Release management

Kumo publishes macOS app updates through GitHub Releases. Release artifacts include a signed app DMG and a small manifest consumed by the runtime update system.

Runtime discovery, five-minute asynchronous polling, local update notifications, checksum verification, and installer-helper behavior are documented in App Updates.

Release Channels

• Stable updates read https://github.com/ProjectKumo/KumoApp/releases/latest/download/latest.yml.
• Beta updates read https://github.com/ProjectKumo/KumoApp/releases/download/pre-release/latest.yml.
• Settings may override the manifest URL for development or private feeds. Leave it blank for the default GitHub Releases feed.

Manifest Format

latest.yml is uploaded as a release asset beside the DMG.

version: 0.0.1
channel: stable
downloadURL: https://github.com/ProjectKumo/KumoApp/releases/download/0.0.1/Kumo-macos-0.0.1-arm64.dmg
assetName: Kumo-macos-0.0.1-arm64.dmg
sha256: <64-character-sha256>
releaseNotes: |
  See https://github.com/ProjectKumo/KumoApp/releases/tag/0.0.1

The app also accepts the same fields as JSON for local testing and backwards compatibility. See App Updates for the runtime manifest contract and automatic-install requirements.

Building Artifacts

Use the release helper to build the Release .app, create the DMG, and emit latest.yml:

make release-dmg VERSION=0.0.1 CHANNEL=stable

VERSION is passed through to Xcode as MARKETING_VERSION, so the built Kumo.app/Contents/Info.plist and latest.yml use the same app version. Override BUILD_NUMBER to set CFBundleVersion; it defaults to 1. The artifact script validates the built app version before creating the DMG. Release builds must also include the bundled Sub-Store payload in KumoCoreKit resources: Node sidecar, sub-store.bundle.js, and manifest.json. The Sub-Store frontend is no longer bundled; Kumo's SwiftUI UI talks to the backend directly. Kumo does not download Sub-Store at runtime; app updates are the update channel for the bundled Sub-Store resources. The Node sidecar is not tracked in Git; make app-release runs Scripts/prepare_substore_runtime.sh before invoking Xcode so the generated runtime is present in the resource bundle without committing the large binary.

The DMG is laid out as a Finder install window. Assets/dmg-background.png provides the 660×420 paper background with handwritten labels and a pencil-drawn small-loop arrow from Kumo.app toward the /Applications alias.

Outputs are written to build/release/:

• Kumo-macos-0.0.1-arm64.dmg
• latest.yml

Upload both files to the GitHub Release. For beta, set CHANNEL=beta; the manifest points at the pre-release tag.

Runtime Update Flow

For runtime behavior, see App Updates. That document owns the app-side polling, notification throttling, download cache, and installer-helper details.

Automatic replacement requires the current app's parent directory to be writable. If Kumo is in a protected location, the update flow reports a clear error and the user can install manually from the download page.