Aetheria/docs/research/2026-10-29-release-pipeline-prior-art.md

Release pipeline prior art (Eyes, 2026-10-29)

Serves: the Aetheria release pipeline forks (where Starfire builds run, how versions bump), raised 2026-10-29 by the operator's "we should have an auto release pipeline with semantic versioning and change logs". Eyes pass, session self-2026-10-28-ag9. Facts with pointers. No recommendations. "unverified" = not opened/confirmed.

1. Headless Unity CI builds (GameCI)

• Docker Hub unityci/editor (built by github.com/game-ci/docker, MIT, "not affiliated with Unity"). Tags checked via https://hub.docker.com/v2/repositories/unityci/editor/tags?name=6000.3 (1,881 tags total at fetch):
  • 6000.3.24f1 (the project's version) EXISTS, pushed 2026-09-10: ubuntu-6000.3.24f1-{base,linux-il2cpp,windows-mono,mac-mono,webgl,ios,android}-3.2.2 (also -3, -3.2, unprefixed). Sizes (compressed): base 5.21 GB, linux-il2cpp 5.68 GB, windows-mono 5.95 GB. No linux-mono tag (Linux Mono player support is in the base editor; unverified wording). windows-6000.3.24f1-base tags marked inactive.
  • Newer: 6000.3.26f1 (2026-10-08), 6000.3.27f1 (2026-10-21), same module set. Windows-container images (windows-<ver>-base/windows-il2cpp/..., 9-13 GB) also exist.
• GameCI docs: https://game.ci/docs/github/builder — "Many Mono targets can be cross-compiled, so a Linux runner can produce a Windows Mono player"; IL2CPP needs matching OS for some platforms (https://game.ci/docs/docker/docker-images: "Some platforms require their respective operating systems in order to generate IL2CPP builds"). Windows and macOS targets each consume an extra license seat, all Linux targets together one.
• unityVersion needs full string e.g. 6000.0.23f1; dockerMemoryLimit defaults 95% of system memory on Linux; 6.6+ needs 1 GiB shm (dockerShmSize).
• Known failure reports (not this exact setup): Unity issuetracker 24511 — windows-mono module install on Linux fails ERROR_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH for 6000.5.9f1 (stale md5 in release manifest; applies to Hub/module install, not prebuilt GameCI images). Old game-ci issue: Windows IL2CPP from Linux not possible/failed (2021.2 era); Mono worked.
• Memory/disk: no authoritative figure found. Unity issue UUM-90456: Linux IL2CPP "Linking GameAssembly.so" high memory, OOM-killed on low-RAM machines; forum: "LLVM ERROR: out of memory" on 32 GB, Master->Release C++ config fixed it. Unity docs (6000.3 linux-il2cpp-crosscompiler): toolchain package 462 MB (Linux), 2 GB each Win/mac host. Image pulls are 5-6 GB compressed each (above); a single image holds one module set (no combined image unless built with game-ci build-unity-image).
• gVisor/rootless: ZERO reports found of Unity Editor under gVisor/runsc (searches 2x). Yggdrasil runner facts from the runbook (F:\Projects\gamecult-ops\runbooks\forgejo-eureka-yggdrasil.md lines 29-45, 85-105): runsc with --ignore-cgroups, ENFORCED cap MemoryMax=4G via unit (no swap), CPUQuota 200%; "A 6 GB allocation was OOM-killed (exit 137) at the 4G cap"; gVisor reports host 16 CPUs/62 GB; capacity 1.
• No reports found of unity-builder on Forgejo/Gitea Actions (searched).

