release

Guide the user through all release steps interactively. Confirm before each destructive operation.

Phase 1: Pre-checks

Before starting, verify the repository is ready:

make release-preflight  # Clean tree, no staged changes, on master

If there are uncommitted changes, stop and ask the user to resolve them first.

Phase 2: Version Bump

2.1 Get the new version number

Ask the user for the new version number (e.g., 0.12.0). Verify it follows semver format.

2.2 Update version file

Edit src/vorta/_version.py:

__version__ = "X.Y.Z"  # New version

2.3 Update translations (optional)

make translations-from-source  # extract strings, merge into every .ts
make translations-to-qm        # compile .qm files

This runs pylupdate6 locally; no 1Password needed. New strings arrive as type="unfinished" — use /translate review <lang> to fill them in, or ship them untranslated (they fall back to English).

2.4 Update metadata and create commit + tag

Note: there is no make bump-version target — these steps live here instead.

Important: add a new <release> entry at the top of <releases>. Do not rewrite the existing ones; the version history is consumed by AppStream/Flatpak.

1. Update appdata.xml with new version and today's date:

# Edit src/vorta/assets/metadata/com.borgbase.Vorta.appdata.xml
# Change: <release version="vX.Y.Z" date="YYYY-MM-DD" ...>

2. Create commit and tag:

git add src/vorta/_version.py src/vorta/assets/metadata/com.borgbase.Vorta.appdata.xml
git commit -m "Bump version to vX.Y.Z"
git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "TAG_MESSAGE_HERE"

Prompt the user for the tag message (brief summary of changes).

Phase 3: Push to Upstream

git push upstream master
git push upstream vX.Y.Z

Phase 4: Wait for CI

Monitor the test workflow:

gh run list --workflow=test.yml --limit=1
gh run watch <run-id> --exit-status

Wait for tests to pass before proceeding. If tests fail, stop and notify the user.

Phase 5: Create GitHub Release

5.1 Generate changelog

make changelog

Format the output as a bullet list for release notes, excluding:

• Version bump commits
• CI-only changes
• Minor dev tooling updates

5.2 Create draft release

gh release create vX.Y.Z --draft --title "vX.Y.Z" --notes "CHANGELOG_HERE"

Show the user the draft URL for review.

Phase 6: PyPi Release

Note: Use command op to bypass shell function issues with 1Password CLI.

command op run -- make pypi-release

This builds the sdist and uploads to PyPi via twine.

If op fails, provide manual instructions:

uv run python -m build --sdist
uv run twine upload dist/vorta-X.Y.Z.tar.gz

Phase 7: macOS Builds

7.1 Trigger both architecture builds

Default Borg version: 1.4.4 (ask user if they want different)

There is no branch input — dispatch against the tag with --ref so the DMG is built from exactly what was tagged. Runner choices are macos-26, macos-26-intel, macos-15, macos-15-intel.

# ARM build (Apple Silicon)
gh workflow run build-macos.yml --ref vX.Y.Z -f macos_version=macos-15 -f borg_version=1.4.4

# Intel build (x86_64 runner)
gh workflow run build-macos.yml --ref vX.Y.Z -f macos_version=macos-15-intel -f borg_version=1.4.4

7.2 Wait for builds to complete

# List recent workflow runs to get run IDs
gh run list --workflow=build-macos.yml --limit=2

# Watch both runs
gh run watch <arm-run-id> --exit-status
gh run watch <intel-run-id> --exit-status

7.3 Download artifacts

rm -rf ./release-artifacts && mkdir -p ./release-artifacts
gh run download <arm-run-id> -D ./release-artifacts
gh run download <intel-run-id> -D ./release-artifacts

7.4 Upload to GitHub release

Note: Artifacts are in nested directories (e.g., ./release-artifacts/Vorta-vX.Y.Z-arm.dmg/Vorta-vX.Y.Z-arm.dmg)

gh release upload vX.Y.Z \
  "./release-artifacts/Vorta-vX.Y.Z-arm.dmg/Vorta-vX.Y.Z-arm.dmg" \
  "./release-artifacts/Vorta-vX.Y.Z-intel.dmg/Vorta-vX.Y.Z-intel.dmg"

7.5 Cleanup

rm -rf ./release-artifacts

Phase 8: Publish Release

After verifying the release looks correct:

gh release edit vX.Y.Z --draft=false

Provide the release URL to the user.

Phase 9: Update GitHub Pages (Appcast)

Update the Sparkle appcast for macOS auto-updates.

Note: The gh-pages branch doesn't have pre-commit config, so commits may fail. Handle this:

make update-appcast

If the commit fails due to pre-commit, complete manually:

# If already on gh-pages from failed make target:
PRE_COMMIT_ALLOW_NO_CONFIG=1 git commit -m "Update appcast for vX.Y.Z"
git push upstream gh-pages
git checkout master

Completion

Summarize what was done:

• Version bumped to vX.Y.Z
• Tag pushed to upstream
• GitHub release published: [link]
• PyPi package uploaded
• macOS DMGs (ARM + Intel) attached to release
• Appcast updated for auto-updates