UA-.NETStandard/docs/ReleaseProcess.md

Release process

This is the authoritative procedure for every release operation on this repository: cutting a release line, shipping a patch or minor version, backporting a fix, promoting a stable candidate, and recovering from a failed or partial release. Follow it exactly as written; it is designed to be followed by a developer or an agent working from the repository alone, without any other context.

Read this before: changing a release version, cutting or retiring a release branch, backporting a fix, running release.yml, or recovering from a failed release.

Contents

• Terms
• Common preflight
• Which procedure do I need?
• Branch and channel model
• First stable release
• Patch release
• Minor release
• Routine backport
• Emergency hotfix
• Candidate and dry run
• Approved promotion
• Failed or partial release
• Post-release verification
• Release handoff template
• Historical release/2.0.0 branch
• Maintaining this document

Terms

• Root version - the package version computed from the committed version.json for the commit being built (see Versioning). Every package in the solution shares the same root version except the preview-only families.
• Preview-only families - the XRegistry, WoT Connectivity, Robotics, CranesHoists, Redundancy, Positioning, OpenUSD, and AI package families, the Vision.OpenUsd renderer, the Robotics and CranesHoists MCP extensions, and the OpenUSD connector tools. version.targets keeps these on a -preview.N suffix even when the root version is an exact stable release. The full, single source of truth for which package IDs this covers is _IsPreviewPackage in version.targets (build-time) and Test-PreviewPackageId in .azurepipelines/package-version-policy.ps1 (validation-time) - both must always list the same families. Debug variants of these families follow the same preview-only classification. The Vision, MachineVision, MachineTool (including bundled WMTP), and GMS model/client/server packages and the Vision, MachineTool and GMS MCP packages follow the root version instead. WMTP has no separate package or profile.
• Channel - stable when the root version has no prerelease label or build metadata (e.g. 2.0.0); preview otherwise (e.g. 2.0.0-preview.6, 2.0.1-preview.4+gabc123). validate-nuget-package-set.ps1 writes this as channel in its manifest; Test-StablePackageVersion in package-version-policy.ps1 is the single source of truth.
• Canonical release branch - a branch named exactly release/<major>.<minor> (e.g. release/2.0, release/2.1) - the only branch shape version.json's publicReleaseRefSpec and Test-CanonicalReleaseBranchRef recognize as eligible to produce a stable channel package set. The name is matched case-sensitively (Release/2.0 is not a release line) and each component must be a plain decimal number with no leading zero (release/02.0 is not a second spelling of release/2.0, it is simply not a release line). The historical three-component naming (release/2.0.0) is retired and not canonical; see Historical release/2.0.0 branch.
• Candidate - a signed, validated package set produced by a nuget-publish.yml run, retained as its opcua-packages-<run id> GitHub Actions artifact.

Common preflight

Every procedure below starts here.

1. Resolve the repository and remotes.

   git rev-parse --show-toplevel
   git remote -v
   

   Confirm you are in a clone of OPCFoundation/UA-.NETStandard (or a fork with origin/upstream pointing at it) before continuing.

2. Require a clean worktree.

   git status --short
   

   Completion evidence: no output. Commit, stash, or discard changes before continuing - every procedure below assumes a clean starting point.

3. Fetch and confirm the source/target branches exist.

   git fetch origin --prune
   git branch --all --list 'origin/release/*'
   

   Completion evidence: the branch(es) the procedure you are about to run names are present (or, for a branch-creation step, deliberately absent).

4. Confirm required tooling and authentication.

   dotnet --version
   gh auth status
   

   Completion evidence: a .NET 10 SDK version, and gh reports an authenticated account with access to OPCFoundation/UA-.NETStandard. Promotion (release.yml) additionally requires the release GitHub Environment's approval; you cannot grant that to yourself; a repository maintainer with environment-reviewer access must approve the run.

