ReleaseKit/docs/roadmap/module-releases.md

# Roadmap: release individual Go modules

Status: planned feature; scope decisions resolved.

## Purpose

Implement [ADR 0005](../adr/0005-module-release-scope.md) so a consumer can check,
publish, build, and deliver one selected Go module in a shared repository through
ReleaseKit's API and CLI. CommandKit's core and optional integrations provide the initial
consumer case. Each invocation should require only module selection, product
settings, and a semantic version, with ReleaseKit owning the common mechanics.

This roadmap describes the target and the work from the current baseline. It
does not select a ReleaseKit release version or prescribe a staged implementation
plan. The decisions recorded below govern the planned scope.

## Current baseline

The baseline is ReleaseKit v0.3.0 plus accepted ADR 0005; module selection is
not implemented.

- `ReleaseRequest` selects a repository, product, and version. `Candidate` and
  `PublicationResult` expose the version without a distinct module or tag name.
- Candidate capture reads `docs/releases/<version>.md` from the captured commit.
  Local and remote uniqueness checks, tag creation, push, and reconciliation use
  the version as the Git tag.
- The shared validation path runs tests, selected vet, and package compilation
  from the repository directory. Optional content checks inspect the committed
  repository tree, including nested-module contents.
- Profiles support shared validation and additional commands. CLI product
  checks run from the repository directory with candidate/version context.
- Artifact builds and delivery also use repository/version assumptions. The
  consumer Woodpecker template selects `refs/tags/v*` and bootstraps ReleaseKit
  from repository-root module files.

The existing candidate capture, declarative validation, exact-object publication,
and outcome reporting provide the foundation. Scope and identity need to be
carried through those paths together.

## Targeted end state

An invocation selects one module and one semantic version. Omitted selection
means the repository-root module. For example:

| Selected directory | Semantic version | Complete tag | Committed release note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root | `v0.1.0` | `v0.1.0` | `docs/releases/v0.1.0.md` |
| `integrations/ckconfig` | `v0.2.0` | `integrations/ckconfig/v0.2.0` | `integrations/ckconfig/docs/releases/v0.2.0.md` |
| `integrations/ckprompt` | `v0.1.0` | `integrations/ckprompt/v0.1.0` | `integrations/ckprompt/docs/releases/v0.1.0.md` |

All mandatory and selected optional release checks use the selected module's
scope. Independently released nested modules are excluded from their parent's
automatic validation inputs. Shared file selections follow the
[resolved shared-file rules](#shared-file-validation-inputs). Checks may read
referenced material elsewhere in the captured repository without adding that
material's surrounding files to the input set. The checkout remains the boundary for outside-checkout link checks.

Repository cleanliness, branch, candidate commit, remote endpoint, and publication
guards remain repository-wide. The complete selected tag governs uniqueness,
publication, and recovery. A successful source-tag push remains completion.
Consumers prepare dependencies before offline candidate validation and choose
sibling release ordering. Dependency preparation for delivery targets the
selected module through the existing preparation operation when needed.

The feature covers individual releases. Batch publication, automatic release
selection, dependency-driven versioning, and arbitrary tag templates remain
outside this roadmap. Artifact builds, hosted delivery, and CI use the same
selected module and release identity. Delivery remains asynchronous and supports
both page-only and binary profiles. This work adds no consumer-installation,
proxy-availability, CI, or hosted-delivery publication completion gate.

## Work needed

### 1. Establish a shared module and release identity

**Rationale:** One resolved identity prevents checks and publication from using
different interpretations of the selected module or tag.

**Target:** Distinct repository directory, module directory, semantic version,
and complete tag are available throughout candidate handling and public evidence.

