diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 3ffaa7e..6999f14 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,15 +1,64 @@ # ceremony -One release ceremony for the whole heavy-duty family — implemented once, -tested once, documented here, consumed everywhere else by reference. The -approach and its constraints live in -[#1](https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony/issues/1); this README is the -operator-facing doctrine that used to live, three times over, in the -consumers' CONTRIBUTINGs. +The heavy-duty family's **governance repo**: the machinery every repo in the +family runs, and the doctrine every agent in the family reads. Implemented +once here, tested once here, consumed everywhere else — never copied. -- **Adopting or converting a repo** → [docs/CONSUMERS.md](docs/CONSUMERS.md). -- **Working in this repo as an agent** → [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) routes you; - [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) has the repo specifics. +Two kinds of thing live in this tree, and they are consumed in two different +ways because they have two different runtimes. + +**Machinery is consumed by reference, at a pin.** The reusable workflows in +[`.github/workflows/`](.github/workflows/) and the composite actions in +[`actions/`](actions/) are fetched by GitHub at run time from the ref the +caller pins; no copy exists in the consumer. That machinery is two systems. +The **release ceremony** — [`release.yml`](.github/workflows/release.yml), +the decision and fact libraries under [`lib/`](lib/), and the guard actions +that keep a release honest — is the operator-facing half, and the runbook +below is its documentation. The **label and issue-flow machine** — +[`labels.yml`](.github/workflows/labels.yml) and its detached sweep half +[`labels-sweep.yml`](.github/workflows/labels-sweep.yml) (split in #209), +driving [`labels-scope`](actions/labels-scope/), +[`labels-reconcile`](actions/labels-reconcile/) and +[`issueflow-reconcile`](actions/issueflow-reconcile/) — converges PR state +and the issue work queue. What its labels *mean* is +[LABELS.md](LABELS.md)'s contract, not this page's. + +**Doctrine is consumed as a machine-verified mirror.** A document's only +runtime is an agent reading the working tree it stands in, and a doc that +needs a cross-repo fetch before it governs is a doc that sometimes goes +unread. So the agent-facing set — the files named in +[`docs/VENDORED.txt`](docs/VENDORED.txt) — is vendored into each governed +repo at `.ceremony/`, byte-identical to this repo at the pinned ref, by +[`actions/docs-sync`](actions/docs-sync/). A CI guard diffs the mirror +against the pin on every PR: hand-editing a vendored file, or bumping the +pin without re-syncing, goes red. It is a copy that cannot drift, which is +the only kind of copy this org allows. This README is deliberately *not* in +that set — a consumer's router is its `AGENTS.md`, not this repo's front +page — and [`.github/scripts/vendored-check.sh`](.github/scripts/vendored-check.sh) +records that reason beside the three other ceremony-only root docs. + +**One pin governs both halves.** The ref a repo's workflow callers name is +the ref its `.ceremony/` mirror is verified against, so a process change +rolls out as one reviewed PR per repo: the pin line plus the re-synced +mirror, checked by the same guard. + +## Where to go + +- **Adopting ceremony, or converting a repo that carries its own copy** → + [docs/CONSUMERS.md](docs/CONSUMERS.md) — the bootstrap and conversion + checklists, the caller stubs, the pin-bump procedure. +- **Working in this repo as an agent** → [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) routes you + to your role file ([TRIAGE.md](TRIAGE.md), [BUILDER.md](BUILDER.md), + [REVIEWER.md](REVIEWER.md)); [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) carries + this repo's own specifics — the review panel roster, the `scope:*` set, + the code and doctrine conventions. +- **The board: what a label means, and who may set it** → + [LABELS.md](LABELS.md). It is the shared state machine; misusing one label + lies to every other agent on the board. +- **Family release windows — what ships together, and when** → + [RELEASES.md](RELEASES.md). +- **How the operator fleet is actually wired** → [FLEET.md](FLEET.md), a + descriptive snapshot rather than doctrine. - **Operating a release, or staring at a red run on main** → read on. ## What a release is @@ -23,13 +72,14 @@ stamps: ([lib/version.sh](lib/version.sh)). 