5. Discover the currently published preview numbers before touching preview-version.props. Every procedure that changes the root version to an exact stable release must confirm the committed PreviewPackageBuildNumber (see preview-version.props) is still greater than every already-published -preview.N (or legacy -preview.YYYYMMDD) identifier for the preview-only families, on both feeds:

   Invoke-RestMethod 'https://api.nuget.org/v3-flatcontainer/opcfoundation.netstandard.opc.ua.xregistry/index.json' |
       Select-Object -ExpandProperty versions
   gh api '/orgs/OPCFoundation/packages/nuget/OPCFoundation.NetStandard.Opc.Ua.XRegistry/versions' --paginate |
       ConvertFrom-Json | ForEach-Object name
   

   Repeat for a representative sample of the preview-only families (at minimum XRegistry, Robotics, and one MCP/connector package); they are versioned together but published independently, so check more than one. If any published number is greater than or equal to the committed PreviewPackageBuildNumber, raise it (in the same PR that changes the root version to stable) before proceeding.

   This manual sampling is only a headroom estimate. The authoritative check is .azurepipelines/validate-preview-package-ordering.ps1, which queries every preview-family package ID in a candidate's manifest against both feeds. nuget-publish.yml and release.yml both run it automatically for stable candidates, and both fail if any already-published version is not strictly below the candidate's -preview.N. Note that ordinary master development keeps publishing <base>-preview.{height} packages with a growing height, so a number that was correct last week can go stale on its own - always re-run the check against the actual merged candidate (Candidate and dry run step 3) before approving a promotion.

Which procedure do I need?

Situation	Procedure
Shipping the very first stable 2.0.0	First stable release
Shipping the next patch on an existing line (e.g. 2.0.1, 2.0.2)	Patch release
Shipping the next minor line (e.g. 2.1.0)	Minor release
Porting an already-reviewed master fix onto a release branch	Routine backport
A production-only bug needs a fix that did not start on master	Emergency hotfix
You have a nuget-publish.yml run and want to inspect it before/without publishing	Candidate and dry run
A maintainer has approved a stable candidate for publication	Approved promotion
Publishing a numbered preview (e.g. 2.0.0-preview.6) to nuget.org	Preview release
A release or promotion attempt errored, or you are unsure what published	Failed or partial release
You just promoted a release and want to confirm everything is consistent	Post-release verification

Branch and channel model

• master always carries a -preview.{height} root version for the next minor release under development (e.g. 2.0.0-preview.{height} while 2.0 is being prepared, 2.1.0-preview.{height} once 2.0 has shipped). Every master build is channel: preview and publishes automatically to GitHub Packages; it never produces a stable release.
• Each maintained minor line lives on its own canonical release branch (release/2.0, release/2.1, ...). While stabilizing, its root version is also -preview.{height} (e.g. 2.0.1-preview.{height} between the 2.0.0 and 2.0.1 releases) and publishes automatically to GitHub Packages, same as master. Such a release-line preview (M.m.p-preview.N, no commit id) reaches nuget.org only through the explicitly dispatched Preview release procedure; master previews carry a commit id and never can. At the exact commit approved for release, its root version is set to the plain <major>.<minor>.<patch> (e.g. 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0)
  • channel: stable - and that specific package set is only ever published by the Approved promotion procedure, never automatically.
• Patch numbers only ever increase by exactly one per release on their line (2.0.0 → 2.0.1 → 2.0.2, ...); a minor bump resets the patch to zero (2.1.0, not 2.1.<height>). Nothing about git height, commit count, or CI retries changes these numbers - they are explicit, committed decisions in version.json.
• A release is never produced from master, a tag, a PR branch, or any branch other than its own canonical release/<major>.<minor> line. This is enforced in multiple independent places: version.json's publicReleaseRefSpec (so only that ref shape ever computes NBGV_PublicRelease == 'True'), the Aggregate and validate packages step in nuget-publish.yml (refuses to build a stable set from a non-canonical ref), release.yml (refuses to promote from a non-canonical ref, and refuses any candidate whose version does not match the dispatched channel input, which defaults to stable), and the release GitHub Environment's deployment_branch_policy (restricts which branch may even execute the release.yml job).
• The branch and stable package version must agree: release/2.0 may release 2.0.p only, while release/2.1 may release 2.1.p only. Test-CanonicalReleaseBranchForPackageVersion enforces this in both the candidate and promotion workflows, so a valid-looking 2.1.0 package set cannot be released from release/2.0.
• Container image tags follow the same line model, enforced by the Determine release line precedence step in .github/workflows/docker-image.yml. Every build gets its exact version tag; a stable release additionally gets <major>.<minor> and the plain <major>.<minor>.<patch>. The unqualified latest and release aliases are claimed only by the newest canonical release/<major>.<minor> branch that exists on origin, so a later 2.0.x maintenance release publishes latest-2.0 instead and cannot move latest/release back from an already published 2.1.x. The check fails closed: if the newest line cannot be determined, the build is treated as superseded and only publishes line-specific aliases. Non-release builds keep their existing branch-suffixed latest-<branch> alias, and the master-only pump image publishes preview rather than latest.

