups.
• Verify local crates.io authentication without printing or passing the token; stop before the first upload when cargo login is still required.
• Verify each crate version, tarball, checksum, dependency metadata, docs.rs build, and registry timestamp.
• Install cargo-ferry from crates.io into an isolated Cargo root; generate and check a project without a runtime-path override.
• Publish the already-inspected VSIX to Marketplace only through a protected manual vscode-marketplace environment with a required reviewer and the VSCE_PAT Environment secret.
• Verify the Marketplace workflow consumed the successful assembly run from the exact release revision and used vsce publish --pre-release without a token argument.
• Verify Marketplace version and install the public extension into an isolated VS Code profile.
• Create and push annotated tag v0.1.0 from the verified master commit.
• Create GitHub Release RustFerry 0.1.0 as a pre-release with manually reviewed notes covering packages, installation, Rust 1.92, validation limits, and Slint licensing.
• Verify the tag target, pre-release flag, notes, links, and any intentional assets.
• Create the next patch Unreleased changelog section and commit release closeout.
• Track migration from the temporary global Marketplace PAT to Microsoft Entra ID or trusted publishing before December 1, 2026.

Failure and rollback policy

• Query crates.io before retrying any timed-out upload.
• Record the last verified package when publication stops partway through.
• Never overwrite a published version or change its dependency contract.
• Do not yank a healthy prerequisite because a later package failed. Fix only unpublished packages when compatible; otherwise prepare the next patch release.
• Yank only for a concrete security, legal, or unusable-package defect, and record the reason and replacement version.