2. **The changelog section is assembled — one edit, produced by the tool** (#112). Entries never accumulate in `CHANGELOG.md`: each PR wrote one - fragment file, `changelog.d/.md`, and the ceremony PR runs - [bin/changelog-assemble](bin/changelog-assemble) — by hand, on purpose, - so the section lands in the PR's diff where the panel reads it (#112 - D12; a consumer's exact invocation is in - [docs/CONSUMERS.md](docs/CONSUMERS.md#assembling-a-release-section)). - The tool folds every fragment into a new `## X.Y.Z — DATE` section on - top and deletes the fragments it consumed; the + fragment file, `changelog.d/.md` + ([the directory's marker](changelog.d/README.md) names the doctrine), and + the ceremony PR runs [bin/changelog-assemble](bin/changelog-assemble) — + by hand, on purpose, so the section lands in the PR's diff where the + panel reads it (#112 D12; a consumer's exact invocation is in + [docs/CONSUMERS.md](docs/CONSUMERS.md#assembling-a-release-section)). The + tool folds every fragment into a new `## X.Y.Z — DATE` section on top and + deletes the fragments it consumed; the [assembled guard](#changelog-assembled--the-stamp-is-exactly-the-fragments) replays that run and refuses a stamp that is not byte-for-byte the fragments' assembly. @@ -38,62 +88,61 @@ stamps: `## Unreleased` back on top — because every PR inserted at that one shared anchor, and between the stamp and the re-arm a PR authored *before* the release landed its entry under whatever now occupied the - position — **the section that just shipped** — cleanly, no conflict, - no signal (box#108; confirmed cross-repo as rig#66). Fragments make - that failure structurally impossible rather than guarded-against: a - fragment merged after the release simply sits in the directory and is - assembled into the *next* section. There is no anchor left to misplace, - and nothing to re-arm — the directory is always armed. + position — **the section that just shipped** — cleanly, no conflict, no + signal (box#108; confirmed cross-repo as rig#66). Fragments make that + failure structurally impossible rather than guarded-against: a fragment + merged after the release simply sits in the directory and is assembled + into the *next* section. There is no anchor left to misplace, and nothing + to re-arm — the directory is always armed. 3. **The drill record is present**: `drills/X.Y.Z.md`, non-blank — the - evidence the release rests on - ([the drill doctrine](#the-drill-doctrine)). + evidence the release rests on ([the drill doctrine](#the-drill-doctrine)). -(This repo's own ceremony adds a fourth stamp: `CEREMONY_SELF_REF` — the -ref consumers' runs fetch this repo at — moves to the version being -released, in [release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L123-L132) and -every other workflow that carries it. -[self-ref-check.sh](.github/scripts/self-ref-check.sh) fails CI here, not -a consumer's release, when it is stale.) +(This repo's own ceremony adds a fourth stamp: `CEREMONY_SELF_REF` — the ref +consumers' runs fetch this repo at — moves to the version being released, in +[release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L123-L132) and every other +workflow that carries it. +[self-ref-check.sh](.github/scripts/self-ref-check.sh) fails CI here, not a +consumer's release, when it is stale.) **The merge is the ship decision; the tag is transcription.** After the -merge, [release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L136-L300) asserts its +merge, [release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L136-L301) asserts its way to certainty, tags the merge commit, publishes the GitHub release with the version's own changelog section as the body — the curated prose, never -the generated PR list -([lib/changelog.sh](lib/changelog.sh) is the one canonical extractor) — -and re-arms main by bumping to `X.Y.(Z+1)-dev` -([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L266-L300)) — the version is -the only re-arm left; the changelog needs none (#112). The machine does -the transcription because humans err silently and machines fail loudly: -**everything asserts its way to certainty and fails loudly, creating +the generated PR list ([lib/changelog.sh](lib/changelog.sh) is the one +canonical extractor, and [bin/changelog-section](bin/changelog-section) is +its command-line face) — and re-arms main by bumping to `X.Y.(Z+1)-dev`; the +version is the only re-arm left, the changelog needs none (#112). The +machine does the transcription because humans err silently and machines fail +loudly: **everything asserts its way to certainty and fails loudly, creating nothing** — a wrong release is worse than a missing one, so every failed assert leaves zero artifacts: no tag, no release, no bump. ## The two doors -- **The merge door — the paved road.** A push to main - ([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L140)) runs the +- **The merge door — the paved road.** A push to main runs the [decide table](#what-happens-when-my-pr-lands-on-main); a merged, `release`-labeled PR whose version transitioned to bare is the ceremony, everything legitimate that isn't one is a green no-op, and every - half-ceremony dies loudly. Use it for every normal release. + half-ceremony dies loudly + ([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L136-L301)). Use it for every + normal release. -- **The tag door — the fallback and the backfill.** A bare `X.Y.Z` tag - push — **no `v` prefix**, box's 0.6.0 set the scheme - ([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L302-L369)) — publishes the +- **The tag door — the fallback and the backfill.