Release Checklist

Use this before cutting or publishing a release.

1. Tree and policy checks

Ensure the worktree is clean or that every change is intentional.
Confirm .env is ignored and never committed.
Confirm SECURITY.md exists and still reflects the secret-handling policy.
Confirm the repository does not make IBM validation claims without evidence.

2. Verification

Confirm the runtime before running the checks. Node.js 24 or newer is required:

node --version # must be v24 or newer

Run the repository checks:

pnpm lint
pnpm format:check
pnpm fmt:check
pnpm typecheck
pnpm test
pnpm test:gnucobol
pnpm lint:conformance
pnpm lint:zos
pnpm sbom:check
pnpm bankc --help
pnpm bankc doctor
pnpm bankc check examples/account-transfer
pnpm bankc build examples/account-transfer --out /tmp/banklang-release-build
pnpm bankc layout examples/account-transfer
pnpm bankc verify examples/account-transfer
pnpm bankc test examples/account-transfer
pnpm bankc emit jcl examples/account-transfer

Every example must pass, not only the first one:

pnpm examples:verify

Not a loop over examples/*/. That is what this checklist used to say, and it fails: end-of-day-settlement is three programs and a sort in one job, so it has no src/main.bank.ts of its own and bankc test on the directory reports that it is not a project. CI made the same mistake and CONTRIBUTING.md records it. tools/verify-examples.ts knows which entries are jobs.

pnpm test includes tests/cobol-compiles.test.ts, which compiles every example with cobc when GnuCOBOL is installed. Treat a skipped compile lane as an unverified release, not a passing one.

3. Documentation and evidence

Update CHANGELOG.md.
Update README command inventory and limitations if behavior changed.
Update example READMEs and evidence bundle READMEs if generated output changed.
Record what was validated in the commit body for compiler behaviour, generated output, or security changes.
Keep generated outputs deterministic and avoid timestamps.

4. Git hygiene

Run git diff --check.
Commit with a message that explains why the change was made and what was validated.
Push only after the release slice is verified.

5. Cutting the release

.github/workflows/release.yml does the rest, and refuses an unsigned tag: a signature needs a key belonging to a person rather than to a runner, so the workflow will not pretend it signed one. A lightweight tag has no object to sign and is rejected the same way.

Rename ## [Unreleased] in CHANGELOG.md to ## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD.
Set the version everywhere it is stated. tests/release-version.test.ts enumerates those surfaces and fails if any disagrees with package.json: the extension manifest, the language server's SERVER_VERSION, CITATION.cff, the extension's own changelog, and the sample bankc doctor output printed in toolchain.md.
git tag -s vX.Y.Z -m "X.Y.Z" and push the tag.

The workflow then reruns the whole of ci.yml on the tagged commit and builds the three artifacts a release publishes:

Artifact	What it is
`banklang-vscode-X.Y.Z.vsix`	The editor extension, compiler bundled inside
`banklang-X.Y.Z.cdx.json`	CycloneDX bill of materials, every platform
`banklang-zos-conformance-X.Y.Z.tar.gz`	The z/OS bundle: COBOL, copybooks, JCL, expected results

All three are attested with Sigstore through GitHub's OIDC identity and attached to a GitHub release. There is no checksum file: the z/OS bundle carries a SHA-256 per member in its own manifest.json, and gh attestation verify covers the archives themselves.

No npm publish. Every workspace package is private: true, so the repository is the distribution and nothing goes to a registry. The workflow also deliberately does not run vsce publish: that needs a marketplace token belonging to a person, and the attested .vsix on the release is the exact file to upload by hand.

Before running the release checklist, take the snapshot the release page and the README are held to:

pnpm release:snapshot        # writes evidence/release/X.Y.Z.json
pnpm release:snapshot --check

It refuses if the changelog has no dated section for the version, and tests/release-claims.test.ts fails if any figure quoted on the release page — docs/releases/0.10.0.md is the current one — disagrees with it.

Pre-1.0, so a release that adds language surface, a diagnostic or a CLI command is a minor bump. 1.0 is not a function of the repository becoming public: there has been no native IBM Enterprise COBOL validation and no production ledger use, and a 1.0 claiming otherwise would be the least honest thing here.

Read ## [Unreleased] to decide which: a new file organisation, a diagnostic or a CLI command makes it a minor release rather than a patch.

The version stays where it is until the release is cut. The surfaces above are held to each other, and the changelog is held to them: bumping the version without renaming ## [Unreleased] to a dated section names a version the changelog has never heard of, and the suite says so. The bump, the section rename and the release snapshot are one commit, and the signed tag follows it.

Read this page as Markdown on GitHub →