fluid-release

Fluid Framework Client Release

Release workflow for the client release group. Supports two modes: interactive (default) and autonomous.

Environment Detection

Check the CI environment variable at the start of every session:

• CI=true: Running in a GitHub Actions workflow. Use only origin (no upstream). Use CI-safe commands (see CI-safe alternatives). Never prompt for input. Log blockers and phase completions to workflow output for human review.
• CI unset or false: Running locally. Use upstream/origin detection as described in Key Context.

Mode Selection

At the start of every release session, ask the user:

Would you like to run in interactive or autonomous mode?

In CI (CI=true), always use autonomous mode — do not prompt.

Interactive Mode (default)

Run commands autonomously but pause before creating PRs, pushing branches, or triggering builds. Ask for version confirmation at key points. This is the current behavior.

Autonomous Mode

Run the entire selected phase end-to-end without pausing. Auto-detect the release state from the schedule and repo (see below). If the user provides version info upfront, skip the version questions entirely.

Requirements:

• Version info upfront: The user must provide all version numbers before starting (current release version and/or next version, depending on phase). Do not prompt for versions mid-flow. If the user doesn't provide versions, detect them from the schedule and repo state (see below).
• No confirmation pauses: Create PRs, push branches, and run flub release without asking. Include clear commit messages and PR descriptions.
• Phase-scoped execution: Each phase runs to completion, then reports what the user needs to do next (e.g., "queue the ADO build" or "wait for npm feeds, then re-invoke for type test updates").
• Fallback to issues: If any step fails (permission errors, CI-safe command failures, git push rejected, or any other error that prevents progress), stop and open a GitHub issue in microsoft/FluidFramework describing what was completed, what failed, and what remains. Use the title format Release <VERSION>: <brief description> and label it with release-blocking. Include the exact commands remaining so a human can finish using the skill in interactive mode.

Auto-detecting release state (autonomous mode and CI)

Auto-detect the release state from the schedule and repo. Read the release schedule and run the detection steps below. In interactive mode, this detection also runs when the user gives a generic request like "do the release" without specifying a version or phase.

Step 1: Identify the most recent release.

# Get the latest client release tag
git tag -l 'client_v2.*' --sort=-version:refname | head -1

Step 2: Identify the next scheduled release.

Compare today's date against the schedule. The next release is the earliest scheduled entry whose proposed date is >= today and whose version is greater than the most recently released version. Also check if a release is overdue (proposed date < today but no tag exists).

Step 3: Check if a release is in progress.

# Check for release-prep branches for the next version
git ls-remote --heads upstream 'release-prep/<NEXT_VERSION>/*'
# Check for the release branch
git ls-remote --heads upstream 'release/client/<NEXT_MAJOR>.<NEXT_MINOR>'
# Check for a release tag
git tag -l 'client_v<NEXT_VERSION>'
# Check for open PRs
gh pr list --repo microsoft/FluidFramework --search "release-prep/<NEXT_VERSION>" --state all

Step 4: Determine the phase and act.

State	Action
No release-prep branches, no release branch	Start minor release prep (Steps 1-5)
Release-prep branches/PRs exist, some not merged	Resume minor release prep from where it left off
Release branch exists, no release tag	Start release execution (Steps 6-7). In CI: the human must queue the ADO build.
Release tag exists, no patch bump PR	Resume release execution — do the patch bump (Step 7)
Release tag exists, patch bump done, no type test PRs	Start type test updates (Steps 8-9)
All phases complete	Report that the release is fully done and show the next scheduled release

Present the detected state and chosen action to the user (or in the issue body). Example:

Detected state: 2.91.0 is scheduled for 03/16/26. No release-prep branches found. The most recent release is 2.90.0. Action: Minor release prep needed for 2.91.0 (next version on main: 2.92.0).

Release Schedule

The release schedule is in references/release-schedule.md. It contains proposed dates, release versions, and the corresponding "main" version after each release. Use this to determine version numbers and timing in autonomous mode.

Workflow Selection

Ask the user which phase they need (or auto-detect in autonomous mode — see above):

Phase	When to use	CI-automatable?	Reference
Minor release prep	Starting a new minor release from main (Steps 1-5)	Yes (Steps 1-4 create PRs; Step 5 is a human step)	minor-release-prep.md
Release execution	Running the release build + patch bump (Steps 6-7). Also used for patch releases on existing branches.	Partially (Step 6 = human queues ADO build; Step 7 = CI-automatable)	release-execution.md
Type test updates	Day after release: update baselines on main and release branch (Steps 8-9)	Yes (must be resilient to failure if npm packages not yet available)	type-test-updates.md

For patch releases, skip directly to release execution on an existing release branch.