** A bare `X.Y.Z` tag push + — **no `v` prefix**, box's 0.6.0 set the scheme + ([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L303-L371)) — publishes the same way. The tag is the operator's explicit act, so there is no decide - and no label check; the one assert is that **the tag names the tree's - own version**, and a mismatch refuses, creating nothing. No `-dev` bump - either — the fallback does not rewrite main (cast's precedent). Use it - when the merge path is red, for backfills, and for the + and no label check; the one assert is that **the tag names the tree's own + version**, and a mismatch refuses, creating nothing. No `-dev` bump either + — the fallback does not rewrite main (cast's precedent). Use it when the + merge path is red, for backfills, and for the [first-release edge](#what-happens-when-my-pr-lands-on-main) (row 4). -Tag + publish (+ the consumer's artifact hook) happen **in the same job, -on purpose**: a `GITHUB_TOKEN`-created tag fires no workflows (GitHub's -anti-recursion), so the merge door's tag can never re-enter the tag door -and double-publish — and that job is the release's only chance to publish -([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L223-L234), #1 constraint 2). +Tag + publish (+ the consumer's artifact hook) happen **in the same job, on +purpose**: a `GITHUB_TOKEN`-created tag fires no workflows (GitHub's +anti-recursion), so the merge door's tag can never re-enter the tag door and +double-publish — and that job is the release's only chance to publish (#1 +constraint 2). ## What happens when my PR lands on main @@ -101,8 +150,8 @@ The merge door runs on **every** push to main, and the `release` label legitimately means two things (release ceremonies, and ordinary work *on* the release machinery), so the door's first act is a decision: the six-row table in [lib/decide.sh](lib/decide.sh#L29-L61) (issue #8 — the comment -block *is* the spec, and the table is contract-tested offline). Rendered -for operators: +block *is* the spec, and the table is contract-tested offline by +[test/decide.test.sh](test/decide.test.sh)). Rendered for operators: | # | the tree your merge produced | the run | what it means — and your move | |---|---|---|---| @@ -113,9 +162,9 @@ for operators: | 5 | version transitioned to bare, **no merged `release`-labeled PR** behind the commit | **red, nothing created** | A transition nobody declared — a release is a labeled ceremony PR, not a bare push. Label a proper ceremony PR and re-do it, or publish by the tag door if the tree is genuinely right. | | 6 | version transitioned to bare, merged `release`-labeled PR behind the commit | **the ceremony** | Tag → notes → publish → `-dev` re-arm. Your move afterwards: verify the release exists and main reads `X.Y.(Z+1)-dev`. | -The green rows are the point as much as the red ones: the machinery must -be safe to work on, so every legitimate non-ceremony is a green `NOTICE` -no-op — never a red run on main per infra PR +The green rows are the point as much as the red ones: the machinery must be +safe to work on, so every legitimate non-ceremony is a green `NOTICE` no-op, +never a red run on main per infra PR ([lib/decide.sh](lib/decide.sh#L6-L12)). The label is hand-set intent and automation never guesses; the version transition is the interlock, and label-without-transition (row 4) and transition-without-label (row 5) both @@ -123,36 +172,54 @@ refuse (#1 constraint 8). ## The guards -Four composite actions run in every consumer's CI (and in this repo's -own). Shared shape: version-keyed where the tree's state matters, loud -where it fails, and **a file of its own so a test can drive it**. The full -war stories are in the scripts' header comments — authoritative and longer -than this; what follows is the operator's cut. +[`actions/`](actions/) holds ten composite actions. Three belong to the +label machine named above and are not the operator's business here. Of the +remaining seven, a consumer's own `ci.yml` carries **five** guard steps — +`changelog-armed`, `changelog-monotonic`, `changelog-assembled`, +`drill-recorded` and [`runner-isolated`](actions/runner-isolated/), the last +asserting that no `pull_request`-triggered workflow names a self-hosted +runner (#58) — plus [`refs-not-closing`](actions/refs-not-closing/) in its +own [`refs-guard.yml`](.github/workflows/refs-guard.yml) caller, because +body edits are load-bearing there (#200, #218), and +[`docs-sync`](actions/docs-sync/) once the repo adopts the agent team flow. +The exact steps and their pin-availability rules are in +[docs/CONSUMERS.md](docs/CONSUMERS.md). + +The four below are the release's own, and this is the operator's cut of +them. Shared shape: version-keyed where the tree's state matters, loud where +it fails, and **a file of its own so a test can drive it**. The full war +stories are in the scripts' header comments — authoritative and longer than +this. + +This repo eats what it serves: [`ci.yml`](.github/workflows/ci.yml) runs the +guard actions against its own real tree, and +[`release-exercise.yml`](.github/workflows/release-exercise.yml) replays the +merge door's step sequence on every PR. ### changelog-armed — main never sits disarmed **The rule** ([actions/changelog-armed/changelog-armed.sh](actions/changelog-armed/changelog-armed.sh)), keyed on the tree's shape, then its version. In **fragment mode** — -`changelog.d/` exists, the arming property moved onto the directory -(#112 D7): +`changelog.d/` exists, the arming property moved onto the directory (#112 +D7): - always → the marker `changelog.d/README.md` must exist (what keeps the - directory tracked when it holds no fragments), no `## Unreleased` - section may survive in `CHANGELOG.md` (a second anchor with no owner), - and every fragment must be publishable on its own — named `.md` - or `-.md`, no `## ` heading, at least one bullet, no - `### ` heading without an entry. A malformed fragment fails the PR that - wrote it, not the release that consumes it (#112 D9). -- `-dev` tree → nothing more. The directory **is** the arming: the next - PR's entry is a new file, and a new file always has somewhere to land. + directory tracked when it holds no fragments), no `## Unreleased` section + may survive in `CHANGELOG.md` (a second anchor with no owner), and every + fragment must be publishable on its own — named `.md` or + `-.md`, no `## ` heading, at least one bullet, no `### ` + heading without an entry. A malformed fragment fails the PR that wrote it, + not the release that consumes it (#112 D9). +- `-dev` tree → nothing more. The directory **is** the arming: the next PR's + entry is a new file, and a new file always has somewhere to land. - bare tree (the ceremony PR and its merge) → every fragment must be - consumed, and the top section must be the stamped, publishable section - for exactly that version. Fragment mode has no re-armed shape — there - is nothing left to re-arm. + consumed, and the top section must be the stamped, publishable section for + exactly that version. Fragment mode has no re-armed shape — there is + nothing left to re-arm. In **legacy mode** — no `changelog.d/` — the version-keyed rules stand -verbatim; both shapes stay supported so a consumer adopts fragments on a -pin bump, on its own schedule (#112 D8): +verbatim; both shapes stay supported so a consumer adopts fragments on a pin +bump, on its own schedule (#112 D8): - `-dev` tree → the top section **must** be `## Unreleased`. - bare tree (the ceremony PR and its merge) → the top section may be @@ -166,32 +233,30 @@ pin bump, on its own schedule (#112 D8): uses, so the two cannot disagree about what a section is). **The incident**: box#108 / rig#66 — the silent mislanding described -[above](#what-a-release-is). Fragment mode retires the incident's -mechanism outright; legacy mode guards it. **Red means** a PR entry has -nowhere safe to land — a missing marker, a surviving `## Unreleased`, a -malformed fragment — or a stamped version would publish no entries, a -dangling grouped heading, or a bare tree still carrying fragments the -stamp did not consume (`not consumed` — re-run the assembler); the -message names the fix in every case. What this guard cannot see is a -fragment that *was* consumed but whose entry the stamp omits — the -fragment is gone from HEAD, so only +[above](#what-a-release-is). Fragment mode retires the incident's mechanism +outright; legacy mode guards it. **Red means** a PR entry has nowhere safe +to land — a missing marker, a surviving `## Unreleased`, a malformed +fragment — or a stamped version would publish no entries, a dangling grouped +heading, or a bare tree still carrying fragments the stamp did not consume +(`not consumed` — re-run the assembler); the message names the fix in every +case. What this guard cannot see is a fragment that *was* consumed but whose +entry the stamp omits — the fragment is gone from HEAD, so only [changelog-assembled](#changelog-assembled--the-stamp-is-exactly-the-fragments)'s merge-base replay catches that loss. **Do not "simplify" this to "always require `## Unreleased`".** The -unconditional form is false by construction on the ceremony PR's own tree -— it makes every release unshippable — and rig#44 and cast#108 both had -to revert exactly that -([the script's header](actions/changelog-armed/changelog-armed.sh#L8-L16)). -The version-keyed form is what rig and cast get back by adopting this repo. +unconditional form is false by construction on the ceremony PR's own tree — +it makes every release unshippable — and rig#44 and cast#108 both had to +revert exactly that. The version-keyed form is what rig and cast get back by +adopting this repo. One consequence worth knowing before it happens, legacy mode only: a ceremony PR that stamps and forgets to re-arm still passes this guard — a bare tree is allowed to be stamped. It goes red **the moment the automatic `-dev` bump lands on main**. The guard does not block the release; it refuses to let main *sit* disarmed, which is the window a late PR falls -into. Fragment mode has no such window: with no re-arm step there is -nothing to forget. +into. Fragment mode has no such window: with no re-arm step there is nothing +to forget. ### changelog-assembled — the stamp is exactly the fragments @@ -199,126 +264,122 @@ nothing to forget. ([actions/changelog-assembled/changelog-assembled.sh](actions/changelog-assembled/changelog-assembled.sh)): on a release PR in fragment mode, the stamped `## X.Y.Z` section must be **byte-for-byte** what the fragments it