release

Automate releasing all components of the screenpipe monorepo.

Components & Versions

| Component | Version File | Current Pattern | Workflow | |-----------|--------------|-----------------|----------| | Desktop App | apps/screenpipe-app-tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.toml | version = "X.Y.Z" | release-app.yml | | CLI/Server | Cargo.toml (workspace.package) | version = "0.2.X" | release-cli.yml | | MCP | packages/screenpipe-mcp/package.json and server.json (2 fields) | "version": "X.Y.Z" | release-mcp.yml |

MCP has no commit-prefix trigger — unlike the app, release-mcp.yml fires only on an mcp-v* tag or workflow_dispatch, and it refuses to run when package.json's version is already on npm (npm cannot overwrite a published version, so the run would publish nothing). Follow packages/screenpipe-mcp/RELEASE.md — it has the exact commands and the post-publish checks.

When to Release What

Always release CLI when there are changes under crates/. Every shipped Rust crate lives there, and the screenpipe CLI binary is built from crates/screenpipe-engine ([[bin]] name = "screenpipe"), so it links whatever its dependency graph pulls in. That includes screenpipe-a11y and screenpipe-semantic, which are easy to overlook because they are not named "core" or "server".

App-only release is fine when changes are only in:

• apps/screenpipe-app-tauri/ (UI/frontend changes)
• If the release includes new or changed #[tauri::command] handlers: from apps/screenpipe-app-tauri/, run bun run bindings:generate and verify bun run bindings:check before tagging

To check what changed since last CLI release:

# Find last CLI release commit
git log --oneline --all | grep -E "CLI to v" | head -1

# Check if core code changed since then
git diff <COMMIT>..HEAD --stat -- crates/

An empty diff here is only trustworthy if the pathspec exists. git diff -- <path> prints nothing and exits 0 for a path that is not in the tree, so a stale pathspec reads exactly like "nothing changed" and you ship an app-only release that drops real engine fixes. This skill previously listed top-level screenpipe-core/, screenpipe-vision/, screenpipe-server/ and friends, all of which had moved under crates/, so the check silently passed on every release. Confirm the path resolves before believing the result:

ls -d crates/ || echo "PATHSPEC STALE, fix this skill before trusting the diff"

Release Workflow

1. Check Current Versions

echo "=== App ===" && grep '^version' apps/screenpipe-app-tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.toml | head -1
echo "=== CLI ===" && grep '^version' Cargo.toml | head -1
echo "=== MCP ===" && grep '"version"' packages/screenpipe-mcp/package.json | head -1

2. Bump Version

• App: edit apps/screenpipe-app-tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.toml and bump the version = "X.Y.Z" line at the top of [package].
• CLI: edit root Cargo.toml and bump version under [workspace.package].

3. Regenerate ALL Cargo.lock files (MANDATORY after any bump)

./scripts/regenerate-locks.sh

The repo has several independent cargo workspaces (root, app, SDK, SDK examples), each with a tracked Cargo.lock recording the shared crates' versions. Bumping only Cargo.toml leaves the other locks stale and breaks cargo test --locked on main (happened with the v0.4.29 CLI bump — sdk.yml went red until the locks were fixed). Commit the regenerated locks together with the bump. style.yml runs ./scripts/regenerate-locks.sh --check on every push and fails if any lock is stale.

Before dispatching a desktop release, compile the actual app binary through the guarded native build queue. A raw cargo check from a clean worktree is not a valid substitute: the Tauri build script requires sidecars such as bun-aarch64-apple-darwin, which scripts/pre_build.js prepares. Install the frontend dependencies first so the guarded build can run its prebuild and frontend/type checks before compiling the app:

cd apps/screenpipe-app-tauri
bun install --frozen-lockfile
bun run build:tauri:dev

The build may regenerate Tauri schemas. Restore build-only schema drift before staging, then require the release commit to contain only the intended version files.

4. Commit, Push, and Dispatch Exact SHA

git add -A && git commit -m "Bump app to vX.Y.Z" && git pull --rebase && git push

BUMP_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
gh workflow run release-app.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f commit_hash="$BUMP_SHA" \
  -f version="X.Y.Z" \
  -f needs_testing=false \
  -f force_github_runners=false

release-app.yml is currently workflow_dispatch only. A bump push does not start it. Dispatch it once with the exact pushed commit and version inputs; its workflow builds, signs, notarizes, and uploads immutable versioned artifacts. It does not publish updater pointers or create the public GitHub release.

