Release Candidate Prep

Release Candidate Preparation

Use this skill only when the user explicitly invokes $release-candidate-prep and supplies a release version without a leading v, for example VERSION=0.20.1. This skill is the manual fallback for the GitHub Actions release workflow. Ordinary bot releases use .github/workflows/release-candidate.yml; do not invoke this local worktree procedure inside Actions.

For normal Release Please releases, use $final-release-review <release PR URL> instead. Do not create a manual candidate to review or finish the bot PR.

Non-negotiable boundaries

• Treat explicit invocation as authorization to fetch origin/main, create one dedicated detached release worktree, run branch-free release-readiness gates there, create or replace the local release/v<version> in that worktree only after those gates pass, update the five release-owned files, and create one local commit. If the branch already exists locally or remotely, the required final local state is still exact current origin/main plus only the new release commit; an existing local branch may be replaced only when it is not checked out in another worktree.
• Keep the user's source checkout on its existing clean main commit. Do not fast-forward it, switch its branch, or materialize release files there. Leave the dedicated release worktree in place for green handoff, blocked review, or recoverable failure.
• Never push, open or edit a pull request, add labels or milestones, create a release, or otherwise mutate GitHub. Never run gh.
• Own exactly pyproject.toml, uv.lock, .release-please-manifest.json, src/agents/version.py, and tests/fixtures/released_api_contract.json. Runtime, documentation, workflow, or other repository changes must land on main before release preparation.
• Do not stash, delete, overwrite or remove an existing worktree, or work around unrelated local changes. Fail before branch creation when the initial checkout is dirty or is not on main, the dedicated worktree is not clean and detached at refreshed origin/main, an existing local release branch is checked out in another worktree, the prospective packaged-contract gate fails after the allowed dependency-bootstrap recovery, the planning review blocks, or origin/main advances after those gates run.
• Treat $final-release-review as the controlling release checker, not only as a report generator. Its planning gate must be green before branch creation, and its final-candidate gate must inspect the materialized worktree and be green before PR-ready handoff. Any candidate content, commit, or base change invalidates the previous green result.
• Remove inherited OPENAI_API_KEY from every child command. Release preparation does not require a live OpenAI API request.
• Stop after the local commit, final release review, and copy-ready handoff. The user owns the push and pull-request creation.

1. Establish the release input

Require one semver-like version without a leading v. Do not infer a version from milestones, branch names, or local modifications. Announce that the skill will create and retain a dedicated release worktree with one local commit, keep the source checkout unchanged, and not write to GitHub.

Read $final-release-review completely before starting. Its final-candidate report is the release pull request description. Do not use $pr-draft-summary for the release candidate itself; this skill owns the fixed release branch, commit subject, title, and description. Continue to use $pr-draft-summary normally when implementing changes to this skill or other repository behavior.

2. Create an isolated branch-free preflight input

From the repository root, run:

env -u OPENAI_API_KEY -u GITHUB_TOKEN -u GH_TOKEN UV_DEFAULT_INDEX=https://pypi.org/simple uv run --frozen python .agents/skills/release-candidate-prep/scripts/prepare.py preflight --version <version> --worktree-root <codex-worktree-root>

The helper must complete all of these operations or fail with an actionable error while leaving the source checkout on its original main commit:

1. Verify the repository root, main branch, and clean working tree.
2. Inspect whether release/v<version> exists locally or remotely. Permit replacement, but fail if the local branch is checked out in another worktree.
3. Fetch main into origin/main without merging or switching the source checkout.
4. Choose a unique task-oriented path under the configured Codex worktree root. Check both the filesystem and git worktree list; never reuse or delete a collision.
5. Create a detached worktree at exact refreshed origin/main, then require that worktree to be clean, detached, and at the exact 40-character base commit.
6. Recheck that an existing local release branch remains replaceable and require the source checkout to remain clean on main at its original commit.
7. Print the exact base commit, unchanged source-checkout commit, planned branch, and dedicated worktree path for both readiness gates and later materialization.

Record the base commit as <preflight-base>, the source-checkout commit as <source-head>, and the path as <release-worktree>. Do not create or switch branches yet. Keep the detached worktree if a later gate blocks so its exact reviewed source remains inspectable.

