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Release Process

This guide defines the MVP release flow for pre-built macOS artifacts. It is intentionally local and manually invoked. Artifact upload is still a maintainer step outside the repository automation.

For crate versioning and GitHub Release tag/title rules, see docs/developer-guide/versioning-and-release-metadata.md.

1. Scope

The MVP release bundle contains these top-level files:

  • Chromium.app
  • libcbf_bridge.dylib
  • CBF_LICENSE.txt
  • THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt
  • SOURCE_INFO.txt

The default archive name is:

cbf-chrome-macos-<git-tag>.tar.gz

The archive is written under dist/release/.

2. Release build requirements

Release packaging always reads Chromium outputs from:

chromium/src/out/Release

The out/Release/args.gn file must exist and must contain these values:

is_debug = false
dcheck_always_on = false
is_component_build = false
is_official_build = true

For the MVP OSS browser distribution, the release helper also expects the architecture and codec policy to be pinned explicitly:

# Pin the release architecture explicitly for deterministic packaging.
target_cpu = "arm64"  # or "x64"

# Keep the MVP distribution within the Chromium codec/license surface.
proprietary_codecs = false
ffmpeg_branding = "Chromium"

Recommended complete out/Release/args.gn example for the MVP stage:

is_debug = false
dcheck_always_on = false
is_component_build = false
is_official_build = true

target_cpu = "arm64"  # or "x64"

proprietary_codecs = false
ffmpeg_branding = "Chromium"

Notes:

  • dcheck_always_on = false is required for release stability; do not reuse the development-only out/Default setting here.
  • proprietary_codecs = false keeps the MVP bundle out of the additional proprietary codec licensing path.
  • ffmpeg_branding = "Chromium" makes that policy explicit even though it is already the default for non-Chrome-branded builds.

target_os is recorded in SOURCE_INFO.txt when present. target_cpu, proprietary_codecs, and ffmpeg_branding are always captured by the release helper.

3. Required tools

The local release flow expects:

  • uv
  • Python 3
  • tar
  • shasum or sha256sum
  • chromium/src
  • ./depot_tools

By default, the runtime release bundle identifier is taken from the single git tag that points at HEAD. Use the canonical runtime bundle tag format defined in docs/developer-guide/versioning-and-release-metadata.md. If HEAD is untagged, the release flow fails.

If a maintainer needs to package a different tagged revision or HEAD has multiple release-related tags, pass --tag <tag> to select the release tag explicitly.

4. Task entrypoints

The root Taskfile.yml is the entrypoint for the release flow.

Validate prerequisites:

task release:check

Explicit tag:

task release:check TAG=cbf-chrome-runtime-v0.1.0+chromium-146.0.7632.160-r1

Build release artifacts:

task release:build

Generate license files:

task release:licenses

Generate source metadata:

task release:source-info

Assemble the release archive:

task release:package

Run the full flow:

task release

If a maintainer intentionally needs to package a dirty tree for investigation, they can pass ALLOW_DIRTY=true to the task invocation. Normal releases should keep both the repository root and chromium/src clean.

5. Generated files

The release helper writes generated files under:

dist/release/<git-tag>/

Generated outputs:

  • CBF_LICENSE.txt
  • THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt
  • SOURCE_INFO.txt

The final release archive is written to:

dist/release/cbf-chrome-macos-<git-tag>.tar.gz

6. Manual upload

Artifact publication remains manual for the MVP stage.

After task release completes:

  1. Inspect the generated files under dist/release/<git-tag>/.
  2. Inspect SOURCE_INFO.txt and confirm the recorded revisions and GN args.
  3. Upload dist/release/cbf-chrome-macos-<git-tag>.tar.gz to the matching runtime bundle GitHub Release.

Before publishing a binary release, confirm at least the following:

  • out/Release/args.gn pins proprietary_codecs = false.
  • out/Release/args.gn pins ffmpeg_branding = "Chromium".
  • task release:licenses was run from the exact source revision used for the release archive.
  • THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt is included in the final archive and was generated from the exact Chromium revision being distributed.
  • CBF_LICENSE.txt is included in the final archive and matches the repository LICENSE.
  • SOURCE_INFO.txt records the exact CBF commit, Chromium commit, patch queue state, and selected GN args used for the release.
  • The release notes or download page state that CBF includes Chromium and other third-party components under their own licenses.
  • FFmpeg remains within the Chromium/LGPL distribution path for the shipped build; do not enable GPL or nonfree FFmpeg options for the MVP release.
  • If the release changes media/codec policy, packaging terms, or bundled third-party binaries, request legal review before publication.

No GitHub Actions workflow, Jenkins job, or scheduled release automation is part of this MVP process.