consumed assemble to. The guard -reads the fragments as of the merge base (they are gone from HEAD — that -is the point of the ceremony), replays `changelog-assemble --check` over -that set, and diffs the result against HEAD's section body. Every tree it -does not apply to — a `-dev` tree, legacy mode, no consumed fragments — -passes with a green `NOTICE`, so a non-ceremony PR is never red here. +reads the fragments as of the merge base (they are gone from HEAD — that is +the point of the ceremony), replays `changelog-assemble --check` over that +set, and diffs the result against HEAD's section body. Every tree it does +not apply to — a `-dev` tree, legacy mode, no consumed fragments — passes +with a green `NOTICE`, so a non-ceremony PR is never red here. **The failure it catches** (#116): assembly is a hand-run step by design — -the section must land in the PR's diff where the panel reads it (#112 D12) -— and a mis-run hand step can leave no trace. The two failure shapes -differ, and the guards split them exactly as -[test/changelog-assembled.test.sh](test/changelog-assembled.test.sh)'s -trio rows record: leave a fragment **out of the deletion** and it survives -on HEAD, where -[changelog-armed](#changelog-armed--main-never-sits-disarmed) already -refuses the bare tree (`not consumed`) — this guard goes red too, naming -the entry the section lost. But **delete** a fragment while omitting its -entry from the stamp, or hand-edit one word of the assembled prose, and -nothing on HEAD is out of place: armed is green, monotonic is green, and -the publisher would happily publish history that is not what the authors -wrote. Only the merge-base replay catches those. The replay is what -makes a hand-run step safe. **This guard needs history** — same stance as -the monotonic guard: `fetch-depth: 0`, and in CI an unresolvable base is a -hard failure, not a skip. +the section must land in the PR's diff where the panel reads it (#112 D12) — +and a mis-run hand step can leave no trace. The two failure shapes differ, +and the guards split them exactly as +[test/changelog-assembled.test.sh](test/changelog-assembled.test.sh)'s trio +rows record: leave a fragment **out of the deletion** and it survives on +HEAD, where [changelog-armed](#changelog-armed--main-never-sits-disarmed) +already refuses the bare tree (`not consumed`) — this guard goes red too, +naming the entry the section lost. But **delete** a fragment while omitting +its entry from the stamp, or hand-edit one word of the assembled prose, and +nothing on HEAD is out of place: armed is green, monotonic is green, and the +publisher would happily publish history that is not what the authors wrote. +Only the merge-base replay catches those. The replay is what makes a +hand-run step safe. **This guard needs history** — same stance as the +monotonic guard: `fetch-depth: 0`, and in CI an unresolvable base is a hard +failure, not a skip. ### changelog-monotonic — shipped headings are append-only **The rule** -([actions/changelog-monotonic/changelog-monotonic.sh](actions/changelog-monotonic/changelog-monotonic.sh#L4-L7)): -the set of `## X.Y.Z` headings on your branch must be a **superset** of -the set at the merge base, and no heading may appear twice on HEAD. The -rule needs no tuning because release headings are append-only by doctrine: -the ceremony adds one and nothing ever legitimately removes one — so -superset has no exception to carve. The ceremony's own stamp passes by -construction: the assembler writes a new `## X.Y.Z — DATE` heading and -removes none. Fragment mode changes nothing here (#112 D10): fragments add -no `## ` heading, and `Unreleased` was never in the guard's set — it is -not a version heading; it is +([actions/changelog-monotonic/changelog-monotonic.sh](actions/changelog-monotonic/changelog-monotonic.sh)): +the set of `## X.Y.Z` headings on your branch must be a **superset** of the +set at the merge base, and no heading may appear twice on HEAD. The rule +needs no tuning because release headings are append-only by doctrine: the +ceremony adds one and nothing ever legitimately removes one — so superset +has no exception to carve. The ceremony's own stamp passes by construction: +the assembler writes a new `## X.Y.Z — DATE` heading and removes none. +Fragment mode changes nothing here (#112 D10): fragments add no `## ` +heading, and `Unreleased` was never in the guard's set — it is not a version +heading; it is [changelog-armed](#changelog-armed--main-never-sits-disarmed)'s business — which is why a repo's adoption PR can delete it and stay green. -**The incidents**: box#122 (caught in review of box#118) — an author -adding an entry under `## Unreleased` **replaced** the heading below it -instead of inserting above it; git merges that cleanly, and the shipped -section's body is silently absorbed into `## Unreleased`. And box#118 -itself — a bad rebase *duplicated* a shipped heading, which containment is -blind to, which is why uniqueness-on-HEAD is a separate assert -([the script](actions/changelog-monotonic/changelog-monotonic.sh#L96-L116)). +**The incidents**: box#122 (caught in review of box#118) — an author adding +an entry under `## Unreleased` **replaced** the heading below it instead of +inserting above it; git merges that cleanly, and the shipped section's body +is silently absorbed into `## Unreleased`. And box#118 itself — a bad rebase +*duplicated* a shipped heading, which containment is blind to, which is why +uniqueness-on-HEAD is a separate assert. -**Red means** a shipped section was deleted (put the heading back and -insert **above** it) or duplicated (collapse to one heading; the failure -message walks through both fixes with the diff to run). **This guard needs +**Red means** a shipped section was deleted (put the heading back and insert +**above** it) or duplicated (collapse to one heading; the failure message +walks through both fixes with the diff to run). **This guard needs history**: the consumer's checkout must use `fetch-depth: 0`, and in CI an unresolvable base is a hard failure, not a skip — a guard that can quietly -stop guarding is the failure shape this family of checks exists to refuse -([strict mode](actions/changelog-monotonic/changelog-monotonic.sh#L60-L79)). +stop guarding is the failure shape this family of checks exists to refuse. ### drill-recorded — a release carries its evidence **The rule** -([actions/drill-recorded/drill-recorded.sh](actions/drill-recorded/drill-recorded.sh#L23-L48)), -keyed on the tree's version: a `-dev` tree passes with nothing to assert -(a development tree ships nothing); a bare tree — the ceremony PR and its -merge — must carry `drills/.md` with at least one -non-whitespace character. One file per version, so `0.9.0.md` and -`0.9.0-rc1.md` are simply different files and prefix confusion is -unrepresentable (#1 constraint 7). +([actions/drill-recorded/drill-recorded.sh](actions/drill-recorded/drill-recorded.sh)), +keyed on the tree's version: a `-dev` tree passes with nothing to assert (a +development tree ships nothing); a bare tree — the ceremony PR and its merge +— must carry `drills/.md` with at least one non-whitespace +character. One file per version, so `0.9.0.md` and `0.9.0-rc1.md` are simply +different files and prefix confusion is unrepresentable (#1 constraint 7). **The incident**: box's CONTRIBUTING said since box#96 that the release ritual must be run and recorded. No release ever did it — box#95, box#114 and box#148 all shipped as a version bump plus a changelog stamp, because -the gate was a sentence in a document and the only thing standing on it -was a reviewer remembering to ask. The rule moved into CI, where it fires +the gate was a sentence in a document and the only thing standing on it was +a reviewer remembering to ask. The rule moved into CI, where it fires whether or not anyone is paying attention. **Red means** the release is asserting a ritual it left no evidence of. -**The fix is to run the drill** and record it — or to waive it *in -writing* at the same path: the guard demands a **record, not a passing -result** ([below](#the-drill-doctrine)). +**The fix is to run the drill** and record it — or to waive it *in writing* +at the same path: the guard demands a **record, not a passing result** +([below](#the-drill-doctrine)). ## The drill doctrine **Evidence, not success.** The guard asserts a record exists — a failed drill honestly written down satisfies it, and so does a maintainer waiver -that says plainly the drill was waived and why. What it refuses is -silence: a skip must cost a deliberate, reviewable file in the diff, -which is precisely what box's three silent skips never produced. CI -cannot run a consumer's drill (box's wants real hardware and the better -part of an hour); it can only refuse a release that never ran one. +that says plainly the drill was waived and why. What it refuses is silence: +a skip must cost a deliberate, reviewable file in the diff, which is +precisely what box's three silent skips never produced. CI cannot run a +consumer's drill (box's wants real hardware and the better part of an hour); +it can only refuse a release that never ran one. **Each repo defines what its drill *means*** — the gate only reads the -record. box asserts the **isolation contract**; rig asserts -**convergence** (a machine reaches its role, idempotently); cast asserts -**promotion** (A→B reproduces, the diff is idempotent); ceremony's own -drill is a **door rehearsal** — both doors exercised end-to-end on a -disposable repo (#11 names the six probes); incubator's is TBD in +record. box asserts the **isolation contract**; rig asserts **convergence** +(a machine reaches its role, idempotently); cast asserts **promotion** (A→B +reproduces, the diff is idempotent); ceremony's own drill is a **door +rehearsal** — both doors exercised end-to-end on a disposable repo, written +out step by step in [drills/README.md](drills/README.md), with the records +themselves in [drills/](drills/); incubator's is TBD in heavy-duty/incubator. Each repo states its meaning in its own -`drills/README.md`. Three different exercises sharing a substrate is why -the records are per-repo — they are not phases of one script. +`drills/README.md`. Three different exercises sharing a substrate is why the +records are per-repo — they are not phases of one script. **Drills exercise candidate refs, not released artifacts.