DAON Release Process

Overview

DAON uses semantic versioning with automated release tooling to ensure consistent, reliable deployments.

Current Status: Pre-Production (0.x.x)

  • Manual versioning during active development
  • 0.x.x versions indicate pre-production, breaking changes expected
  • Commit SHA tags for development tracking

Versioning Strategy

Pre-Production (Current)

0.1.0 → 0.1.1 (patch: bug fixes)
0.1.0 → 0.2.0 (minor: new features)  
0.9.0 → 1.0.0 (major: production ready)

Production (Future)

1.0.0 → 1.0.1 (patch: bug fixes)
1.0.0 → 1.1.0 (minor: backward-compatible features)
1.0.0 → 2.0.0 (major: breaking changes)

Manual Release (Current Process)

  1. Update Version 
    cd api-server
npm version patch|minor|major
  2. Update Health Endpoint 
    // src/server.js
version: '0.2.0'  // Update to match package.json
  3. Commit and Tag 
    git add .
git commit -m "chore(release): bump version to 0.2.0"
git tag v0.2.0
git push origin main --tags
  4. Trigger Deployment
    • Push triggers CI/CD pipeline
    • Docker image tagged with new version
    • Automated deployment to production

Automated Release (Ready for Activation)

Enable Automatic Releases

  1. Activate semantic-release workflow: 
    # .github/workflows/release.yml
# Uncomment the push trigger:
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  2. Start using conventional commits: 
    git config --local commit.template .gitmessage

Conventional Commit Examples

# Patch release (0.1.0 → 0.1.1)
fix: resolve authentication timeout issue
fix(api): handle malformed JSON requests properly

# Minor release (0.1.0 → 0.2.0)  
feat: add bulk content protection endpoint
feat(auth): implement JWT authentication

# Major release (0.9.0 → 1.0.0)
feat!: redesign API response format

BREAKING CHANGE: All API responses now wrap data in a 'data' field

What Happens Automatically

  1. Version Detection: Analyzes commit messages since last release
  2. Version Bump: Updates package.json based on commit types
  3. Changelog Generation: Creates/updates CHANGELOG.md
  4. Git Tag: Creates semantic version tag (v1.2.3)
  5. GitHub Release: Creates release with notes
  6. Docker Build: Builds and tags Docker image with version
  7. Docker Push: Pushes to daonnetwork/api:1.2.3

Manual Release Trigger

Even with automation, you can manually trigger releases:

# Via GitHub Actions UI
Actions → Release → Run workflow → Enable semantic release: true

Docker Tagging Strategy

Current Development Tags

daonnetwork/api:latest
daonnetwork/api:0.1.0-latest  
daonnetwork/api:main-abc1234

Future Production Tags

daonnetwork/api:1.2.3         # Exact version
daonnetwork/api:1.2           # Minor version  
daonnetwork/api:1             # Major version
daonnetwork/api:latest        # Latest stable

Release Checklist

Pre-Release

  • All tests passing
  • Security audit clean
  • Documentation updated
  • Breaking changes documented
  • Performance tested

Release

  • Version bumped (manual or automatic)
  • Changelog updated
  • Docker images built
  • Deployment successful
  • Health checks passing

Post-Release

  • Monitor error rates
  • Verify functionality
  • Update dependent services
  • Announce release (if major)

Rollback Process

Quick Rollback

# Deploy previous Docker tag
docker pull daonnetwork/api:1.2.2
docker-compose up -d

Full Rollback

# Revert git tag and redeploy
git revert v1.2.3
git push origin main
# CI/CD rebuilds and deploys

Migration Timeline

Phase 1: Development (Current)

  • Manual versioning
  • 0.x.x releases
  • Feature development focus

Phase 2: Pre-Production

  • Enable semantic-release
  • Automated 0.x.x releases
  • Stability improvements

Phase 3: Production

  • 1.0.0 release
  • Full automation
  • Strict backward compatibility

Configuration Files

  • .releaserc.json: Semantic release configuration
  • .gitmessage: Commit message template
  • CONTRIBUTING.md: Developer guidelines
  • .github/workflows/release.yml: Release automation

Activation Commands

When ready to enable automated releases:

# 1. Set commit message template
git config --local commit.template .gitmessage

# 2. Enable release workflow (uncomment push trigger)
# Edit .github/workflows/release.yml

# 3. Start using conventional commits
git commit -m "feat: enable automated semantic releases"

# 4. First automated release will be triggered on next push to main

Questions?

  • Development: Continue with manual versioning
  • Pre-Production: Test semantic-release workflow
  • Production: Full automation with safeguards

The infrastructure is ready - activate when the time is right! 🚀