3. Run the branch-free readiness gates

Bootstrap the dedicated worktree before starting either readiness gate:

env -u OPENAI_API_KEY -u GITHUB_TOKEN -u GH_TOKEN UV_DEFAULT_INDEX=https://pypi.org/simple make sync

This dependency installation is mandatory environment preparation, not candidate materialization. It matches the prospective-contract CI job, which installs all optional dependencies before generating the contract. After synchronization, require <release-worktree> to remain clean except for ignored environment or .tmp output. If synchronization changes a tracked or untracked repository path, stop with that evidence instead of treating the changed checkout as the reviewed source.

Run both gates against exact <preflight-base> before materializing any candidate:

1. Start the prospective packaged-contract gate from <release-worktree>:

   env -u OPENAI_API_KEY -u GITHUB_TOKEN -u GH_TOKEN UV_DEFAULT_INDEX=https://pypi.org/simple make check-prospective-released-api-contract

2. Invoke $final-release-review from <release-worktree> in pre-release planning mode with TARGET=<preflight-base> and the requested version as the release intent. Require its release-checker result to be GREEN LIGHT TO SHIP. Keep the target pinned to the commit rather than allowing a later origin/main refresh to change the reviewed source, and require all local source, contract, and package inspection to use the dedicated worktree.

These gates are independent consumers of the same clean source commit. Start the prospective command as a long-running session and perform the read-only planning review while it runs when the execution environment supports overlap. Wait for both results before continuing. If concurrency is unavailable, run them sequentially with the prospective gate first; correctness must not depend on overlap.

If the prospective command reports only that optional dependency modules are unavailable, treat the result as a recoverable environment-bootstrap failure rather than a contract-gate decision. Do not ask the user to choose between synchronization and fixing main. Rerun the credential-free make sync command, require the worktree to remain clean, and retry the prospective command exactly once. Do not use this recovery for a contract mismatch, packaging or runtime compatibility failure, changed repository path, or any other substantive gate failure.

If dependency synchronization still fails, the prospective command still reports unavailable dependency modules after the single retry, or either gate otherwise fails or blocks, stop without creating release/v<version>, leave the source checkout unchanged, retain the detached worktree, and report its path plus the exact failure or the planning review's unblock checklist. Classify a dependency installation failure as environment or dependency setup, a contract-generation mismatch as public-surface or tests/fixtures/released_api_contract_policy.json work on main, and a packaged compatibility failure by its actual failing source, packaging, platform, or runtime path. A blocked planning review should direct runtime or documentation-timing follow-up to main as applicable. Do not continue merely because the review produced a well-formed report.

After both gates pass, require all of the following before materialization:

• The source checkout is still clean on main at the same commit it had before preflight.
• <release-worktree> is clean except for ignored .tmp output, remains detached, and has HEAD == <preflight-base>.
• The planning review's green gate applies to <preflight-base> and the requested release intent.

4. Materialize the uncommitted candidate

Run:

env -u OPENAI_API_KEY -u GITHUB_TOKEN -u GH_TOKEN UV_DEFAULT_INDEX=https://pypi.org/simple uv run --frozen python .agents/skills/release-candidate-prep/scripts/prepare.py materialize --version <version> --expected-base <preflight-base> --expected-source-head <source-head> --worktree <release-worktree>

The helper must complete all of these operations or fail with an actionable error:

1. Repeat the source-root, clean main, version, registered-worktree, detached-HEAD, and release-branch replaceability checks.
2. Refresh origin/main again without moving the source checkout.
3. Require refreshed origin/main and <release-worktree> HEAD to equal <preflight-base>. If origin/main advanced, retain the old detached worktree and rerun preflight plus both readiness gates in a new exact-base worktree.
4. Keep the worktree detached while updating the single project version declaration in pyproject.toml, the root version in .release-please-manifest.json, and the literal __version__ fallback in src/agents/version.py.
5. Run make sync with UV_DEFAULT_INDEX=https://pypi.org/simple.
6. Run make update-released-api-contract VERSION=<version> and then make check-released-api-contract VERSION=<version>.
7. Require exactly the five release-owned paths to be modified in <release-worktree>, leave them unstaged and uncommitted, and confirm that the source checkout remains unchanged.
8. Only after those candidate checks pass, create or reset the local release/v<version> inside <release-worktree> to exact <preflight-base> while preserving the validated unstaged manifest. Do not retain commits or content from an older local or remote candidate. This delayed replacement must leave an existing local branch unchanged when candidate generation fails.

If the helper fails after branch creation, preserve its local branch, dedicated worktree, and working-tree evidence. Report the failing command and state rather than guessing whether a partial run is safe to resume. Never remove the worktree as automatic cleanup.