First stable release

Ships the very first stable version on a brand-new minor line (in this repository's history, 2.0.0).

Owner: a repository maintainer with permission to create protected branches and merge to master.

Preconditions: the common preflight is complete; the preparation work for the release (dependency/version-model changes, this document) is already merged to master; master's root version is 2.0.0-preview.{height}.

1. Confirm master's current committed version:

   git show HEAD:version.json
   

   Completion evidence: "version": "2.0.0-preview.{height}".

2. Choose the exact master commit to branch from (normally its current HEAD, after its required checks have passed) and create the canonical release branch from it:

   git fetch origin master
   git branch release/2.0 origin/master
   git push origin release/2.0
   

   Completion evidence: gh api repos/OPCFoundation/UA-.NETStandard/branches/release/2.0 returns the expected commit SHA.

3. Immediately advance master to the next minor line's preview version so no further commit is mistaken for 2.0 servicing work. Open a PR (do not push directly to the protected branch):

   git switch -c bump-version-2.1-preview origin/master
   

   Edit version.json's "version" to "2.1.0-preview.{height}". Commit, push, and open a PR titled something like "Advance master to 2.1.0 preview". Merge once required checks pass. Completion evidence: master's version.json shows 2.1.0-preview.{height}.

4. On release/2.0, open a second PR that sets the stable version and completes the release preflight (do not combine this with step 3 - they target different branches):

   git switch -c release-2.0.0 origin/release/2.0
   

   Edit version.json's "version" to "2.0.0" (no prerelease label). Re-run the preview-number check from Common preflight step 5 against the actual current published state and adjust preview-version.props if needed. Commit, push, and open a PR against release/2.0. Completion evidence: the PR's diff changes only version.json (and, if needed, preview-version.props); required checks pass.

5. Merge the PR from step 4 once its checks pass and it has the required approval. This is the release commit.

6. Continue with Candidate and dry run using the nuget-publish.yml run triggered by that merge, then Approved promotion.

7. After promotion, reopen release/2.0 for the next patch's development by repeating step 3's pattern on release/2.0 itself, setting version.json to "2.0.1-preview.{height}" via a PR.

Patch release

Ships the next patch on an already-shipped line (for example 2.0.1 after 2.0.0, or 2.0.2 after 2.0.1).

Owner: a repository maintainer.

Preconditions: the common preflight is complete; release/<major>.<minor> already exists and its current committed version.json is the next patch's -preview.{height} version (see step 7 of First stable release or step 3 below, from a prior run of this same procedure).

1. Confirm the last released version on this line and the next patch number:

   gh api repos/OPCFoundation/UA-.NETStandard/releases --paginate --jq '.[].tag_name' |
       Where-Object { $_ -match '^2\.0\.\d+$' } | Sort-Object { [version]$_ }
   

   The next patch is exactly one more than the highest result - never skip a number and never reuse one.

2. Collect and backport the fixes intended for this patch (see Routine backport for each one) before continuing.

3. Open a PR against release/<major>.<minor> that sets version.json's "version" to the exact next patch (e.g. "2.0.1", no prerelease label), re-verifying the preview-number check from Common preflight step 5. Merge once checks pass. This is the release commit.

4. Continue with Candidate and dry run, then Approved promotion.

5. After promotion, open a PR against the same release branch advancing version.json to the following patch's preview version (e.g. "2.0.2-preview.{height}") before accepting further servicing work.

Minor release

Ships the next minor line (for example 2.1.0 after 2.0.x).

Owner: a repository maintainer.

Preconditions: the common preflight is complete; master's current committed root version is the new minor's preview version (e.g. 2.1.0-preview.{height}, set when the previous minor line was cut - see step 3 of First stable release).

