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Releasing TestChimp Studio

In brief: Publish dogfood with npm run publish:npm:beta (no version bump). For stable, bump package.json then npm run publish:npm; optionally tag for certified installers.

This is the operator runbook for shipping TestChimp Studio. End-user install steps live in Install and Updates.

Channels​

ChannelPackage / feedWhoVersioning
Beta (dogfood)@testchimp/studio-betaInternal dogfood + early testersAuto-stamped; do not bump package.json
Stable npm@testchimp/studioDevelopers (npx)Exact desktop/package.json "version" — bump before publish
Certified installerstudio-releasesMost users (DMG / EXE / AppImage)Same package.json version; tag desktop-vX.Y.Z

All three share ~/.testchimp and Electron userData. Typical flow: beta → verify → stable npm (+ optional installer tag).

Versioning rules​

Canonical version​

desktop/package.json "version" (e.g. 0.1.0) is the stable semver. It appears in Diagnostics for installer and stable npm builds, and must match the Git tag for certified releases (desktop-v0.1.0).

Beta — no bump​

npm run publish:npm:beta does not change package.json. The publish script stages a separate package named @testchimp/studio-beta and sets:

<baseVersion>-beta.<UTC stamp>

Example: if package.json is 0.1.0, a beta publish becomes 0.1.0-beta.20260909061259.

  • Publish as often as you want; each stamp is unique on npm.
  • <baseVersion> is the part before any - in package.json (so 0.1.0 stays the lineage label).
  • Testers always take newest with npx @testchimp/studio-beta@latest.

Stable — bump, then publish​

  1. Bump "version" in desktop/package.json (semver: patch / minor / major as appropriate).
  2. Commit that bump (and any release notes / compat changes).
  3. Run npm run publish:npm (alias of publish:npm:stable).

Stable publish uses the exact package.json version. npm rejects republishing the same version — bump every stable ship.

Optional: keep resources/compatibility.json in sync when you raise minimum-compat floors.

Publish beta (dogfood)​

Prereqs: logged into npm with publish rights on @testchimp/* (or NPM_TOKEN in CI).

cd desktop
npm run publish:npm:beta

Testers:

npx @testchimp/studio-beta@latest

Dry-run (no registry write):

npm run publish:npm:beta:dry

CI: GitHub Actions workflow Desktop npm beta (workflow_dispatch) — no installer matrix, no package.json bump.

Diagnostics install channel: npm-beta.

Publish stable npm​

After dogfood looks good:

cd desktop
# 1) Edit package.json "version" — e.g. 0.1.0 → 0.1.1
# 2) Commit the bump
npm run publish:npm

Users:

npx @testchimp/studio@latest

Diagnostics install channel: npm.

publish:npm / publish:npm:stable run scripts/publish-npm-channel.mjs stable (builds unless SKIP_BUILD=1, then publishes @testchimp/studio at the bumped version).

Publish certified installers (DMG / EXE)​

Use when you want signed installs + in-app electron-updater (not required for every stable npm ship).

  1. Ensure desktop/package.json "version" is already bumped and committed (same as stable npm).

  2. Tag and push — tag must equal package version:

    git tag desktop-v0.1.1
    git push origin desktop-v0.1.1

  3. Workflow .github/workflows/desktop-release.yml builds platform installers, publishes to TestChimp/studio-releases, and (when NPM_TOKEN is set) also publishes @testchimp/studio via publish:npm:stable.

If you already published stable npm manually, the tag job’s npm step will fail on “version already exists” — that is fine; installers still publish. Prefer either manual npm then tag for installers only, or tag-only and let CI publish both.

Do not ship unsigned public installer builds. Local npm run dist is eng smoke only.

Recommended dogfood → stable sequence​

  1. Land code on the branch you ship from (no version bump).
  2. npm run publish:npm:beta → dogfood with npx @testchimp/studio-beta@latest.
  3. Fix issues; repeat beta publishes freely (still no bump).
  4. When ready: bump package.json version, commit, npm run publish:npm.
  5. Optionally git tag desktop-vX.Y.Z + push for certified installers + updater feed.

One-time ops setup​

  1. Public repo TestChimp/studio-releases.
  2. Aware secret STUDIO_RELEASES_TOKEN (contents: write on that repo).
  3. Aware secret NPM_TOKEN (publish to @testchimp — covers studio and studio-beta).
  4. Apple signing / notarization secrets (for macOS public installers).
  5. Windows signing secrets (for Windows public installers).

Smoke checks​

PathExpect
npx @testchimp/studio-beta@latestDiagnostics: version *-beta.*, channel npm-beta
npx @testchimp/studio@X.Y.ZDiagnostics: version X.Y.Z, channel npm
Certified installDiagnostics: version X.Y.Z, channel installer; later tag shows Update available

Projects / config under ~/.testchimp should survive switching between beta, stable npm, and installer.