wownerogue/docs/RELEASE_ARTIFACT.md

Immutable release artifacts

scripts/deploy/build-release-artifact.sh is the local, non-activating boundary between a reviewed Git commit and the two production application instances. It produces a runtime artifact, not a source or operations bundle. It does not read an environment file, install a package, connect to deb, or move either current symlink.

Build gate

Commit every intended source and documentation change first. Review that commit and confirm that a secret scanner has not found credentials embedded in otherwise legitimate source files; filename policy alone cannot detect a hard-coded secret. Then run:

git status --short                         # must print nothing
./scripts/deploy/build-release-artifact.sh # defaults to git-<12-character HEAD prefix>
cd dist/releases
sha256sum --check <release-id>.tar.gz.sha256

The builder fails on any tracked or non-ignored untracked worktree change, tracked symlink/gitlink, runtime .env or credential-capable dotfile, unsafe release ID, or existing output. Ignored local files are never read because the archive comes only from the selected commit. The archive contains only LICENSE, html/**, the runtime subset of src/**, and deterministic release metadata. It intentionally contains no docs/, test/, root scripts/, deployment service units, wallet migration tools, environment examples, ad-capture bot, stagenet transfer canary, or development database/smoke helpers. Simulation/Jest sources are also excluded, and the staged package manifest retains only the runnable start, preflight, and db:migrate:clone commands. The guarded src/scripts/preflight.js and src/scripts/migrate-disposable-clone.js remain available for staging checks. .release-source-sha256 identifies the prefix-free, runtime-allowlisted git archive; the external sidecar identifies the final compressed artifact; .release-files.sha256 verifies every extracted runtime/metadata file without covering the later src/node_modules install.

Run the complete test suite from the clean source commit before building. Tests and operator tools are source/control-plane inputs; they are not production runtime files:

cd src
npm ci --ignore-scripts --no-audit --no-fund
npm test
cd ..
git status --short # must still print nothing
./scripts/deploy/build-release-artifact.sh

Then test the runtime bytes that will be shipped. In a disposable directory, verify the artifact sidecar and manifest and install only the locked production dependency graph:

cd <directory-containing-artifact>
sha256sum --check <release-id>.tar.gz.sha256
tar -xzf <release-id>.tar.gz -C <private-test-directory>
cd <private-test-directory>/<release-id>
sha256sum --check .release-files.sha256
cd src
npm ci --omit=dev --ignore-scripts --no-audit --no-fund
npm ls --omit=dev

Advisory lookup is a separate, explicitly authorized network operation. Do not use npm audit fix to mutate a candidate or live release.

Production staging gate

Use the same runtime artifact SHA-256 for monerogue and wownerogue. Transfer it into a root-controlled staging path and verify the operator-pinned 64-hex digest before extraction. The activation boundary must then:

1. reject an existing release ID, links/special files, an unexpected top-level directory, or unsafe ownership/path components;
2. install only locked production dependencies with npm ci --omit=dev --ignore-scripts --no-audit --no-fund while staging is writable;
3. run npm ls --omit=dev, recheck .release-files.sha256, then make the complete release root:root and non-writable before it can become current;
4. restore each fresh pre-deploy dump into a separately named clone database, run npm run db:migrate:clone under the exact disposable-target contract in CLONE_MIGRATIONS.md, require its exact manifest proof (currently through migration 040), and run the separately reviewed and hash-pinned fleet copy of financial-audit.sql there—the SQL is intentionally not inside the runtime artifact;
5. run npm run preflight from the candidate with each final protected environment. Preflight is intentionally non-mutating and does not replace database, daemon, or wallet health checks.

The clone runner is deliberately non-activating; there is still no reviewed activation script. Do not point current at a candidate until the clone proof and the complete drain/audit/symlink/health/rollback sequence in ~/src/such-fleet/RUNBOOK-wowngeon.md are satisfied.

Source and operations boundary

The Git checkout remains the review/test source. ~/src/such-fleet is the deployment control plane for hash-pinned SQL, service units, backup/firewall jobs, clone validation, activation, and rollback. Neither source-tree deployment scripts nor fleet tools are copied beneath the application release directory. A runtime artifact hash does not attest a separately delivered operations file; record and verify an independent hash for every such file in the fleet change plan.

Activation and rollback gate

Drain public ingress and require zero active and queued games. Take and validate fresh dumps; run the financial audit before and after stopping only the affected app. Preserve and validate the exact predecessor target, switch current atomically, then start stagenet first. Require bounded local /health/live and /health/ready, exact network/money-mode disclosures, public TLS, WebSocket, and leaderboard/intake smoke tests before traffic is restored. The stagenet payout canary is a later, one-shot gate and is never a mainnet command.

Application rollback is safe only if the predecessor was tested against the post-migration clone schema. Migrations are forward-only and run one transaction per file at application startup; a mid-sequence failure can leave earlier files committed. On activation failure, stop the candidate, atomically restore the validated predecessor symlink, start it, and require both the exact target and readiness. Do not automatically restore the database after new writes; keep the dump for an operator-reviewed recovery decision.