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Zequel uses an automated release process with GitHub Actions. Releases are triggered by Git tags and can be either stable or beta versions.

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Release Types

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Stable Releases

Stable releases follow semantic versioning (X.Y.Z) with auto-increment logic:
  • 1.0.8 → 1.0.9 (patch increment)
  • 1.0.9 → 1.1.0 (minor increment when patch reaches 9)
  • 1.9.9 → 2.0.0 (major increment when both minor and patch reach 9)

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Beta Releases

Beta releases use the format X.Y.Z-beta.N where N is auto-incremented based on existing tags:
  • First beta: 1.1.0-beta.1
  • Second beta: 1.1.0-beta.2

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Prerequisites

Before creating a release, ensure:
  • All changes are committed (no uncommitted files)
  • You’re on the main branch
  • All tests pass (npm run test:unit)
  • Type checking passes (npm run typecheck)

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Creating a Release

1

Run the release script

npm run release
The script will prompt you to choose between stable and beta release types.
2

Select release type

Current version: 1.2.2

Release type:
  1) Stable  (1.2.3)
  2) Beta    (1.2.3-beta.1)

Choose [1/2]:
Enter 1 for stable or 2 for beta.
3

Confirm the release

Review the version details and type y to confirm:
Current version: 1.2.2
New version:     1.2.3
Channel:         stable

Continue? (y/N)
4

Automatic workflow

The script will:
  1. Validate the version format
  2. Update package.json
  3. Commit the version bump
  4. Create a Git tag
  5. Push to origin/main and push the tag

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Manual Release (Advanced)

You can specify a custom version directly: 
npm run release 1.3.0-rc.1
The version must match the format X.Y.Z or X.Y.Z-prerelease.

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GitHub Actions Workflow

Once the tag is pushed, GitHub Actions automatically:
  1. Creates a draft release based on the tag name
  2. Builds platform-specific binaries in parallel:
    • macOS: Apple Silicon (arm64) and Intel (x64)
      • Code signing with Apple Developer certificate
      • Notarization via Apple’s notary service
      • Stapling notarization ticket to app bundle
    • Windows: x64 and arm64 (NSIS installer)
    • Linux: x64 and arm64 (AppImage)
  3. Uploads artifacts to the draft release
  4. Publishes the release once all builds complete
Beta releases (versions with - suffix) are marked as pre-release and do not update the “latest” release tag.

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Build Configuration

The build process is configured in package.json under the build key: 
{
  "build": {
    "appId": "dev.zequel.app",
    "productName": "Zequel",
    "mac": {
      "category": "public.app-category.developer-tools",
      "hardenedRuntime": true,
      "target": ["zip"]
    },
    "win": {
      "target": ["nsis"]
    },
    "linux": {
      "target": ["AppImage"],
      "category": "Development"
    },
    "publish": {
      "provider": "github",
      "owner": "zequel-labs",
      "repo": "zequel"
    }
  }
}

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Artifact Naming

Releases generate the following artifacts:
  • macOS Silicon: zequel-apple-silicon.zip
  • macOS Intel: zequel-apple-intel.zip
  • Windows x64: zequel-window-x64.exe
  • Windows arm64: zequel-window-arm64.exe
  • Linux x64: zequel-linux-x64.AppImage
  • Linux arm64: zequel-linux-arm64.AppImage

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Auto-Updates

Zequel includes electron-updater for automatic updates. The GitHub publish configuration in package.json ensures update manifests (latest-mac.yml, latest-linux.yml, etc.) are generated and uploaded with each release.

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Monitoring Releases

After pushing the tag, monitor the build progress at: 
https://github.com/zequel-labs/zequel/actions
The complete release workflow typically takes 15-20 minutes, with macOS notarization being the longest step (up to 30 minutes).

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