This procedure is identical to First stable release with two substitutions: create release/<new-minor> (e.g. release/2.1) instead of release/2.0, and advance master to the minor after that (e.g. 2.2.0-preview.{height}) instead of 2.1.0-preview.{height}. Every older maintained line (e.g. release/2.0) is unaffected and continues to receive its own patches independently through Patch release; do not merge the new minor's branch into or out of an older line.

Routine backport

Ports an already-merged, already-tested fix from master onto a release branch for an upcoming patch.

Owner: any contributor.

Preconditions: the fix already has a merged commit on master; the common preflight is complete; you know the target release/<major>.<minor> branch and the commit SHA to port.

1. Branch from the release line, not from master:

   git fetch origin release/2.0
   git switch -c backport-<short-description> origin/release/2.0
   

2. Cherry-pick the fix with traceability to its source commit. Never cherry-pick a version-only or release-preparation commit (that would collide with the target branch's own version state):

   git cherry-pick -x <source-commit-sha>
   

   Resolve conflicts so only the intended fix lands - do not pull in unrelated master-only changes, and do not alter version.json or preview-version.props in this PR.

3. Push and open a PR against the release branch (release/<major>.<minor>, not master). Reference the original master PR/commit in the description. Completion evidence: required checks pass on the release branch build; the PR is reviewed and merged.

4. Confirm the fix is included in the next Patch release for that line.

Emergency hotfix

For a production-only defect that cannot wait for the normal master-first flow (for example a security fix needed on an older maintained line before it can land anywhere else).

Owner: a repository maintainer, in coordination with whoever authors the fix.

Preconditions: the common preflight is complete; you have identified every maintained release line the defect affects (there may be more than one) and the current state of master.

1. Start on the oldest affected maintained release branch. Branch, fix, and open a PR against that release branch exactly as in Routine backport steps 1-3, except the fix itself is authored fresh here rather than cherry-picked from an existing commit.

2. Once merged there, forward-port the same fix (cherry-pick with -x from the release-branch commit this time) into every newer affected maintained release line, in ascending order, each through its own PR against that line.

3. Forward-port the same fix into master last, through an ordinary PR.

4. Track the forward-port chain to completion explicitly (for example in the original issue or PR description): list every affected line, and do not consider the hotfix done until each one has a merged PR. A hotfix that never reaches master will keep reappearing on every future release of the older line.

5. Include the fix in the next Patch release for each affected line.

Candidate and dry run

Produces (or locates) a validated, signed package set from nuget-publish.yml and inspects it without publishing anything. Every release and every dry run starts here.

Owner: any contributor can run this read-only inspection; only a maintainer can subsequently approve Approved promotion.

Preconditions: the common preflight is complete.

1. Find the nuget-publish.yml run for the commit you care about:

   gh run list --workflow nuget-publish.yml --branch release/2.0 --limit 5
   

   Completion evidence: a run id with status: completed and conclusion: success. If none exists yet for your commit, either wait for the automatic run (pushes to master and canonical release branches trigger it) or start one manually:

   gh workflow run nuget-publish.yml --ref release/2.0
   

2. Download that run's opcua-packages-<run id> artifact and inspect its manifest:

   gh run download <run-id> --name opcua-packages-<run-id> --dir ./candidate
   Get-Content ./candidate/release-manifest.json | ConvertFrom-Json |
       Select-Object basePackageVersion, channel, packageCount, debugPackageCount, ref, commit
   

   Completion evidence: basePackageVersion, channel, and ref match what you expect (a stable version only from a canonical release/* branch; a preview version from master or an in-progress release branch). debugPackageCount is greater than zero and less than packageCount (both Release and Debug package IDs are present).

3. To prove the set is eligible for promotion without publishing anything, run the exact validation release.yml itself performs:

   . ./.azurepipelines/package-version-policy.ps1
   $manifest = Get-Content ./candidate/release-manifest.json | ConvertFrom-Json
   ./.azurepipelines/validate-nuget-package-set.ps1 `
     -PackageDirectory ./candidate `
     -ManifestPath ./candidate/current-package-set.json `
     -ExpectedVersion $manifest.basePackageVersion `
     -RequireDebug `
     -VerifySignatures
   Test-CanonicalReleaseBranchForPackageVersion `
     -Ref $manifest.ref -Version $manifest.basePackageVersion
   

   Completion evidence: the validation script succeeds with no thrown error, and Test-CanonicalReleaseBranchForPackageVersion prints True for a release you intend to promote.

