enricobuehler
e629606e39
Play production access landed 2026-08-01 and the listing is live, but the
docs still told Android users to beg for a tester invite on Discord and
warned that the Play link "only resolves once your account is on the
tester list". Both are now wrong, and the install page is the first thing
a new Android user reads.
Stable is a public Play listing. Canary is unchanged — it still goes to
the invite-only Internal testing track — so each page now draws that line
explicitly instead of describing both as test tracks.
Also corrects the release process: channels.md said CI "never
auto-publishes to the public stores" and that someone promotes alpha ->
production by hand. Since 43e3c7b6 a vX.Y.Z tag publishes to production
at 100% with no further click (android.yml resolves TRACK=production on
refs/tags/v*). Apple is still manual, so that half stands.
Touches install-client.md, clients.md, channels.md, support-matrix.md and
uninstall.md — the last one told people to ask on Discord to be removed
from a tester list that no longer gates the app.
160 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
160 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Release Channels
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description: How Punktfunk ships — the canary (main pushes) and stable (vX.Y.Z) tracks, how to subscribe to each, and how to cut a release.
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---
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Punktfunk ships on **two tracks**. A push to `main` that touches a platform's sources publishes a
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new **canary** build for that platform (fast iteration, possibly broken) — each workflow only
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rebuilds from the paths its artifact is built from, so a docs-only push publishes nothing, and two
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channels can sit on different commits. A `vX.Y.Z` git tag cuts a **stable** release:
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every platform is built at that one version, published to the stable channels, and all the
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artifacts (`.deb`, `.rpm`, `.msix`, host installer, `.apk`/`.aab`, `.dmg`, `.ipa`, flatpak, Decky
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zip, winget manifests) are attached to a single
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[Gitea Release](https://git.unom.io/unom/punktfunk/releases).
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The two tracks are **separate repos / tracks per platform**, never a shared version line — so a
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stable box never gets pulled onto a canary build, and a canary box always moves forward. Pick the
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track per machine; switching is a one-line change.
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## Which track should I be on?
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- **Canary** — dev boxes, your own test fleet, "I want the latest main build." Updates land minutes
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after a merge that touched the parts you run; some merges won't move your channel at all.
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- **Stable** — anything you don't want to babysit. Only moves when a `vX.Y.Z` tag is cut.
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## Subscribe — per platform
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| Platform | Canary | Stable |
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|---|---|---|
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| **apt** (host/client) | `deb [signed-by=…] https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/debian canary main` | `… debian stable main` |
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| **rpm** (host) | baseurl `…/rpm/bazzite-canary` (or `fedora-44-canary`) | `…/rpm/bazzite` (or `fedora-44`) |
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| **sysext** (Bazzite host) | `sudo punktfunk-sysext install --channel canary` | `… install` / default (feeds `…/punktfunk-sysext/f43[-canary]`) |
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| **pacman** (Arch host/client) | `[punktfunk-canary]` repo section | `[punktfunk]` (`Server = …/api/packages/unom/arch/$repo/$arch`) |
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| **Flatpak** (client) | `flatpak install --user https://flatpak.unom.io/io.unom.Punktfunk.Canary.flatpakref` | `…/io.unom.Punktfunk.flatpakref` |
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| **Decky** (Steam Deck) | install-from-URL `…/generic/punktfunk-decky/canary/punktfunk.zip` | `…/punktfunk-decky/latest/punktfunk.zip` |
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| **Windows client** (MSIX) | `…/generic/punktfunk-client-windows/canary/punktfunk-client-windows_x64.msix` | `…/latest/…` + the release page |
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| **Windows host** (installer) | `…/generic/punktfunk-host-windows/canary/punktfunk-host-setup.exe` | `…/latest/…` + the release page |
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| **Windows host** (winget) | — *(stable only)* | `winget install unom.PunktfunkHost` / `winget upgrade unom.PunktfunkHost`, after `winget source add -n punktfunk https://winget.punktfunk.unom.io -t Microsoft.Rest` |
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| **Android** | Play **Internal testing** (invite-only) + sideload `…/generic/punktfunk-android/canary/punktfunk-android.apk` | **[Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.unom.punktfunk)** (production) + the release page |
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| **Apple** (mac/iOS/tvOS) | **TestFlight** | TestFlight + a notarized `.dmg` on the release page |
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The apt distribution and the rpm group are just path segments in the URL — switching tracks is a
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one-line edit of `/etc/apt/sources.list.d/punktfunk.list` (`stable` ↔ `canary`) or
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`/etc/yum.repos.d/punktfunk.repo` (`…/rpm/bazzite` ↔ `…/rpm/bazzite-canary`), then
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`apt update` / `rpm-ostree upgrade`.
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> The OS-package channels (apt/rpm) are how Linux hosts get canary builds — they are **not**
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> attached to a canary release page. The Gitea Releases page is stable-only.
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**winget is stable-only by design.** A winget manifest pins one immutable artifact per version, so
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there is nothing a rolling canary alias could point at. A Windows host on the canary channel updates
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by running the canary installer again.
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## How a box learns about a new build
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You don't have to watch the release page. The host works out how it was installed and which channel
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that install follows — from the marker its package wrote (`/usr/share/punktfunk/install-kind`), the
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sysext's own `/etc/punktfunk-sysext.conf`, or, on Windows, from the installer having put it under
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`Program Files\punktfunk` (with the version number itself saying which channel) — then checks a small
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signed manifest for **that** channel and shows the answer in the web console's **Host → Updates**
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card: the version you run, the channel you follow, and the exact command that updates this install
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(or a one-click **Update now** button on Windows). See [Updating the Host](/docs/updating).
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## Pin a version, or roll back
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A build broke something and you want the previous one? Every channel can serve an exact version.
