Rust Release Workflow

Release Rust CLI tools with multi-platform binaries, GitHub Releases, and Homebrew tap updates.

Pre-Release Checklist

# 1. Quality gates (ALL must pass)
cargo fmt -- --check && cargo clippy -- -D warnings && cargo test

# 2. Check current version
grep '^version' Cargo.toml

# 3. Verify clean working tree
git status

# 4. Check beads for blockers (if using)
bd show <release-epic-id>

Release Process

Step 1: Update Version

Edit Cargo.toml:

version = "X.Y.Z"

Use semantic versioning:

• MAJOR: Breaking API changes
• MINOR: New features, backward compatible
• PATCH: Bug fixes

Step 2: Update Cargo.lock

cargo check  # Updates Cargo.lock

Step 3: Commit Version Bump

git add Cargo.toml Cargo.lock
git commit -m "Bump version to X.Y.Z"

Step 4: Create Annotated Tag

git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "Project X.Y.Z Release

## Highlights
- Key feature 1
- Key feature 2

## Changes
- Change 1
- Change 2

## Bug Fixes
- Fix 1
- Fix 2"

Step 5: Push to Trigger Release

git push && git push --tags

This triggers the GitHub Actions release workflow.

Step 6: Monitor Build

gh run list --limit 3
gh run watch <run-id>

Step 7: Update Release Notes (optional)

The workflow uses generate_release_notes: true, but you can customize:

gh release edit vX.Y.Z \
  --title "vX.Y.Z - Feature 1, Feature 2" \
  --notes "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Highlights
- Key feature 1

## Changes
- Change 1

## Bug Fixes
- Fix 1

## Full Changelog
https://github.com/USER/REPO/compare/vPREV...vX.Y.Z
EOF
)"

Step 8: Update Homebrew Tap

After binaries are uploaded:

# Get SHA256 for macOS ARM binary
curl -sL https://github.com/USER/REPO/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/binary-macos-aarch64 | shasum -a 256

# Update formula
cd ~/Workspace/homebrew-REPO
# Edit Formula/binary.rb:
#   - Update version "X.Y.Z"
#   - Update sha256 hashes

git add Formula/binary.rb
git commit -m "Update binary to vX.Y.Z"
git push

Step 9: Close Release Beads (if using)

bd close <release-epic-id> --reason="Released vX.Y.Z"
bd sync

GitHub Actions Workflow

The release workflow builds for:

Platform	Target	Notes
Linux x86_64	x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu	glibc
Linux x86_64	x86_64-unknown-linux-musl	Static, Alpine-compatible
Linux ARM	aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu	Raspberry Pi, ARM servers
macOS Intel	x86_64-apple-darwin	Optional, runners unreliable
macOS ARM	aarch64-apple-darwin	M1/M2/M3 Macs
Windows	x86_64-pc-windows-msvc	.exe

Prerelease Tags

Tags containing alpha, beta, or rc are marked as prereleases:

git tag -a v1.0.0-beta.1 -m "Beta release"

Homebrew Formula Template

class MyTool < Formula
  desc "Tool description"
  homepage "https://github.com/USER/REPO"
  version "X.Y.Z"
  license "MIT"

  on_macos do
    on_arm do
      url "https://github.com/USER/REPO/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/mytool-macos-aarch64"
      sha256 "ARM_SHA256"
    end
    on_intel do
      url "https://github.com/USER/REPO/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/mytool-macos-x86_64"
      sha256 "INTEL_SHA256"
    end
  end

  on_linux do
    on_intel do
      url "https://github.com/USER/REPO/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/mytool-linux-x86_64"
      sha256 "LINUX_SHA256"
    end
    on_arm do
      url "https://github.com/USER/REPO/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/mytool-linux-aarch64"
      sha256 "LINUX_ARM_SHA256"
    end
  end

  def install
    bin.install Dir["*"].first => "mytool"
  end

  test do
    system "#{bin}/mytool", "--version"
  end
end

Troubleshooting

Stuck GitHub Actions

gh run cancel <run-id>

# Delete and recreate tag
git push origin :refs/tags/vX.Y.Z
git tag -d vX.Y.Z
git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "Release"
git push origin vX.Y.Z

macOS Runner Issues

macOS runners (especially Intel) can be unreliable. Options:

• Remove x86_64-apple-darwin from matrix
• Use macos-14 for ARM builds
• Accept occasional failures and re-run

Cross-Compilation Failures

For Linux ARM:

- name: Install cross-compilation tools
  if: matrix.target == 'aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu'
  run: |
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu

For musl:

- name: Install musl tools
  if: matrix.target == 'x86_64-unknown-linux-musl'
  run: |
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y musl-tools

Rollback

# Delete local tag
git tag -d vX.Y.Z

# Delete remote tag
git push origin :refs/tags/vX.Y.Z

# Delete release
gh release delete vX.Y.Z --yes

# Revert version bump
git revert HEAD
git push

Release Checklist

• Quality gates pass
• Version updated in Cargo.toml
• Cargo.lock updated
• Version bump committed
• Annotated tag created with release notes
• Tag pushed, workflow triggered
• Release build succeeded
• Release notes finalized
• Homebrew formula updated
• Beads closed and synced