## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - The release channel system promotes builds canary → nightly → beta →
stable, and stable releases publish a GitHub Release from
`releases/vYYYY.MDD.P.md`
> - The stable lane requires that notes file to exist inside the
promoted source commit, but the file is named for the promotion date,
which is unknown when the source commit is created
> - A promoted beta can therefore never pass the notes check: every
happy-path stable is forced through the candidate-branch fix path, with
a soak-gate justification, for a notes-only change
> - This pull request drafts the notes automatically when the beta is
published and lets the stable promotion read them from `master`
> - The benefit is a walkable stable happy path: the soak gate stays
exact, notes get a real review window during the soak, and the
justification path returns to its real purpose (cherry-picked fixes)
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
**What existing behavior does this improve?**
The stable promotion path in the release channel system (`release.yml`,
`scripts/release.sh`).
**Current behavior**
`release.sh stable` requires `releases/vYYYY.MDD.P.md` in the
checked-out source tree, and `publish_stable` checks out the exact
promoted SHA. The soak gate requires a `beta/v*` tag to point at that
same SHA. No commit can satisfy both for a promoted beta, so a stable
promotion must cut a candidate branch with a notes-only commit and
bypass the soak gate with a written justification. Release notes are
also written at promotion time, under time pressure, with no review
window.
**Proposed behavior**
When a beta publishes, a `draft_stable_notes` job generates a grouped
notes skeleton at `releases/beta/v<beta-version>.md` and pushes it to a
machine-owned branch; a human opens the PR and edits it during the 3-day
soak. The stable preflight resolves notes before the `npm-stable`
approval gate: source-tree notes first (the candidate fix path,
unchanged), then the merged beta-keyed file on `master`; it fails early
with the missing path named when neither exists. After the stable ships,
a canonicalization job pushes a branch that moves the file to
`releases/vYYYY.MDD.P.md`.
Related (not duplicates): #11006 and #11008 introduced the nightly and
beta lanes this builds on; older changelog PRs (for example #10669)
authored notes manually at promotion time, which is the flow this
replaces.
**Reason and benefit**
The happy path becomes: promote the exact soaked SHA, no justification,
notes reviewed during the soak instead of written at the gate. The
`releases/vYYYY.MDD.P.md` invariant still holds durably via the
canonicalization PR.
## What Changed
- `scripts/release.sh`: new `--notes-file PATH` (stable only) overrides
where the pre-publish notes check looks, so notes can live outside the
source checkout without dirtying the worktree.
- `scripts/create-github-release.sh`: same `--notes-file` override for
the GitHub Release body.
- `scripts/draft-stable-notes.sh` (new): deterministic skeleton
generator — commit subjects from the newest stable tag (falling back to
the previous beta, then full history) to the beta's source commit,
grouped into Features / Fixes / Other.
- `.github/workflows/release.yml`:
- `draft_stable_notes` job after `publish_beta`: runs the generator and
force-pushes `release-notes/v<beta-version>`; the job summary links the
compare page. It recreates the beta tag locally if the tag push was
rejected (the known workflows-permission case), so drafting is not
blocked on manual tag recovery.
- `preflight_stable`: computes the target stable version (`release.sh
stable --print-version`) and resolves the notes source (`source_tree` →
`master_beta` → fail early / warn on dry run); new outputs.
- `publish_stable`: materializes `master`-side notes into `RUNNER_TEMP`
and passes `--notes-file` to both scripts; outputs the published stable
version.
- `canonicalize_stable_notes` job: pushes the `git mv` branch after a
stable that used `master`-side notes.
- `doc/RELEASING.md`, `doc/RELEASE-CHECKLIST.md`: document the
drafted-notes flow, the preflight resolution order, and the
canonicalization step; the LLM changelog flow now targets the draft
branch during the soak.
- `.agents/skills/release-changelog/SKILL.md`,
`.agents/skills/release-changelog-discord-message/SKILL.md`: the
notes-authoring skills now describe this flow — range ends at the beta
source commit (not `HEAD`), the file is beta-keyed on the
`release-notes/v<beta-version>` branch (seeded with
`scripts/draft-stable-notes.sh` for betas that predate the automation),
and the canonicalization link caveat is called out for announcements.
## Verification
- `node --test scripts/draft-stable-notes.test.mjs` — 6 tests, temp
git-repo fixtures: grouping, stable-tag range, previous-beta and
full-history fallbacks, default output path, malformed version, missing
tag.
- `node --test scripts/release-lib.test.mjs` — unchanged suite still
green.
- `bash -n` on both changed shell scripts; `release.yml` re-parsed as
YAML.
- `./scripts/release.sh stable --print-version` unchanged (prints the
next stable version); `--notes-file` on a non-stable channel fails with
a clear error.
