Releasing

Status: Current Last modified: 2026-06-01 01:05 PDT

The VS Code extension is currently published manually. There is no release workflow in .github/workflows/; the only CI for the extension is bazel-typescript.yml, which on every PR builds, tests, and packages a single-platform .vsix and uploads it as a workflow artifact (vscode-extension-vsix).

An automated multi-platform release workflow (with a bundled chatter-lsp per target, GitHub Release upload, and optional marketplace push) is a planned follow-up. Until then, the process below is the source of truth.

CI coverage today

There is no vscode-release.yml. Any reference to a 5-platform matrix or vscode-vX.Y.Z tagging workflow is aspirational.

Cutting a release (manual)

1. Bump apps/vscode-extension/package.json version (semver).
2. Open a PR with the version bump; merge once green.
3. On a maintainer workstation, from the repo root:

   just vscode build
   just vscode package      # produces apps/vscode-extension/*.vsix
   

   Or grab the vscode-extension-vsix artifact from the bazel-typescript.yml run on the merge commit.
4. Publish to the Visual Studio Marketplace using the operator’s PAT:

   cd apps/vscode-extension
   npx vsce publish --packagePath talkbank-chat-<version>.vsix
   

   The PAT is held by the operator, not in repo secrets. Create at https://dev.azure.com/_usersSettings/tokens with scope “Marketplace > Manage”.
5. Optionally attach the .vsix to a manually-created GitHub Release for users who prefer side-loading.

Local packaging for testing

Same flow as a release build, just skip the marketplace step:

just vscode build
just vscode package
code --install-extension apps/vscode-extension/talkbank-chat-<version>.vsix

If you want the extension to talk to a locally-built chatter-lsp, make sure that binary is on your PATH (e.g. bazel build //crates/chatter/chatter-lsp:chatter-lsp then point PATH at bazel-bin/...). Today’s .vsix does not bundle a server binary; the extension finds chatter-lsp via discovery order documented in LSP Binary Discovery.

Side-loading a .vsix (users)

code --install-extension talkbank-chat-<version>.vsix

Users still need chatter-lsp on PATH. Bundling a per-platform chatter-lsp into the .vsix is part of the planned release-workflow follow-up.

Version-number discipline

apps/vscode-extension/package.json is the single source of truth. Pre-release identifiers (0.X.Y-rc.1) are allowed per semver. Do not hand-roll release tags; once an automated workflow exists, it will own the tag format.

Planned follow-ups

• A bazel-vscode-release.yml (or similar) that:
  • builds chatter-lsp per target platform (darwin-arm64, darwin-x64, linux-x64, linux-arm64, win32-x64),
  • bundles the matching binary into a per-platform .vsix,
  • uploads .vsix files to a vscode-vX.Y.Z GitHub Release,
  • optionally runs vsce publish using a repo-held PAT secret.
• Signed chatter-lsp binaries inside each .vsix (see Code Signing and Distribution).

Related chapters

• Installation — user-facing install
• Troubleshooting: LSP Connection — binary discovery order
• Testing — the test gates a release must pass
• Release Pipeline — repo-wide artifact map