   Use the version-aware predicate rather than the branch-shape-only Test-CanonicalReleaseBranchRef: release.yml calls both, and only this one rejects the mismatch that a shape check cannot see - a stable 2.1.0 candidate built from release/2.0. A False here means either the ref is not a canonical release/<major>.<minor> branch, the version is not an exact stable major.minor.patch, or the two disagree; print $manifest.ref and $manifest.basePackageVersion to see which. For a preview candidate this predicate returns False by design, because a preview version is not a stable release version. For a preview you intend to publish with Preview release, pass -AllowPreview, exactly as release.yml does for a channel: preview dispatch.

   For a stable candidate, also prove that the preview-only families in the set still sort strictly above everything already published, using the same script both workflows run:

   $env:GITHUB_TOKEN = (gh auth token)
   ./.azurepipelines/validate-preview-package-ordering.ps1 `
     -ManifestPath ./candidate/current-package-set.json `
     -GitHubPackagesOwner OPCFoundation
   

   Completion evidence: the script prints that every preview-family package ID sorts above its published versions and exits 0. It returns early (also 0) when the manifest's channel is not stable, because a preview candidate carries no synthesized -preview.N number to compare. A non-zero exit lists every offending package ID and published version - see Failed or partial release step 2 for how to recover.

   Also prove that no version this candidate occupies is already held by a different build, using the gate release.yml runs before either push:

   $env:GITHUB_TOKEN = (gh auth token)
   ./.azurepipelines/assert-published-packages-match.ps1 `
     -PackageDirectory ./candidate `
     -ManifestPath ./candidate/current-package-set.json `
     -Feed 'nuget.org' -ExcludeDebugPackages
   ./.azurepipelines/assert-published-packages-match.ps1 `
     -PackageDirectory ./candidate `
     -ManifestPath ./candidate/current-package-set.json `
     -Feed 'GitHub Packages'
   

   Completion evidence: each invocation prints how many already-published packages are byte-identical to this candidate and how many are not yet published, and exits 0. On a first release every package is "not yet published"; on a recovery re-run the already-pushed ones must report as identical. A non-zero exit means the version is taken by other bytes - see Failed or partial release step 3.

4. Alternatively, dry-run the actual promotion workflow itself (still no publication occurs):

   gh workflow run release.yml --ref release/<major>.<minor> `
     -f release_run_id=<run-id> -f dry_run=true
   

   --ref is required and must name the same canonical release branch the candidate was built from: release.yml refuses to run when its own GITHUB_REF differs from the candidate run's branch. The job deliberately checks out nothing until it has resolved the candidate, then performs its one and only checkout at that run's exact commit - so no repository code runs with the release environment's credentials before the workspace is bound to the bytes being promoted, and the validation policy and promotion code are source-bound to them even if the release branch has advanced since the candidate was built. Without --ref, gh dispatches from the default branch and the run stops at "Validate selected publish run".

   Completion evidence: the run succeeds through "Validate promotion manifest and package bytes", "Verify preview package ordering" and "Verify already-published package identity" - the last two are read-only, so a dry run proves the same feed-state preconditions the real promotion will re-check; the summary reports the expected version and package count; no "Push to nuget.org" or "Push to GitHub Packages" step ran (both are skipped under dry_run).

Approved promotion

Publishes an already-built, already-signed stable candidate to nuget.org and GitHub Packages. nuget.org receives only non-.Debug package IDs (and their symbol packages); GitHub Packages receives the complete candidate, including .Debug package IDs. This is the only path that ever publishes a stable release; nothing else in this repository's CI does so automatically.

Owner: a repository maintainer with release GitHub Environment reviewer access.

