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Cutting a release

Loom's release script is bin/release.sh. It bumps nothing for you — bump MARKETING_VERSION in project.yml first, commit, then run the script.

Prereqs

  • xcodegen and xcodebuild (Xcode CLI tools).
  • hdiutil (built-in).
  • gh CLI authenticated (gh auth login -h github.com).
  • A clean working tree at the commit you want to tag.

The flow

# 1. Bump MARKETING_VERSION (and CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION) in project.yml.
# 2. Commit + push.
bin/release.sh                 # run from the repo root

What the script does:

  1. Reads version — MARKETING_VERSION and CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION from project.yml.
  2. Pre-flight — verifies gh is authed (via gh api user, not gh auth status which trips on stale background accounts), the local tag doesn't already exist, and the GitHub release doesn't already exist.
  3. Regenerates the Xcode project — xcodegen generate.
  4. Builds Release — xcodebuild -project Loom.xcodeproj -scheme Loom -configuration Release build.
  5. Locates the built .app — searches ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/.../Build/Products/Release/Loom.app.
  6. Packages the DMG — copies Loom.app and an /Applications alias into a staging temp dir, runs hdiutil create -format UDZO, names the file Loom-<version>.dmg.
  7. Tags and pushes — git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "Loom <version> (<build>)", git push origin vX.Y.Z.
  8. Creates the GitHub release — gh release create vX.Y.Z <dmg> -t "Loom <version>" -F notes.md.

The release notes are boilerplate (install steps + auto-update note). If you want a real changelog, edit the heredoc in bin/release.sh or let gh release edit rewrite it after.

Post-release

Every running Loom on every machine picks the new build up via the auto-update path within 60 seconds.

What can go wrong

  • error: tag vX.Y.Z already exists locally — you forgot to bump MARKETING_VERSION. Bump it, commit, retry.
  • error: built Release/Loom.app not found under DerivedData — xcodebuild failed silently. Re-run with -quiet removed from the script to see the actual compile errors.
  • gh release create 422 — the release already exists on GitHub. Bump version, retry.

Why ad-hoc signing?

Loom is a personal tool with no Apple Developer Program enrollment. Ad-hoc signing (CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY: "-") is enough for local distribution; users do the right-click → Open dance once and macOS remembers.

If you ever do enroll, change DEVELOPMENT_TEAM and CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY in project.yml. The DMG flow doesn't change.