** A ref is a -static identifier that exists as soon as the release branch does, so no -repo has to be released — or drilled — before another can be drilled: -what looks like a box↔rig recursion at runtime dissolves into two -independent tests against one fixed pair of refs. And drilling the -candidate *is* drilling the release: a ceremony PR's diff is the stamps -and nothing else, so no executable byte differs between the tree that was -drilled and the tree that ships. +static identifier that exists as soon as the release branch does, so no repo +has to be released — or drilled — before another can be drilled: what looks +like a box↔rig recursion at runtime dissolves into two independent tests +against one fixed pair of refs. And drilling the candidate *is* drilling the +release: a ceremony PR's diff is the stamps and nothing else, so no +executable byte differs between the tree that was drilled and the tree that +ships. **A cross-repo release set shares one run ID.** Each repo records its own -legs in its own `drills/X.Y.Z.md`, citing that run ID and the sibling -SHAs, so the records reconcile afterwards — but the guard only ever reads -the repo it runs in. If a defect shows up only in the combination: patch, -re-drill, re-record. The set converges; it is not required to be right in -one pass. +legs in its own `drills/X.Y.Z.md`, citing that run ID and the sibling SHAs, +so the records reconcile afterwards — but the guard only ever reads the repo +it runs in. If a defect shows up only in the combination: patch, re-drill, +re-record. The set converges; it is not required to be right in one pass. ## Troubleshooting red main Every refusal the release flow can emit, verbatim, with cause and remedy. -The catalog is generated from the sources, not paraphrased — regenerate -it with: +The catalog is generated from the sources, not paraphrased — regenerate it +with: ```sh grep -n -A2 'refuse \|>&2' lib/decide.sh lib/facts.sh .github/workflows/release.yml @@ -347,12 +408,11 @@ or — if the tree is genuinely the release — publish by the tag door. > the version '$VER' is bare and unchanged, but RELEASED is empty — this state is decided by whether '$VER' is already released, and the caller did not establish that fact. Refusing to guess — creating nothing. > the version transitioned ('$BASE_VER' -> '$VER') but LABELED is empty — a transition ships only behind a merged, release-labeled PR, and the caller did not establish that fact. Refusing to guess — creating nothing. -The fact-gathering guards -([L92–L105](lib/decide.sh#L92-L105), [L135](lib/decide.sh#L135), -[L151](lib/decide.sh#L151)): a missing fact must never fall through to -"no". These indicate a bug upstream in [lib/facts.sh](lib/facts.sh) or the -workflow plumbing, not an operator mistake — read the run's `facts:` -stderr line and file what you find. +The fact-gathering guards ([L92–L105](lib/decide.sh#L92-L105), +[L135](lib/decide.sh#L135), [L151](lib/decide.sh#L151)): a missing fact must +never fall through to "no". These indicate a bug upstream in +[lib/facts.sh](lib/facts.sh) or the workflow plumbing, not an operator +mistake — read the run's `facts:` stderr line and file what you find. ### The facts could not be established ([lib/facts.sh](lib/facts.sh), [lib/version.sh](lib/version.sh)) @@ -367,44 +427,44 @@ stderr line and file what you find. > version_read: node is required for version-source: package-json [lib/version.sh](lib/version.sh#L16-L66): the tree's version source is -missing, empty, or unreadable. A wrong release is worse than a missing -one, so an unreadable state is never an empty print — restore the -`VERSION` file (or `package.json` version field) on main. +missing, empty, or unreadable. A wrong release is worse than a missing one, +so an unreadable state is never an empty print — restore the `VERSION` file +(or `package.json` version field) on main. -### The merge door refused ([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L136-L300)) +### The merge door refused ([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L136-L301)) > CHANGELOG.md has no '## $VER' section at the merge commit — the ceremony PR must stamp it; refusing to publish an empty release [L202–L205](.github/workflows/release.yml#L202-L205): the ceremony merged without its stamp (a state the -[armed guard](#changelog-armed--main-never-sits-disarmed) already refuses -on the PR — red main here means it was overridden). Stamp the section on -main, then publish by the tag door. +[armed guard](#changelog-armed--main-never-sits-disarmed) already refuses on +the PR — red main here means it was overridden). Stamp the section on main, +then publish by the tag door. > tag '$VER' already exists — this release already happened, or a manual tag won the race; refusing to re-release, creating nothing. > release '$VER' already exists — refusing to re-release, creating nothing. -[L207–L222](.github/workflows/release.yml#L207-L222), the nothing-exists +[L208–L223](.github/workflows/release.yml#L208-L223), the nothing-exists assert — what makes a re-run of a completed ceremony refuse instead of clobber, and what