# 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).