UmbraEdit/RELEASE.md

UmbraEdit - Release Process

This document describes the release process for UmbraEdit, including versioning, platform support, build workflows, and publishing.

Versioning

UmbraEdit uses a YYYY/MM.P#### versioning scheme:

Component	Meaning
YYYY	Release year (e.g., 2026)
MM	Release month (e.g., 11)
####	Patch/build sequence (e.g., 0001)

Examples:

• 2026.11 - Major monthly release (November 2026)
• 2026.11.0001 - First development build of November 2026
• 2026.11.0002 - Second development build (e.g., new feature)

Git tags follow the format: v2026.11, v2026.11.0001, etc.

Supported Platforms

Platform	Architecture	Package Format	Build Host
Linux	amd64	.deb, .rpm, AppImage	Linux
Linux	arm64	.deb, .rpm, AppImage	Linux (ARM64)
macOS	arm64	.dmg, .app	macOS (Apple Silicon)
macOS	amd64	.dmg, .app	macOS (Intel)
Windows	amd64	.msi, .exe	Windows
Windows	arm64	.msi, .exe	Windows (ARM64)
iOS/iPadOS	arm64	NOT SUPPORTED	N/A

iOS/iPadOS Support

UmbraEdit is not available for iOS/iPadOS. PyQt6 does not support iOS, and UmbraEdit requires a full desktop Qt environment with keyboard, mouse, and file system access. Porting to iOS would require a complete rewrite using SwiftUI or a different cross-platform framework.

Users on iPad should use UmbraEdit via a VNC/remote desktop connection to a desktop machine running UmbraEdit, or use a compatible web-based alternative.

Release Workflow

1. Prepare Release

# Ensure working tree is clean
git status

# Update version in umbraedit/__init__.py
# __version__ = "2026.12.0001"

# Update CHANGELOG.md with new release entry

# Commit and tag
git add -A
git commit -m "release: prepare v2026.12"
git tag -a v2026.12 -m "Release v2026.12"
git push origin main --tags

2. Build All Platforms

On each target platform, run:

# Clone the tagged release
git clone https://git.umbratools.com/umbragit/UmbraEdit.git
cd UmbraEdit
git checkout v2026.12

# Build all packages for this platform
python utils/build_all.py --platform <platform> --arch <arch>

Available platforms: linux, macos, windows Available architectures: amd64, arm64

3. Publish

Upload all build artifacts to the release server:

# Example: upload to Gitea releases
# Files to upload:
#   Linux:   dist_deb/umbraedit_*.deb, dist_appimage/*.AppImage
#   macOS:   dist_macos/umbraedit-*.dmg
#   Windows: dist_win/umbraedit-*.exe, dist_win/umbraedit-*.msi
#   Source:  dist/umbraedit-*.tar.gz, dist/umbraedit-*.whl

Create a release on Gitea/GitHub and attach all artifacts.

Build Artifacts

Each platform produces the following artifacts:

Linux (.deb + AppImage)

File	Location	Description
umbraedit_<version>_amd64.deb	dist_deb/	Debian package
umbraedit-<version>-amd64.AppImage	dist_appimage/	Portable AppImage

macOS (.dmg + .app)

File	Location	Description
umbraedit-<version>-arm64.dmg	dist_macos/	macOS disk image
UmbraEdit.app	inside .dmg	macOS application bundle

Windows (.exe + .msi)

File	Location	Description
umbraedit-<version>-amd64.exe	dist_win/	Windows installer
umbraedit-<version>-amd64.msi	dist_win/	Windows MSI installer

Source

File	Location	Description
umbraedit-<version>.tar.gz	dist/	Source tarball
umbraedit-<version>-py3-none-any.whl	dist/	Pure Python wheel

Build Scripts

Script	Purpose
utils/build_all.py	Unified build orchestrator for all platforms
utils/build_debian.py	Debian/Ubuntu .deb package builder
utils/build_appimage.py	AppImage builder
utils/build_windows.py	Windows installer builder
setup/macos/build.sh	macOS .dmg builder

Release Checklist

• Update version in umbraedit/__init__.py
• Update CHANGELOG.md with release notes
• Tag release: git tag -a vYYYY.MM -m "Release vYYYY.MM"
• Push tag: git push origin vYYYY.MM
• Build packages for all platforms
• Test installation on each platform
• Create release on Gitea/GitHub
• Attach all build artifacts
• Publish release notes
• Announce release

Credits

UmbraEdit is based on novelWrite 2026.02 by Veronica Berglyd Olsen (novelWriter.io), licenced under the same GPL v3.0 license.

Current development lead: B.D. Murphy