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Release Process

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Luna edited this page Jan 19, 2022 · 19 revisions

This document goes over steps to run different types of React Native release updates. It is intended audience is for those in relevant release roles.

Releasing a new minor release candidate

Prerequisites

  • Write access to [react-native](https://github.com/facebook/react-native) repo
  • If testing, follow pre-requisites for testing

Creating 0.{minor}.0-rc.0

  • Create the release branch in react-native repo with the appropriate name. Usually 0.X-stable

    git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b 0.42-stable

# This will walk you through what version you are releasing 
./scripts/bump-oss-version.js
CircleCI showing publish release
  • Once you have run that script, head to CircleCI and you should see under the releases workflow, a prepare-package-for-release job
  • This script runs and commits any changes and triggers a deploy job, build_and_publish_npm_package
  • Note: Look under “All Branches” to find the publish job. CircleCI does not give a way to search for these jobs.
  • Once complete you should be able to run npm view react-native and verify next is expected release version
    $ npm view react-native
    ....
    dist-tags:
    latest: 0.65.1            next: 0.66.0-rc.2         nightly: 0.0.0-f617e022c

2. Create a PR of the changelog generator

# Run following with the stable release as base, and your rc.0 version
npx @rnx-kit/rn-changelog-generator --base v[LATEST_STABLE]--compare v[YOUR_RC_0] \
--repo ~/react-native --changelog ~/react-native/CHANGELOG.md > NEW_CHANGES.md

# example against 0.66.4 and 0.67.0-rc.0
npx @rnx-kit/rn-changelog-generator --base v0.66.4 --compare v0.67.0-rc.0 \
--repo ~/react-native --changelog ~/react-native/CHANGELOG.md > NEW_CHANGES.md
  • Prepend contents of NEW_CHANGES.md to CHANGELOG.md
  • Create a pull request of this change to react-native repo and add the Changelog label.

3. Create a Github Release

  • Create a Github release with this template and check “Pre-Release” checkbox 
<!-- Template for pre-release Github release --> 

- <!-- TODO List out notable picks for this patch --> 

---

To test it, run:
<!-- TODO Update with your version --> 
npx react-native init RN067RC5 --version 0.67.0-rc.5

---

You can participate in the conversation on the status of this release in the [working group](https://github.com/reactwg/react-native-releases/discussions).

---

To help you upgrade to this version, you can use the [upgrade helper](https://react-native-community.github.io/upgrade-helper/) ⚛️

---
See changes from this release in the [changelog PR](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/labels/%F0%9F%93%9D%20Changelog)
Create a Github Release

4. Create a tracking discussion post

<!-- Template for a new minor release candidate -->
<!-- Title: Road to <YOUR_VERSION> -->
The branch cut has happened.

## Notice
<!-- TODO update the version -->
* [Current release candidate: 0.68.0-rc.0][current-release]
* Have an issue with current release candidate? [File an issue][issue-form] and we will triage.
* Have a pick request for this release? Does it fall under our [pick request qualifications][faq-wiki]? If so please create a PR against the release branch and comment with the PR link
* If you are release testing. Copy and fill [Release report form](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-Tester-Matrix)

#### Highlighted Changes in this release
<!-- Add stand-out changes in this release, and link to changelog PR.  --> 
- Checkout this [Changelog PR][changelog-pr]

## [Release Process][release-process-wiki]
#### Checklist
- [ ] [Changelog PR][changelog-pr]
- [ ] Start a Google doc of blog post for release and invite contributors of release highlights to expand
- [ ] Follow up on [release dependencies][dependencies-wiki]
> When ready to publish stable
- [ ] Ship changelog
- [ ] Ship blog post 
- [ ] Notify `react-native-website` to ship new version

#### Retrospective Topics
<!-- List out pain points, issues to investigate that are not release-blocking to follow up on -->
- 

## Release Status
### Tracking 0.67.0-rc.1

#### Blocking issues for releasing 0.67.0-rc.1
- 

#### Picks for 0.67.0-rc.1
- 

[changelog-pr]: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/labels/%F0%9F%93%9D%20Changelog
[curent-release]: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases
[changelog-wiki]: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-Changelog
[dependencies-wiki]: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-Dependencies
[faq-wiki]: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-FAQ
[issue-form]: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/new?assignees=&labels=Needs%3A+Triage+%3Amag%3A%2Cpre-release&template=release_blocker_form.yml
[releases]: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases
[release-process-wiki]: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-Process
[upgrade-helper-wiki]: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Updating-upgrade-helper

5. Verify Upgrade-helper github action has fired

6. Broadcast release candidate is out

  • Discord #releases-coordination channel
  • Twitter?
  • Relevant chats

Release release candidate patch

Pre-requisite

  • You have some pick requests that qualify for a patch release and people have agreed it’s good to release a patch