Before dispatching, verify the remote main SHA still matches BUMP_SHA. After dispatching, read the run back and require its headSha to match. Never dispatch a second app run for the same version unless the first run failed and the retry is intentional.

Enterprise is separate and manual. After the bump commit is on main, dispatch release-enterprise.yml once and verify that its run is pinned to the bump commit before treating Enterprise artifacts as prepared.

5. Monitor Build Status

# Get latest run ID
gh run list --workflow=release-app.yml --limit=1

# Check status
gh run view <RUN_ID> --json status,conclusion,jobs --jq '{status: .status, conclusion: .conclusion, jobs: [.jobs[] | {name: (.name | split(",")[0]), status: .status, conclusion: .conclusion}]}'

6. Test the Draft Release

• Download from https://screenpi.pe (requires purchase token)
• Test on macOS and Windows
• Verify updater artifacts exist (.tar.gz, .sig files)

7. Hand Off Public Publication

After testing and artifact verification, stop at the authenticated releases control in the website admin UI. Public updater pointers, Enterprise publication state, GitHub tags/releases, and subscriber notification are human-only actions. AI agents must not operate the admin UI, call its publication endpoint, approve the protected environment, or attempt publication with a commit-message prefix.

Quick Release (App Only)

# 1. Bump version in apps/screenpipe-app-tauri/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
# 2. Regenerate every tracked Cargo.lock (skipping this breaks `cargo test --locked` in CI)
./scripts/regenerate-locks.sh

# 3. Commit and push the version bump
git add -A && git commit -m "Bump app to vX.Y.Z" && git push

# 4. Dispatch the exact pushed commit once, then monitor
BUMP_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
gh workflow run release-app.yml --ref main \
  -f commit_hash="$BUMP_SHA" -f version="X.Y.Z" \
  -f needs_testing=false -f force_github_runners=false
gh run list --workflow=release-app.yml --limit=1

Build Status Format

Build <RUN_ID>:
| Platform | Status |
|----------|--------|
| macOS aarch64 | ✅ success / 🔄 in_progress / ❌ failure |
| macOS x86_64 | ✅ success / 🔄 in_progress / ❌ failure |
| Windows | ✅ success / 🔄 in_progress / ❌ failure |

Troubleshooting

Build Failed

gh run view <RUN_ID> --log-failed 2>&1 | tail -100

CI red: "cannot update the lock file ... because --locked was passed"

A version bump was pushed without regenerating every tracked Cargo.lock.

./scripts/regenerate-locks.sh && git add -A && git commit -m "fix: regenerate stale Cargo.lock files"

Cancel Running Build

gh run cancel <RUN_ID>

Re-run Failed Jobs

gh run rerun <RUN_ID> --failed

Missing Updater Artifacts (.tar.gz, .sig)

The CI copies tauri.prod.conf.json to tauri.conf.json before building. If artifacts are missing:

1. Check tauri.prod.conf.json has "createUpdaterArtifacts": true
2. Check the "Use production config" step ran successfully

Configuration

Dev vs Prod Configs

• tauri.conf.json - Dev config (identifier: screenpi.pe.dev)
• tauri.prod.conf.json - Prod config (identifier: screenpi.pe, updater enabled)

CI automatically uses prod config for releases by copying it before build.

Trigger & Publication Behavior

• release-app.yml is workflow_dispatch only → consumer artifact build/upload from the explicit commit/version inputs
• release-enterprise.yml is workflow_dispatch only → Enterprise artifact build/upload
• Public consumer and Enterprise publication remains a human-only admin-dashboard action after artifact verification
• A bump push alone starts neither release workflow; dispatch each exactly once and verify both run SHAs

Notes

• Linux desktop app is disabled (bundling issues)
• App builds take ~25-35 minutes
• CLI builds take ~15-20 minutes
• Always pull before push to avoid conflicts
• Updater artifacts: macOS uses .tar.gz/.sig, Windows uses .nsis.zip/.sig