catches a manual tag racing the merge. If the release -truly exists, there is nothing to do: this red is the system declining to -do the thing twice. If the tag exists but the release does not (a manual -tag won the race, or +truly exists, there is nothing to do: this red is the system declining to do +the thing twice. If the tag exists but the release does not (a manual tag +won the race, or [a failed artifact hook](docs/CONSUMERS.md#the-artifact-hook)), recover by the tag door: delete and re-push the tag, or `gh release create` by hand from a fixed tree. > direct push refused (branch protection?) — opening the bump PR instead -[L292–L300](.github/workflows/release.yml#L292-L300) — loud, but not a +[L293–L301](.github/workflows/release.yml#L293-L301) — loud, but not a refusal: the post-release `-dev` bump could not push directly, so the run opened a `release`-labeled bump PR itself. Your move: merge it promptly — -until it lands, main is sitting bare, where a dev install -[impersonates the release](.github/workflows/release.yml#L291) and the +until it lands, main is sitting bare, where a dev install impersonates the +release and the [armed guard's window](#changelog-armed--main-never-sits-disarmed) stays open. -### The tag door refused ([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L302-L369)) +### The tag door refused ([release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L303-L371)) > tag '$GITHUB_REF_NAME' does not match the tree's version '$ver' — creating nothing. > A release is a PR, then a tag: the release PR bumps the version and stamps the changelog; the tag goes on its MERGE commit. Delete this tag and re-tag the right commit. @@ -416,40 +476,42 @@ remedy. [L346–L349](.github/workflows/release.yml#L346-L349). The tagged tree was never stamped. Assemble the section -([docs/CONSUMERS.md](docs/CONSUMERS.md#assembling-a-release-section)), -then delete and re-push the tag. +([docs/CONSUMERS.md](docs/CONSUMERS.md#assembling-a-release-section)), then +delete and re-push the tag. ### Red main that is not the release workflow Consumer CI runs its guard steps on pushes to main too (this repo's [ci.yml](.github/workflows/ci.yml) does the same). The one guard red an -operator will actually meet on main is **changelog-armed after a re-arm -was forgotten — legacy mode only**: the ceremony stamped without putting -`## Unreleased` back, the release's own `-dev` bump landed, and the guard -now says (first line): +operator will actually meet on main is **changelog-armed after a re-arm was +forgotten — legacy mode only**: the ceremony stamped without putting +`## Unreleased` back, the release's own `-dev` bump landed, and the guard now +says (first line): > changelog-armed: the version is '$ver' (a development tree) but the top > section of $changelog is: … The fix is a one-line PR: add an empty `## Unreleased` above the stamped -section. The full message carries the same instruction. Fragment mode has -no re-arm to forget, so it has no equivalent red on main — its refusals -(a missing marker, a surviving `## Unreleased`, a malformed or unconsumed +section. The full message carries the same instruction. Fragment mode has no +re-arm to forget, so it has no equivalent red on main — its refusals (a +missing marker, a surviving `## Unreleased`, a malformed or unconsumed fragment) all fire on the PR that caused them, where the author is still holding it. ## Design lineage -The ceremony converged across box#83 → box#96, rig#32 → rig#47, and -cast#96 → cast#111; this repo is those three implementations folded into -one (the drift that motivated it is measured in -[#1](https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony/issues/1)). The load-bearing -constraints — each bought with an incident, none of them safe to -"simplify" away — are listed in -[#1](https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony/issues/1) and carried, with -their war stories, in the headers of the scripts they bind: -[release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml#L1-L109), -[lib/decide.sh](lib/decide.sh#L1-L74), -[lib/facts.sh](lib/facts.sh#L1-L24), and the four -[guard scripts](actions/). The comments are the documentation of record; -this README is their operator-facing cut. +The ceremony converged across box#83 → box#96, rig#32 → rig#47 and cast#96 → +cast#111; this repo is those three implementations folded into one, and the +drift that motivated it is measured in +[#1](https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony/issues/1), which also lists the +load-bearing constraints — each bought with an incident, none of them safe +to "simplify" away. The label machine's own record is #10, #11 and #130; the +issue-flow queue's is #15, #16 and #73; the fragment changelog's is #112 and +#116; the sweep/trigger split is #209. + +The narrative lives in those issues, by design: the war stories are carried +in the headers of the scripts they bind — +[release.yml](.github/workflows/release.yml), +[lib/decide.sh](lib/decide.sh), [lib/facts.sh](lib/facts.sh) and the +[guard scripts](actions/) — and those comments are the documentation of +record. This README is their operator-facing cut.