2. Unity licensing for CI

• Unity 6000.3 manual (https://docs.unity.com/en-us/engine/6000.3/manual/get-started/install-and-upgrade/licenses-and-activation/managing-your-unity-license): command-line -serial/-username/-password (and -returnlicense) procedures "don't apply to Unity Personal. To activate a license for Unity Personal, log in to the Unity Hub." Headless/automated builds named as a use case for the Pro procedure. Named-user variant: -serial -username -password with serial omitted.
• Unity Build Server terms (https://unity.com/legal/terms-of-service/build-server, "Last updated: June 30, 2026"): §2.5 "You may not use Unity Build Server with the Unity Personal tier of the Unity Software." §1.1: if Total Finances exceed $200,000 USD, Personal may not be used at all. Build Server = floating licence server product. Unity Licensing Server docs (https://docs.unity.com/en-us/licensing-server) don't state eligible tiers on fetched page (Requirements page not read).
• GameCI Personal path (https://game.ci/docs/github/activation): activate in Unity Hub locally, copy the .ulf to secret UNITY_LICENSE + UNITY_EMAIL/UNITY_PASSWORD; Pro: UNITY_SERIAL+email+password; floating: unityLicensingServer. Docs say licences are not tied to a Unity version/platform; .ulf can be generated on one OS and used on another. Page does not mention Unity 6.
• Status of alf->ulf web activation (game-ci/documentation#408, open, updated 2026-10-04): https://license.unity3d.com/manual flow for Personal intermittently works (hidden "option-personal" element trick; "less than $100k" option); reports 2025-06..2025-11 "works", 2026-03-30 "web method expired with error", 2026-10-04 "workaround doesn't work anymore" vs another user succeeded same day. Alternative in thread (2025-08-21 GabLeRoux): create the .ulf via Unity Hub (not the website). A 2026-04-23 comment describes extracting a serial from the Hub-made .ulf and passing it with -username/-password (unverified). Also game-ci/unity-test-runner#235 (closed dup; 2026-04-29 comment "Confirmed the workaround above still works today").
• Unity forum (Aug 2023) "Unity no longer supports manual activation of Personal licenses": no Unity staff reply. Codemagic help (updated Jun 2026, secondary) says Plus/Pro needed for CI.
• I did not find the current Unity Terms of Service text on Personal + automated builds beyond the Build Server terms above.

3. Forgejo Actions / releases

• forgejo-runner Windows: official releases are linux-amd64/arm64 only (https://code.forgejo.org/api/v1/repos/forgejo/runner/releases, v13.2.1 2026-10-29). README: "supported and tested on amd64 and arm64" on Linux-kernel OSes. Windows: community builds only (github.com/Crown0815/Forgejo-runner-windows-builder; runner issues #263, #976, #1032 fixed compile via PR 987, #1441 open "How to keep the Windows built stable"; maintainers (earl-warren, #263) decline to test/support Windows). Host label syntax self-hosted:host documented at https://forgejo.org/docs/latest/admin/actions/configuration/ ("no isolation at all"); docs don't mention Windows. A third-party fork (forge.yumechi.jp yume-runner) ships a pwsh host-mode sample (unverified).
• Release API: /repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases and /releases/{id}/assets (https://forgejo.org/docs/latest/user/repository/releases/). Official action actions/forgejo-release (https://code.forgejo.org/actions/forgejo-release): inputs url, repo, tag, title, sha, token (needs write:repository), release-dir, release-notes(-file), prerelease, override, direction upload/download, gpg signing.
• Limits on THIS forge (https://eureka.gamecult.org/forge/api/v1/settings/attachment, version 16.0.3+gitea-1.22.0): release/attachment max_size 2048 MB per file, max_files 5 per upload, allowed_types default list incl .zip .gz .tgz .json .log .md .pdf .png ... (no .exe, .tar.xz, .7z, .AppImage, .msi). Config cheat sheet confirms [repository.release] ALLOWED_TYPES default list, MAX_SIZE 2048, MAX_FILES 5 (https://forgejo.org/docs/latest/admin/config-cheat-sheet/). Release-asset ALLOWED_TYPES is overridable by admin.
• Push mirror: docs say it mirrors "branches, tags, and commits" (git push --mirror); releases not mentioned (https://forgejo.org/docs/latest/user/repo-mirror/). A third-party project (gitea.com/FrankenBit/release-toolkit) states releases are API objects that do not cross a push mirror; tags do. So releases do not propagate (consistent, not officially stated).
• State of GameCult/Aetheria on the forge now: exists (id 60), empty: true, mirror: false, has_actions true, has_releases true, no releases/tags, default branch master.