Preconditions: Candidate and dry run is complete and its manifest shows channel: stable and the exact expected version; the run's source branch is the canonical release/<major>.<minor> line you intend to release; the change has the required approvals.

release.yml re-runs validate-preview-package-ordering.ps1 itself, before it authenticates to any feed, so an ordering violation that appeared after your dry run stops the promotion before the first public write rather than midway through it. It then runs assert-published-packages-match.ps1 against both feeds before and after publication: dotnet nuget push --skip-duplicate treats an existing id/version as a successful no-op without looking at it, so the preflight proves that every version the candidate already occupies holds this candidate's own content. The mandatory post-push check waits for feed indexing and then proves every expected package is present with the candidate's content, closing the race where another publisher claims an immutable id/version between the preflight and the push. Comparison ignores the .signature.p7s part, because nuget.org repository-signs packages at ingestion and the bytes it serves therefore legitimately differ from the bytes that were pushed; everything else must match exactly. A version claimed by a different build fails the promotion instead of being silently skipped.

1. Trigger the promotion for real, from the same canonical release branch the candidate was built from:

   gh workflow run release.yml --ref release/<major>.<minor> `
     -f release_run_id=<run-id> -f dry_run=false
   

2. Approve the pending deployment to the release environment when prompted (in the GitHub UI, or gh run watch <new-run-id> from the CLI). Completion evidence: the run proceeds past "Push to nuget.org" and "Push to GitHub Packages" without error. Each step ends by reporting that its post-push publication is byte-identical to the candidate. The nuget.org log explicitly says it is publishing only non-Debug package IDs; the GitHub Packages loop covers the complete candidate, including its .Debug packages.

3. Confirm the non-Debug packages are live on nuget.org:

   Invoke-RestMethod 'https://api.nuget.org/v3-flatcontainer/opcfoundation.netstandard.opc.ua.core/index.json' |
       Select-Object -ExpandProperty versions | Select-Object -Last 3
   

   Completion evidence: the expected exact stable version (e.g. 2.0.0) appears. Do not expect any .Debug package ID on nuget.org; inspect GitHub Packages for those IDs instead.

4. The successful promotion automatically creates the version tag and GitHub Release, both bound to the exact source SHA recorded in the promotion manifest as commit. On a recovery re-run, it verifies that any existing tag and Release already point to that same candidate, and fails rather than moving either one.

5. Record the release handoff in the GitHub Release description or the tracking issue.

6. Return to the calling procedure (First stable release, Patch release, or Minor release) to complete its final "advance to the next preview version" step.

Preview release

Publishes a numbered preview of a release line (e.g. 2.0.0-preview.6) to nuget.org. nuget-publish.yml only ever pushes previews to GitHub Packages, so this is the only way a preview reaches nuget.org. It reuses the Approved promotion machinery, dispatched with channel=preview.

Owner: a repository maintainer with release GitHub Environment reviewer access.

Preconditions: the common preflight is complete; the canonical release/<major>.<minor> branch exists; nothing on nuget.org or GitHub Packages already holds the preview number you intend to publish.

What stays the same for the GitHub Packages preview feed:

• master keeps publishing <base>-preview.<height>.g<commit> to GitHub Packages automatically. Those versions carry a commit id, so they can never collide with a bare release-line <base>-preview.N, and release.yml rejects them for channel=preview.
• Every build of the release branch already pushed its own <base>-preview.N to GitHub Packages. release.yml's GitHub Packages step is therefore a verified no-op for a preview: the identity preflight and the post-push check prove the feed holds this candidate's exact bytes.

1. Choose the preview number. A canonical release branch is a public release for Nerdbank.GitVersioning, so its previews are <base>-preview.<height + versionHeightOffset>, and a branch freshly cut from master inherits master's height. To make the next build carry a specific number (for example to continue after 2.0.0-preview.5), commit a versionHeightOffset change on the release branch through a normal PR, and check the result on that commit before merging:

   nbgv get-version -v NuGetPackageVersion
   

   Completion evidence: it prints exactly the intended version, e.g. 2.0.0-preview.6. The offset is negative when master's height is already past the target. Each later commit on the branch increases the number by one, so publish the build of the exact commit you verified.

2. Find that commit's successful nuget-publish.yml run and inspect it as in Candidate and dry run steps 1-2. Completion evidence: channel is preview, basePackageVersion is the intended version with no .g<commit> suffix, and ref is the release branch.