1. Check out latest version from release branch and run bump-oss-version script

# update the stable branch with tags
$ git pull origin <release-branch> --tags

# cherry pick relevant commits
$ git cherry-pick <commit>

# once done picking, run the script to release
./scripts/bump-oss-version.js

2. Similar to cutting new branch, watch CircleCI to ensure right jobs are being triggered

3. Update the relevant discussion post with latest RC

Release Stable Patch

Pre-requisitse

  • You have some pick requests that qualify for a patch release and people have agreed it’s good to release a patch

1. Cherry-pick commits and run bump-oss-version script

```bash
# Be on relevant release branch
# update the stable branch with tags
$ git pull origin <release-branch> --tags

# cherry pick relevant commits
$ git cherry-pick <commit>

# once done picking, run the script to release
# You most likely want this release marked as "latest"
./scripts/bump-oss-version.js

```

2. Create a new patch discussion post using template below

```markdown
<!-- Template for new patch --> 

# Should we release 0.67.1? 

Current Release: [0.67.0](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases/tag/v0.67.0)

Conversations on this thread are limited: 
* [major release issues](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-FAQ#what-is-release-blocking)
* [qualified cherry-pick requests](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-FAQ#what-is-a-qualified-pick-request) of commits on main that [did not make the previous patch version](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-FAQ#how-do-i-know-if-my-fixfeature-is-in-a-certain-release).

Please include a link to the specific commit on main to be cherry-picked, for example: [facebook/react-native@bd2b7d6](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/commit/20b0eba581a00e5e7e300f6377379b836617c147)

In other words, if you cannot point to a particular commit on main, then your request likely belongs as a new issue. 
If the issue is a [major release issue](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-FAQ#what-is-release-blocking), please reference the issue here.

---
#### List of qualified picks
<!-- Keep these in chronological order in time of commit --> 
1.

#### Local commits to backport to main
1.
```

3. Update previous discussion post

  • label it Released
  • Update the title saying the patch has been released and link to new patch discussion
  • Lock the discussion

Releasing Stable (0.{minor}.0)

Pre-requisites

  • Have the blog post ready to submit as a PR for react-native-website
  • Changelog PR should be ready to merge

1. Publish the release

# In your react-native checkout, on the release branch of the version
$ ./scripts/bump-oss-version.js
> What version are you releasing?
# Your version
> Do you want this to be latest?
# Generally yes. This updates npm registry to point to this version as "latest"

2. Update the Github releases

<!-- Temlate for Github stable release -->
0.66 stable is out!

This release includes **621 commits** with **92 contributors**! Thank you to all our contributors new and old! You can find the [full changelog here](https://github.com/react-native-community/releases/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#v0660).

* See the highlights of the release in our [release blog post](https://reactnative.dev/blog/2021/10/01/version-066).
* You can participate in the conversation on the status of this release at [this issue](https://github.com/react-native-community/releases/issues/254).
* You can upgrade to this version using the [upgrade helper webtool](https://react-native-community.github.io/upgrade-helper/) ⚛️

3. Create a new patch post for your new version

# Should we release 0.67.1? 

Current Release: 0.67.0

Conversations on this thread are limited: 
* [major release issues](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-FAQ#what-is-release-blocking)
* [qualified cherry-pick requests](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-FAQ#what-is-a-qualified-pick-request) of commits on main that [did not make the previous patch version](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-FAQ#how-do-i-know-if-my-fixfeature-is-in-a-certain-release).

Please include a link to the specific commit on main to be cherry-picked, for example: [facebook/react-native@bd2b7d6](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/commit/20b0eba581a00e5e7e300f6377379b836617c147)

In other words, if you cannot point to a particular commit on main, then your request likely belongs as a new issue. 
If the issue is a [major release issue](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Release-FAQ#what-is-release-blocking), please reference the issue here.

---
#### List of qualified picks
1.

#### Local commits to backport to main
1.

4. Close any outstanding patch posts for previous versions

  • Any patch posts for the previous stable are irrelevant now

5. Communicate the new release

  • Ship the blog post, tweet about blog post
  • Ship the react-native-website changes if not done already

Troubleshooting

Manually set npm tags

Say you accidentally forgot to mark something as "latest" or "next"

# You'll need to first login:
npm login

# Add a tag to a version
npm dist-tag add <pkg>@<version> [<tag>]

# Remove a tag to a version
npm dist-tag rm <pkg>@<version> <tag>

# List tags for react-native
npm dist-tag ls [<pkg>]

# Example of setting latest to 0.66.4
npm dist-tag add react-native@0.66.4 latest

Git Tags

# Delete a tag (annotated or not) locally, then push to delete it remotely
git tag --delete tagname
git push origin :tagname

# Add an annotated tag
git tag -a v0.65.3 -m "whatever message"

# Make sure you pull with tags
git pull <remote> <branch> --tags

# Make sure you push any local tags you added/removed
git push <remote> <branch> --follow-tags

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