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Release Cycle for artma

Source: vignettes/release-cycle.Rmd
release-cycle.Rmd

Introduction

This vignette outlines the release cycle for the artma package (Automatic Replication Tools for Meta-Analysis).

Pull request-based workflow

All changes to artma must be made via pull requests (PRs) against the master branch. Whenever a PR is opened, updated, or synchronized:

  1. R CMD checks, lint checks, and package tests run automatically.
  2. The PR cannot be merged until these checks pass, ensuring that every update maintains code quality and package integrity.

Example contributor flow 

# contributor code:
# 1. Fork or clone the artma repository.
# 2. Create a feature branch based on master.
# 3. Make changes locally (adding features, fixing bugs, etc.).
# 4. Push the branch to your fork or to the main repo (if you have permissions).
# 5. Open a pull request against master.
# reviewer code:
# 1. Review the open pull request.
# 2. Confirm all checks (R CMD check, lint, tests) pass.
# 3. Request changes or merge, if it looks good.

Version tagging and release

When a PR is merged into master, the system checks for the special flag release:next-version in the PR description or labels. If it exists, a separate workflow called build-and-tag.yaml is triggered. This workflow automatically:

  • Builds the package with the new changes.
  • Tags a new version based on the provided version increment labels.

Version increment labels

The PR can include one of the following labels to indicate how the version should be bumped:

  • v-patch: Increment the patch level (e.g., from 0.1.18 to 0.1.19).
  • v-minor: Increment the minor version (e.g., from 0.1.18 to 0.2.0).
  • v-major: Increment the major version (e.g., from 0.1.18 to 1.0.0).

If multiple of these labels appear, the workflow will choose the highest priority bump (major > minor > patch).

Skipping CRAN or submitting automatically

After a successful tag is created, the build-and-tag.yaml workflow also creates a GitHub release. By default, another workflow (submit-to-cran.yaml) will run next, automatically submitting the new version of artma to CRAN.

If your PR or commit message contains the label release:skip-cran, the CRAN submission is bypassed. In that scenario, the tag is created and the GitHub release is published, but no submission to CRAN occurs.

Summary

  1. Open a PR against master.
  2. Checks run automatically (R CMD check, lint, tests).
  3. Merge once the PR is approved and checks pass.
  4. release:next-version?
    • If yes, run build-and-tag.yaml, then automatically:
      1. Create a new version tag using v-patch, v-minor, or v-major labels.
      2. Trigger a GitHub release.
      3. By default, run submit-to-cran.yaml to submit to CRAN.
    • If release:skip-cran is also present, skip the CRAN submission step.
  5. Enjoy the newly published version of artma or continue development on your next feature branch.

This system ensures that artma remains stable, well-tested, and easy to maintain for both developers and end users, while keeping the release process transparent and reproducible.