- Not exercised end-to-end: the new workflow jobs need a real beta
publish to run. The first beta after merge is the live test; the draft
job is additive and cannot affect the publish result (it runs after
`publish_beta` completes).
## Risks
- Low risk to publishing itself: `--notes-file` defaults preserve
today's behavior everywhere; the draft and canonicalization jobs are
additive and run after the publishes succeed.
- The preflight now fails a real stable run when no notes are found.
That is the intended fail-early behavior (it previously failed later,
inside `publish_stable`, after the `npm-stable` approval).
- `draft_stable_notes` force-pushes only the machine-owned
`release-notes/v<beta-version>` branch; a beta re-cut regenerates it
cleanly.
- The stable version computed at preflight could differ from the
published one if a run crosses UTC midnight between the two jobs; the
materialized notes are passed by path, so the publish still succeeds,
and the canonicalization job uses the actually-published version.
## Model Used
Claude Fable 5 (Claude Code)
## Pre-submission checklist
- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked
them above
- [x] I have either (a) linked existing issues with `Fixes: #` / `Closes
#` / `Refs #` OR (b) described the issue in-PR following the relevant
issue template
## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - Instances expose ~23 experimental feature settings, all declared in
one shared zod schema and toggled per instance
> - Deployment tooling and hosting control planes have no
machine-readable list of those feature keys for a given release — the
schema is only reachable from code that imports the package
> - Any external system that references feature keys therefore does so
as free text, and typos drift silently
> - This pull request derives a versioned `feature-catalog.json` build
artifact from the schema, with a compiler-checked metadata map so the
schema stays the single source of truth
> - The benefit is a stable contract external tooling can validate
feature-key references against, with zero runtime behavior change
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
No public issue exists; `feature_request` template fields:
**Problem or motivation:**
External deployment tooling cannot enumerate or validate an instance's
feature keys per release; free-text references fail silently when keys
are renamed or removed.
**Proposed solution:**
A metadata map keyed by the settings schema's own keys (compiler flags
drift) plus a build step emitting `feature-catalog.json` (keys, tiers,
defaults, `catalogVersion`) as a release artifact.
**Alternatives considered:**
A hand-maintained catalog file (drifts from the schema); serving the
schema from a runtime API (requires a running instance at validation
time — a build artifact works offline and pins to a release).
**Roadmap alignment:**
Supports the in-progress "Cloud deployments" milestone in `ROADMAP.md`.
## What Changed
Adds a metadata map (title, description, tier, cloud/self-hosted
defaults) keyed by the keys of `instanceExperimentalSettingsSchema`, so
the schema stays the single source of truth and the compiler flags any
drift. A new build step (`build:feature-catalog --version <v>`) emits
`feature-catalog.json` — all 23 feature keys, their tiers, and a
`catalogVersion` — as a release artifact that managed-hosting control
planes can validate feature-flag writes against. No runtime behavior
changes.
- New `packages/shared/src/feature-catalog.ts`: per-flag metadata map
keyed by a type derived from the settings schema
(adding/removing/renaming a flag without updating the map is a compile
error), plus `featureCatalogArtifactSchema` and
`buildFeatureCatalogArtifact`/`renderFeatureCatalogArtifact` for the
artifact
- New `scripts/generate-feature-catalog.ts` wired as `pnpm
build:feature-catalog --version <v>`
- `scripts/create-github-release.sh` generates the artifact and uploads
it as a GitHub Release asset (with a dry-run preview line)
- Tests in `packages/shared/src/feature-catalog.test.ts`
## Verification
- `vitest run packages/shared/src/feature-catalog.test.ts` — 9 tests:
schema-key coverage, drift detection, artifact shape
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/shared typecheck`
- Artifact generation run end-to-end: `pnpm build:feature-catalog
--version 0.0.0-test` emits 23 keys with `catalogVersion`
## Risks
Low risk — no runtime behavior changes; the change is metadata, a build
script, and a release-artifact emission step only.
## Model Used
Claude Fable 5 (`claude-fable-5`), extended thinking, agentic tool use;
independently peer-reviewed by a second AI agent before push
## Checklist
- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked
them above
- [x] I have either (a) linked existing issues with `Fixes: #` / `Closes
#` / `Refs #` OR (b) described the issue in-PR following the relevant
issue template
- [x] I have not referenced internal/instance-local Paperclip issues or
links (only public GitHub `#NNN` / `github.com/paperclipai/paperclip`
URLs)
- [x] My branch name describes the change (e.g. `docs/...`, `fix/...`)
and contains no internal Paperclip ticket id or instance-derived details
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [ ] All Paperclip CI gates are green
- [ ] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
---------
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
Devin Foley
dotta
Dotta