Human steps (cannot be automated)

These steps require human action and should be clearly reported in CI workflow logs:

1. Merge release-prep PRs in the correct order (version bump last) after CI creates them
2. Create the release branch (Step 5) — requires elevated permissions on the release/ branch prefix
3. Queue the ADO release build (Step 6) — choose the "release" option in ADO
4. Announce the release in the Fluid Framework "General" Teams channel

Key Context

• The repo uses pnpm as the package manager
• flub is the Fluid build CLI (pnpm flub ... or pnpm exec flub ...)
• Version scheme: The version numbering is not a simple incrementing pattern (it is NOT always multiples of 10). When suggesting a next version, default to incrementing the minor version by 1 (e.g., 2.90.0 -> 2.91.0). Trust the version the user provides unless it is more than 7-8 minor versions away from the current version (which likely indicates an error).
• Release branch naming: release/client/<major>.<minor> (e.g., release/client/2.90)
• The release branch is created from the commit before the version bump on main
• There is no lerna.json in this repo
• Git remote preference: When pushing branches, prefer pushing to upstream if one is configured for the repo. Check with git remote -v if unsure. Only fall back to origin if no upstream remote exists. Exception: In CI (CI=true), always use origin — there is no upstream.
• Working branch naming: Do NOT use the release/ prefix for working branches because release/ is protected on upstream. Use the standard naming convention below — these branches double as progress markers.

CI-safe Command Alternatives

Some flub commands require interactive TTY input. In CI, use these alternatives:

Interactive command	CI-safe alternative
flub bump client --bumpType patch	pnpm -r --include-workspace-root exec npm pkg set version=<VERSION> followed by pnpm install --no-frozen-lockfile
flub bump client --exact <VERSION> --no-commit	pnpm -r --include-workspace-root exec npm pkg set version=<VERSION>
flub release -g client -t patch	Not needed in CI. The release build is queued manually by a human in ADO. CI only handles prep and post-release phases.

After using npm pkg set to bump versions, also run pnpm -r run build:genver to update packageVersion.ts files, and pnpm install --no-frozen-lockfile to update the lockfile.

Non-interactive flub commands that are safe in CI (no TTY required): flub generate releaseNotes, flub generate changelog, flub typetests, flub release prepare.

Working Branch Convention

Working branches follow a numbered naming scheme under release-prep/<VERSION>/:

Step	Branch name
1	release-prep/<VERSION>/1-tag-asserts
2	release-prep/<VERSION>/2-compat-gen
3	release-prep/<VERSION>/3-release-notes
4	release-prep/<VERSION>/4-bump-<NEXT_VERSION>

Example for releasing 2.90.0 with next version 2.91.0: release-prep/2.90.0/1-tag-asserts, release-prep/2.90.0/4-bump-2.91.0

Detecting Prior Progress

Before starting any phase, check for existing progress by looking at branches and PRs:

# Check for existing release-prep branches on upstream
git ls-remote --heads upstream 'release-prep/<VERSION>/*'
# Check for open release-prep PRs
gh pr list --repo microsoft/FluidFramework --search "release-prep/<VERSION>" --state all

If branches or PRs already exist, skip completed steps and resume from where the process left off.

Before Starting

Run pnpm flub release prepare client to check readiness. Then check for release blockers:

gh issue list --repo microsoft/FluidFramework --label release-blocking --state open
gh pr list --repo microsoft/FluidFramework --label release-blocking --state open

If either command returns results, stop and report the blockers to the user. In autonomous mode, do not proceed past this check if blockers exist. Also remind the user to check ADO for release-blocking issues (cannot be queried via CLI).

Blocker handling (autonomous and CI): If the agent is blocked at any point (release blockers, missing release tag, npm packages not available, permission errors, or any other issue that prevents progress), open a GitHub issue in microsoft/FluidFramework describing what was completed, what failed, and what human action is needed. Use the title format Release <VERSION>: <brief description> and label it with release-blocking. Include the exact commands remaining so a human can finish using the skill in interactive mode. Then exit gracefully.

Behavior by Mode

Commands (both modes)

Run these autonomously in both modes: policy-check:asserts, layerGeneration:gen, flub generate releaseNotes, flub generate changelog, build:genver, flub typetests, flub release prepare

For version bumps, use flub bump locally or CI-safe alternatives in CI (see CI-safe alternatives).

PR Conventions

Use the build: conventional commit prefix for all release PR titles (e.g., build: tag untagged asserts for 2.90.0 release).

Checkpoints

Action	Interactive	Autonomous
Creating PRs	Pause and confirm	Create automatically with descriptive titles/bodies
Pushing branches	Pause and confirm	Push automatically
Running flub release	Pause and confirm	Run automatically
Version determination	Ask user to confirm	Use version provided upfront or auto-detect
Announcing releases	Remind user	Remind user (never auto-announce)
ADO build queuing	Instruct user	Instruct user (cannot be automated)

Autonomous Mode: Phase Completion Reports

At the end of each autonomous phase, provide a summary:

1. What was done — list all PRs created, branches pushed, commands run
2. What to do next — specific manual steps needed (e.g., queue ADO build, merge PRs in order)
3. When to continue — timing guidance for the next phase (e.g., "after PRs merge" or "tomorrow, after npm feeds update")

Autonomous Mode: Fallback to Issues

If any step in autonomous mode fails (permission errors, command failures, git push rejected, etc.), stop and open a GitHub issue in microsoft/FluidFramework with:

1. What was completed — PRs created, branches pushed, commands run successfully
2. What failed — the specific error and which step it occurred at
3. What remains — the exact commands for remaining steps, ready to copy-paste
4. How to finish — remind the human to use the fluid-release skill in interactive mode (claude "do the release")

Use the title format Release <VERSION>: <brief description of failure> and label it with release-blocking.

Read the appropriate reference file for the phase the user selects, then guide them through it step by step.