**Work:** Add an optional repository-relative module selection to the public
request and profile, with root defaults. Resolve it against the captured
repository and committed module declaration once at the operation entry point.
Pass the resolved identity through the operation's validation, publication,
build, and delivery collaborators. Standalone operations use the same resolution
logic. Derive tags using Go's standard module conventions, including
major-version directories: a `/v2` module stored
at `integrations/ckconfig/v2` uses `integrations/ckconfig/v2.0.0` for `v2.0.0`.
The same module stored at `integrations/ckconfig` uses that complete tag too.
Support both physical layouts and distinguish the module directory from its
tag prefix.
Carry the resolved identity through facade conversions, internal requests,
callbacks, results, and CLI diagnostics. Keep semantic-version validation
separate from full-tag handling. Exact field names belong in API design.

### 2. Apply one validation scope

**Rationale:** Consumers should select the release unit once and receive
consistent validation across enabled checks.

**Target:** Tests, vet, package compilation, formatting, distribution checks,
file-size checks, Markdown, and product-check context all correspond to the
selected module and its relevant release materials.

**Work:** Give the existing shared validation path both repository context and
module scope. Run Go commands in the module directory with the existing offline
and workspace-disabled environment. Select committed file inputs once under the
agreed boundary convention and apply that selection to each content check.
Retain repository access for resolving Markdown destinations and existing
committed-file references. A link to another module may be checked for existence
or its target heading without scanning that module's unrelated documents.

Update module-distribution inspection to examine the selected release's inputs.
For example, an unrelated sibling's filesystem replacement should not fail the
selected module's check. Add shared files through the
[resolved selection rules](#shared-file-validation-inputs), carrying the selection
through the public request and profile and applying it to the shared file inputs.
Keep the optional checks optional and retain their existing individual rules,
error identities, cancellation, and cause propagation apart from the intended
scope change. Apply the boundary and path conventions recorded below.

### 3. Bind notes and publication to the resolved identity

**Rationale:** Different modules can use the same semantic version while
publishing distinct source identities and release notes.

**Target:** The selected module's committed note identifies its product and
semantic version. Publication and recovery address its complete tag.

**Work:** Resolve module-local note paths and retain existing title validation
and captured note bytes. Thread the complete tag through local guards, remote
guards, annotated-tag creation, exact-object push, and bounded reconciliation.
Include the module, version, and resolved tag in success and failure evidence
as available, alongside commit, endpoint, phase, state, and tag object. Preserve
the existing publication outcomes and repository checks. Root notes and tags
retain their ordinary forms.

### 4. Carry module identity through builds and delivery

**Rationale:** A selected module should mean the same release unit throughout
ReleaseKit's supported operations.

**Target:** Standalone builds, candidate build checks, direct delivery, and
prebuilt-asset delivery all operate on the selected module. Hosted pages use
its complete tag and module-local note; binaries report its semantic version.

**Work:** Extend build and delivery requests and profile mapping with the shared
module identity. Resolve main packages and module-owned build paths from the
module directory. Prepare build dependencies there, and preserve existing offline
artifact compilation and version smoke checks. Carry module identity through
build results and receipts so prebuilt delivery verifies the selected module,
version, tag where applicable, candidate commit, settings, and artifact hashes.
Keep ordinary local builds usable without requiring a published tag.

Use the full tag for tagged-checkout verification, Gitea release lookup and
creation, and source links. Use the semantic version for binary version injection
and module release titles. Select the module-local note and retain existing
page/asset conflict, retry, and partial-delivery behavior. Test source URLs with
slash-containing tags. Distinct module tags can have separate Gitea pages at the
same commit. A page-only profile continues to require no application binary.
Use the new module-bound receipt format for prebuilt delivery. Consumers
regenerate receipts through the updated build operation as part of the clean
cutover described below.

### 5. Support module-aware CI delivery

**Rationale:** Local operations and tagged-source delivery need the same module,
profile, and version selection.

**Target:** The maintained consumer workflow accepts root and nested-module tags,
selects the corresponding profile, and delivers only that module's release.
Tool selection follows the tagged module configuration under
[ADR 0004](../adr/0004-module-selected-tooling.md).