4. SemVer + changelog tooling

Tool	What decides bump	Forgejo/Gitea	Non-conventional history
release-please (googleapis)	Conventional Commit prefixes (feat=minor, fix=patch, !=major); Release-As: footer overrides.	GitHub-only; issue googleapis/release-please#2870 (opened 2026-08-06, open) asks for Forgejo/Gitea provider.	README: "assumes you are using Conventional Commit messages"; non-releasable commits produce no release PR; squash-merge BEGIN_COMMIT_OVERRIDE in PR body rewrites changelog lines.
semantic-release 25.0.9	commit-analyzer (angular preset default).	Default plugin is @semantic-release/github; Gitea publishers are third-party npm: @markwylde/semantic-release-gitea 2.2.0 (2025-12), @forge-for-gitea/semantic-release-gitea 1.2.0 (2025-09), @saithodev/... 2.1.0 (2021). Node tool.	Non-matching commits yield no release (standard behaviour; not verified from docs fetched).
changesets	Hand-written changeset files declaring bump per package; no commit parsing.	CLI host-agnostic (git + files); changesets/action is GitHub-only (unverified); designed for npm/monorepos ("conceptually beneficial for single package repos").	Unaffected by commit style.
git-cliff	--bump/--bumped-version from commits: fix=patch, feat=minor, !=major; custom_major/minor_increment_regex; [bump] features_always_bump_minor, breaking_always_bump_major, initial_tag; `--bump major	minor	patch` explicit; tag_pattern.
knope 0.23.2 (2026-10-22)	Conventional commits and/or changeset files (.changeset/*.md style); can disable conventional commits via PrepareRelease.	Native Gitea support: [gitea] owner/repo/host (example host codeberg.org), GITEA_TOKEN, Gitea CreateRelease step, release assets test (crates/knope/tests/gitea_release/release_assets).	"Any commit without a first line structured like [type(scope)!: summary] isn't a conventional commit" (ignored for bump).
cocogitto (cog)	cog bump --auto from Conventional Commits; hooks; cog changelog (tera templates).	README mentions only GitHub integration (action/bot); changelog remote templates (remote = "github.com" in example); Gitea unverified.	cog check/cog commit enforce convention; non-conforming handling not read.
Release Drafter v7	Pull-request labels/title via version-resolver (major/minor/patch labels) and autolabeler; drafts release notes from merged PRs.	README: package release-drafter has CLI/API "for other CI systems... supports GitHub, GitHub Enterprise Server, Gitea, Forgejo, and GitLab." Main use is GitHub Action.	Independent of commit style; depends on PRs/labels existing (Aetheria history is direct commits; PR usage unverified).

• Aetheria facts given: prose subjects, no Conventional Commits, v0.1 tag from 2020.

Game projects in practice (checked via release APIs)

• Mindustry (Anuken/Mindustry): GitHub tags v160.7, v160.6 (build-number versions, 2026-09/10), 4 assets per release (Mindustry.jar, server-release.jar, assets.jar, dependencies.jar), notes hand-written bullets.
• OpenTTD: tags 16.0-beta5 (2026-10-24, prerelease, 0 attached assets on the GitHub release); release.yml workflow triggered by release: published / workflow_dispatch builds source, docs, Linux, etc.
• Veloren (GitLab veloren/veloren): releases v0.18.0 (2026-01-23), v0.17.0 (2024-12-27), v0.16.0 (2024-03-31); plus moving tags weekly and nightly (updated 2026-10-27). FreeBSD ports track weekly as s20260128. CI file not read.
• Godot: tags 4.7.2-stable, 4.7-stable; ~34 assets per release; hand-managed.
• Unitystation (Unity, open source): GitHub releases stopped 2017; "Get latest release by using our launcher" (latest-release body).
• None of these showed Conventional-Commit-driven bumps in what I read; not verified beyond release listings.

Unread / not done

• Unity Licensing Server Requirements page; unity-builder issue tracker for 6000.3; Forgejo release event / GITHUB_TOKEN permissions in 16.0 Actions; cocogitto non-conventional behaviour; semantic-release/changesets docs on non-conventional input (stated from knowledge, marked unverified above).