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+# Release process (manual, local signing)
+
+All TUF signing keys stay on your machine, in `./keystore` (gitignored — never
+commit it). Nothing here touches CI or GitHub Secrets.
+
+## One-time setup
+
+```
+pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
+python scripts/release/repo_init.py
+```
+
+Generates `scripts/release/keystore/` (private + public keys for the
+root/targets/snapshot/timestamp TUF roles) and `scripts/release/repository/`
+(initial signed metadata, including `root.json`).
+
+**Back up `keystore/` immediately, somewhere private and durable outside this
+repo.** Losing the root key means you can never publish a trusted update to
+existing installs again — they'd all need a fresh, non-updating reinstall.
+
+Rebuild once more (`pyinstaller labui.spec`) after this step, so the
+freshly-generated `root.json` gets bundled into the app (see the `.spec`
+file's `_root_json` check — it only bundles the file if it already exists).
+
+## Every release
+
+1. Bump `__version__` in `core/version.py`.
+2. `pyinstaller labui.spec` → produces `dist/LabUI/`.
+3. `python scripts/release/repo_release.py` → creates+signs
+   `scripts/release/repository/targets/labui-<version>.tar.gz` and updates
+   the metadata files in `scripts/release/repository/metadata/`.
+4. Create (first time) or reuse the GitHub Release tagged **`updates`** on
+   this repo, and upload every file from `scripts/release/repository/metadata/`
+   and `scripts/release/repository/targets/` as release assets, **replacing**
+   any same-named files already there.
+   - This tag is fixed on purpose — the app's `metadata_base_url` always
+     points at `https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/releases/download/updates/`.
+     A normal per-version-tagged release would give every version a
+     different URL, which breaks TUF's requirement that top-level metadata
+     (`timestamp.json`, `snapshot.json`, ...) live at a stable location.
+   - Cut a normal, separately-tagged human-facing release too if you want a
+     changelog/download page — this doesn't have to be the same release.
+5. Test: launch a previous installed version, Settings → Check for Updates,
+   confirm it finds and applies the new version.
+
+## Re-signing without a new release
+
+Metadata expires even if nothing changed (`expiration_days` in
+`repo_init.py`: root 365 days, targets/snapshot/timestamp 90 days). If you
+haven't shipped a release before targets/snapshot/timestamp expire, clients
+will start rejecting the metadata as stale. Re-sign with:
+
+```
+python -m tufup sign snapshot scripts/release/keystore
+python -m tufup sign timestamp scripts/release/keystore
+```
+
+(run from the repo root; adjust the key directory path if you invoke this
+from elsewhere) and re-upload the resulting files to the `updates` release.
+Set a calendar reminder — there is no automation for this on purpose (manual
+signing was a deliberate choice, not an oversight).