**Work:** Extend tagged-checkout preparation and `ci-deliver` to distinguish the
full event tag from the semantic version. Adapt tag filters, profile selection,
tool bootstrap, and application dependency preparation. Use an explicit
module/profile mapping or equivalent small consumer declaration from the
verified tagged checkout. Resolve the physical module directory and profile
before tool bootstrap, and keep the selection consistent with the derived tag.
Verify the event commit before resolving that mapping and use the tagged
source's selected module files on retries.
For ordinary root tags, use the root profile and module bootstrap defaults.
Consumers using that pattern supply no module/profile mapping declaration.
Preserve temporary bootstrap metadata and existing credential handling. Cover
major-version directory layouts without assuming that trimming the tag always
identifies the physical module directory. Include page-only and binary examples.

### 6. Make API and CLI adoption small and coherent

**Rationale:** The shared release operation should replace consumer publication
logic with small per-module declarations.

**Target:** A shared launcher can select a profile and pass a semantic version;
API consumers express the equivalent operation. Additional checks receive
module context and repository context for explicit composition work.

**Work:** Map profile selection into the shared request, document relative-path
behavior, and provide module/tag context to configured commands. Retain existing
profile selection through `--config`; a separate CLI override for the module is
not needed to satisfy the initial request. Add a maintained multi-module example
showing root and integration profiles and a small shared launcher. Show dependency
preparation before offline validation and sequential sibling releases when a
dependency version must be published first. Keep product checks focused on
consumer assertions instead of repeating the standard suite.
Preserve the [simple root-module experience](#simple-single-module-experience),
including a small
profile, launcher, and CI workflow with no additional required declarations.

### 7. Verify and document the complete behavior

**Rationale:** This changes release identity and validation boundaries, including
the behavior of root modules with nested modules.

**Target:** Representative public API and CLI workflows establish that the
selected module is validated and only its intended tag is published.

**Work:** Extend existing behavioral tests using local repositories and remotes.
Cover root defaults; nested-module failure while the root suite passes; equal
versions across modules; major versions with and without physical major-version
directories; full-tag reuse; and failed or unknown publication with the correct
recovery identity. Exercise optional
checks with violations inside and outside the selected scope, parent selection
excluding independent nested modules, and cross-module Markdown references.
Cover omitted, replacement, and empty shared-file lists; optional default files;
missing explicit files; committed-tree lookup; duplicate inputs; and explicit
files in another module. Verify selection errors when optional file checks are
disabled, and that shared-file selection preserves enabled checks and Go scope.
Verify that repository guards still observe changes outside the selected module
and that module selection does not repeat the standard suite. Reuse existing
failure tests where they already protect unchanged behavior. Add representative
nested-module build/version-injection, new-format receipt ownership and cutover,
Gitea page/asset, and CI tag/profile/tool-selection coverage. Use local HTTP servers for delivery and
isolated synthetic module proxies for bootstrap tests. Verify that retries use
the original module selection and full tag after the default branch changes.
Verify a representative simple root-module API call, profile, launcher, and CI
workflow using the new interface's defaults. Confirm that routine use adds no
required configuration fields, mapping declarations, or consumer decisions.

Update GoDoc, CLI/configuration references, check/publication/build/delivery guides,
adoption examples, CI templates, and recovery guidance together. Supply migration
guidance in the next release's documentation, covering API and profile updates,
receipt regeneration, CI mapping, and root-module scope changes, including
exclusion of nested fixture modules from automatic file checks. Document
semantic version versus full tag in note titles and source/licensing links.
ReleaseKit's own maintainer policy continues to describe its root-module release;
consumer guidance explains how
multi-module consumers adapt their policies. Run the normal offline suite and
public API checks for implementation changes; validate documentation links and
examples. Synthetic dependency fixtures use isolated module caches.

## Resolved decisions

### Resolve identity once

Each ReleaseKit operation resolves repository directory, selected module
directory and declaration, semantic version, and complete tag once through
shared resolution logic. Pass that identity through candidate handling,
validation, callbacks, publication, builds, receipts, delivery, and evidence.
Subsystems consume the resolved module and tag. Repository-state, tagged-source,
and artifact verification continue against that identity through their existing
guards.