3. Dry-run, then publish, from the same release branch:

   gh workflow run release.yml --ref release/<major>.<minor> `
     -f release_run_id=<run-id> -f channel=preview -f dry_run=true
   gh workflow run release.yml --ref release/<major>.<minor> `
     -f release_run_id=<run-id> -f channel=preview -f dry_run=false
   

   Approve the release environment deployment when prompted. Completion evidence: the run passes "Validate promotion manifest and package bytes", reports its nuget.org publication byte-identical to the candidate, and the summary shows Channel: preview. A candidate whose version does not match the dispatched channel fails in the validation step, before anything is published.

4. Confirm the preview is live on nuget.org:

   Invoke-RestMethod 'https://api.nuget.org/v3-flatcontainer/opcfoundation.netstandard.opc.ua.core/index.json' |
       Select-Object -ExpandProperty versions | Select-Object -Last 3
   

   Completion evidence: the intended preview version appears. Recover a partial preview publication exactly as in Failed or partial release, keeping channel=preview on the re-run.

5. Confirm the promotion created a prerelease GitHub Release and version tag for the exact candidate commit:

   git rev-parse 2.0.0-preview.6
   gh release view 2.0.0-preview.6 --json targetCommitish,isPrerelease
   

Failed or partial release

Recovers from an error anywhere in Candidate and dry run or Approved promotion.

Owner: a repository maintainer.

1. Determine whether any public write already happened. Check nuget.org for a non-Debug package and GitHub Packages for the complete candidate (including its .Debug package IDs):

   Invoke-RestMethod 'https://api.nuget.org/v3-flatcontainer/opcfoundation.netstandard.opc.ua.core/index.json' |
       Select-Object -ExpandProperty versions
   gh api '/orgs/OPCFoundation/packages/nuget/OPCFoundation.NetStandard.Opc.Ua.Core/versions' --paginate |
       ConvertFrom-Json | ForEach-Object name
   

2. If nothing published yet (the failure was in validation, signing, or before any dotnet nuget push): fix the underlying problem (a code fix via Routine backport/Emergency hotfix, or a version/config fix via a normal PR against the release branch), which produces a new nuget-publish.yml run and a new candidate. Start over at Candidate and dry run with that new run - do not attempt to reuse or repair the failed one.

   Two failures are specific to the preview-ordering gate, and both stop the run before any public write:

   Symptom	Cause and safe next action
   validate-preview-package-ordering.ps1 lists package IDs whose published versions are not below the candidate's -preview.N	Ordinary master development published a higher <base>-preview.{height} while this release was being prepared. Raise PreviewPackageBuildNumber in preview-version.props above every listed version, via a normal PR against the release branch, then build and validate a new candidate. Never lower a published version or delete packages to make room.
   The script throws while querying nuget.org or GitHub Packages (for example 401/403, or any non-404 error status)	The gate deliberately fails closed: it cannot prove ordering, so it refuses to let the release proceed. Do not bypass it. Confirm the workflow passes a token with packages: read/packages: write for the owner being queried, and that the feed is reachable, then re-run the same workflow. A genuinely unpublished package ID returns 404, which the script treats as "nothing to compare" and allows.

3. If nuget.org already has some non-Debug packages, or GitHub Packages has some expected packages for the version (a partial push - dotnet nuget push is per-package and can fail partway through): re-run Approved promotion against the same release_run_id. --skip-duplicate makes re-pushing the packages that already succeeded a no-op; only the missing ones are actually written. .Debug package IDs are intentionally absent from nuget.org, so their absence there is not a partial-release symptom.

   The re-run is safe because assert-published-packages-match.ps1 runs before and after each push. The preflight proves that every version this candidate already occupies really holds this candidate's own bytes; the post-push check proves that every package now present is still this candidate, including a duplicate accepted by --skip-duplicate (see the gate table below). Because that proof exists, validate-preview-package-ordering.ps1 deliberately does not treat the candidate's own already-published -preview.N as a violation - otherwise the recovery in this step would be unreachable. Any higher or more-qualified preview version still blocks.

   Never build a new candidate for a version that already has any packages published - that would risk two different byte sequences under the same immutable version. Investigate why the previous attempt stopped before retrying.

   Symptom	Cause and safe next action
   assert-published-packages-match.ps1 reports a feed that "already serves ... with different content"	A different build permanently claimed this candidate's immutable version. NuGet versions cannot be overwritten, so this candidate can never be published under it. Do not bypass the gate. Move to step 4 and release a new version.
   The script throws while downloading a package for comparison (any non-404 error status)	It fails closed: it cannot decide whether the version is taken, so it refuses to push. Confirm feed reachability and the token, then re-run. A genuinely unpublished version returns 404, which the script treats as "nothing to prove" and allows.