### Simple single-module experience

Ordinary root-module consumers use the new interface's defaults: omitted module
selection means the repository root, the complete tag equals the semantic
version, notes use `docs/releases/<version>.md`, and validation and builds run
from the root module. Shared-file defaults apply with input deduplication.
Root-tag CI uses the ordinary profile and repository-root tool bootstrap.

Routine use requires no additional configuration fields, module mapping
declarations, or recurring consumer decisions. A representative root-module
profile, launcher, and CI workflow remain equally small after migration.
Consumers supply their existing product facts through the new interface.
One-time API updates and receipt regeneration belong in the next release's
migration guidance under the clean-cutover decision below.

### Module boundaries

Use committed nested `go.mod` locations as module boundaries for ordinary source
directories. This follows Go's module structure and avoids a second registry of
independently versioned products. Vendored material remains part of the selected
module's file-check inputs. Nested fixture modules are excluded from automatic
parent file checks and can be exercised through the parent's tests or product
checks. Document this distinction and verify representative cases.

A repository-level workspace file outside the selected nested module's scope
does not fail that module's workspace-file check merely because it exists.
Shared release materials and referenced destinations receive the targeted
inspection described above.

### Shared file-validation inputs

Provide an optional shared-file list in the public request and profile. Its
selection applies only to shared file-validation inputs. Existing validation
selections control which checks are enabled. Enabled checks retain their rules,
and Go tests, vet, and package compilation retain the selected module's scope.

| Selection | Shared files added automatically |
| --- | --- |
| Omitted list | Repository-root `COPYRIGHT`, `LICENSE`, and `docs/oss/attribution.md`, when present. |
| Explicit list | The listed files replace the defaults. |
| Explicit empty list | No shared files. |

In Go, a nil slice selects the defaults; a non-nil empty slice selects none.
In JSON, omission or `null` selects the defaults; `[]` selects none. Preserve
this distinction through profile mapping and facade conversions. Exact field
names belong in API design.

Paths are repository-relative literal file paths. This initial selection
supports individual files. Resolve presence and file identity from the captured
committed tree. Missing explicitly selected files produce a configuration or
validation error identifying the selected path, including when optional file
checks are disabled. Defaults are optional when absent.

Deduplicate the combined module and shared-file inputs by committed path, so a
file already in module scope or repeated in the list is checked once. Explicit
selection may name a file in another module; include that file alone. Reference
resolution continues to inspect destinations using existing rules and leaves
those destinations outside the input set unless independently selected.

### Relative paths and product commands

Anchor module selection and profile lookup at the repository. Anchor
module-owned validation and build paths, including file-size exclusions, and
configured product-command execution at the selected module. Keep diagnostic
file paths repository-relative and expose both directories to product commands.
Markdown destinations remain relative to their source documents.

Root profiles use the repository-root module by default. Nested-module launchers
use the provided repository context for shared scripts. These conventions keep
per-module profiles self-contained without adding per-check path-base switches.

### Complete operation support

Implement module selection across checking, publication, artifact builds,
hosted delivery, and CI in this feature. The target is a coherent release API
for root and nested modules. CommandKit's current source-only use supplies an
adoption case while the feature supports the full existing release workflow.

Implementation may proceed in stages; feature completion includes all of these
operations. Omitted module selection uses the root module, and source publication
and asynchronous delivery retain their separate outcomes.

### Clean API and receipt cutover

Implement one current API and module-bound receipt format as the complete
supported interface after cutover. Consumers update their calls, profiles, and
CI declarations to that interface and regenerate prior receipts through the
updated build operation. Compatibility shims and legacy receipt readers are
outside the implementation scope.

Migration means guidance supplied in the next release's documentation. That
guidance explains the required consumer changes and the root-module validation
scope change; implementation completion covers the new interface directly.