4. If the version needs to change entirely (e.g. the approved candidate turned out to be wrong before any push happened): do not reuse the version number. Treat this as returning to the relevant release procedure (First stable release/Patch release/Minor release) with a corrected version.json, producing a fresh candidate for a version nothing has ever published under.

5. If you cannot determine what happened (for example the workflow log is inconclusive about whether a push completed): stop and escalate to another maintainer before taking any further action. Never guess at a feed's state by re-running a push blind - check it first as in step 1.

Post-release verification

Confirms a completed Approved promotion left the repository and both feeds consistent.

1. Confirm nuget.org has the exact expected non-Debug version and GitHub Packages has the complete candidate (repeat Approved promotion step 3 for GitHub Packages too):

   gh api '/orgs/OPCFoundation/packages/nuget/OPCFoundation.NetStandard.Opc.Ua.Core/versions' --paginate |
       ConvertFrom-Json | ForEach-Object name | Select-Object -Last 3
   

2. Confirm the release tag and GitHub Release point at the exact commit recorded in the promotion manifest:

   git rev-parse 2.0.0
   gh release view 2.0.0 --json targetCommitish
   

3. Confirm the preview-only families sorted above every previously published preview for the same base version (spot-check at least one, e.g. XRegistry):

   Invoke-RestMethod 'https://api.nuget.org/v3-flatcontainer/opcfoundation.netstandard.opc.ua.xregistry/index.json' |
       Select-Object -ExpandProperty versions | Select-Object -Last 5
   

4. Confirm the release branch was advanced to the next servicing preview version (the final step of First stable release/Patch release/Minor release):

   git show origin/release/2.0:version.json
   

5. Confirm the stable container image aliases (if this release includes image-tagged samples - see Container support) now point at the released commit. For the newest line expect latest, release, <major>.<minor> and the exact version; for a superseded maintenance line expect latest-<major>.<minor>, <major>.<minor> and the exact version, with latest/release still on the newer minor (see Branch and channel model).
6. Confirm every backport tracked for this release (see Routine backport/Emergency hotfix) shows as merged on every line it was required for.

Completion evidence: all of the above match; if any do not, treat it as a failed or partial release and escalate rather than silently continuing.

Release handoff template

Record this in the GitHub Release description, the tracking issue, or the release PR - not in an untracked local note - whenever a release is prepared, promoted, or handed off between people (or between an agent and a maintainer).

## Release handoff: <version>

- Release branch: release/<major>.<minor>
- Source commit: <sha>
- Candidate run: nuget-publish.yml run <run id>
- Promotion run: release.yml run <run id> (or: not yet promoted)
- Approvals: <who approved the release environment deployment>
- Backports included: <PR links, or "none required">
- Gates completed: [ ] candidate validated  [ ] dry run  [ ] promoted
                    [ ] tagged  [ ] GitHub Release published
                    [ ] next preview version PR opened
- Blockers: <none, or describe>
- Next allowed action: <e.g. "approve release.yml run 12345">

Historical release/2.0.0 branch

The three-component release/2.0.0 branch predates this release model and is retired: version.json's publicReleaseRefSpec no longer matches that naming, so it can never again produce a channel: stable package set, and nuget-publish.yml/release.yml both refuse to publish from or promote it. It is kept, unmodified, as historical record of the earlier 2.0.0-preview.* line; do not delete it, force-push to it, or attempt to bring it back into the maintained-line model above. All current and future 2.0.x work happens on release/2.0.

Maintaining this document

Update this file, and the worked examples above, in the same pull request as any change to version.json, version.props, version.targets, preview-version.props, .azurepipelines/package-version-policy.ps1, .azurepipelines/validate-nuget-package-set.ps1, .azurepipelines/validate-preview-package-ordering.ps1, .azurepipelines/assert-published-packages-match.ps1, .github/workflows/nuget-publish.yml, .github/workflows/release.yml, or the Docker/container tagging workflows. A release procedure that no longer matches the scripts it describes is worse than no documentation at all.