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| How you installed | Pin / roll back |
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|---|---|
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| **apt** | `apt-cache madison punktfunk-host` to list versions, then `sudo apt install punktfunk-host=<version>`. Add `sudo apt-mark hold punktfunk-host` to stay there (`apt-mark unhold` to resume). |
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| **dnf** | `sudo dnf --showduplicates list punktfunk` to list versions, then `sudo dnf install punktfunk-<version>` (or `sudo dnf downgrade punktfunk`). |
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| **pacman** | Reinstall from the package cache: `sudo pacman -U /var/cache/pacman/pkg/punktfunk-host-<version>-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst`, then add `IgnorePkg = punktfunk-host` to `/etc/pacman.conf` so the next `-Syu` leaves it alone. |
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| **Bazzite sysext** | `punktfunk-sysext status` prints your feed URL; download the `punktfunk-<version>-x86-64.raw` you want from it, then `sudo punktfunk-sysext install --from-file punktfunk-<version>-x86-64.raw`. |
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| **Windows installer** | Run the older `punktfunk-host-setup-<version>.exe` over the current install. |
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| **Windows / winget** | `winget install unom.PunktfunkHost --version <x.y.z>` — the source serves per-version manifests. |
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| **Decky plugin** | Install-from-URL with an exact version: `https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/generic/punktfunk-decky/<version>/punktfunk.zip`. |
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| **SteamOS (on-device build)** | `git -C ~/punktfunk checkout v<x.y.z>` then `bash ~/punktfunk/scripts/steamdeck/update.sh` (no `--pull` — that would fetch `main` again). |
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| **NixOS** | `sudo nixos-rebuild switch --rollback` for the previous generation, or pin the flake input to a `v<x.y.z>` tag and rebuild. |
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Downgrading the host does **not** downgrade `~/.config/punktfunk` (Linux/SteamOS) or
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`%ProgramData%\punktfunk` (Windows), so your config, console password and paired devices carry
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across in both directions.
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## Cut a stable release (maintainer)
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1. Make sure `main` is green.
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2. (Optional) bump any user-facing version that isn't derived from the tag — the Android
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`versionName` fallback (`clients/android/app/build.gradle.kts`) is a cosmetic self-reported
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string; everything else (binaries via `PUNKTFUNK_BUILD_VERSION`, MSIX, apt/rpm, the `.dmg`, and
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the **Decky** plugin version — CI stamps it into `package.json`, where it drives the plugin's own
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[self-update check](/docs/steam-deck#updating)) derives from the tag automatically.
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3. Tag and push — **one** tag releases every platform:
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```sh
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git tag v0.2.0
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git push origin v0.2.0
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```
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4. Every platform workflow fans out, builds at `0.2.0`, publishes to its **stable** channel, and
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attaches its artifact to the `v0.2.0` Gitea Release. Concurrent attaches are safe — the shared
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`scripts/ci/gitea-release.{sh,ps1}` helper creates the release once and the rest reuse it.
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5. **Promote the app stores manually** (CI only uploads to testing tracks — see below).
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That's the whole ritual: **push a tag, done.** There is nothing else to hand-edit.
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### Versioning is derived — never hand-edited
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Every workflow gets its version number from one place, `scripts/ci/pf-version.{sh,ps1}`
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(the pwsh twin is for the Windows runners), so the number can never drift out of sync:
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- **stable** (a `vX.Y.Z` tag) → the tag version (`-rc`/`+meta` dropped where a strictly-numeric
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version is required — MSIX, the App Store marketing version).
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- **canary** (a `main` push) → **exactly one minor ahead of the latest stable tag** (latest
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`v0.6.0` → canary base `0.7.0`), with each channel's own build suffix (`-ciN`, `~ciN`,
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`<major>.<minor>.<run>`, …). Cutting `v0.7.0` automatically advances canary to `0.8.0` on the
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next `main` push.
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This means canary is **always ahead of stable** with zero maintenance — the old footgun where a
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canary showed up on TestFlight as `0.5.0` while `0.6.0` was already published is structurally
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impossible now. If you ever need the next release to be something other than the next minor (a
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major bump, or a patch), just tag it — the canary base re-derives from whatever the latest tag is.
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Pre-release tags work too: `v0.2.0-rc1` builds a real release (the `-rc1` suffix is dropped where a
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strictly-numeric version is required — MSIX, the App Store marketing version).
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### App-store publication (after the tag)
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- **Android** — a `vX.Y.Z` tag publishes straight to Google Play **production** at 100%, with no
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further click. Canary `main` builds go to Play **Internal testing**. To ramp a release gradually
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instead of shipping it to everyone at once — or to halt or roll one back — use the Play Console,
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or `android-promote.yml`, which moves a versionCode already on Play between tracks without
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rebuilding.
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- **Apple** — still manual. The build lands in **TestFlight**; promote it to the App Store from App
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Store Connect (submit for review). The notarized `.dmg` on the release page is the
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direct-download path.
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## Why two tracks (the version-shadow trap)
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apt/rpm/registries serve the **highest** version to every subscriber. If a stable release landed in
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the same channel as rolling main builds, every box would jump to it and get **stuck** — the rolling
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`0.3.0~ciN` build never climbs above a `0.3.0` release. Separate canary/stable channels remove the
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trap by construction, which is why a single `vX.Y.Z` tag can safely release the whole project at
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once (the old `host-v*` / `win-v*` / `host-win-v*` tag namespaces are retired — `v*` is the only
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release tag now).
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## Migrating an existing box to canary
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Boxes added before this split point at the current stable channels, which now only move on releases.
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Point your dev fleet at **canary**:
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```sh
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# apt
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sudo sed -i 's/ stable main/ canary main/' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/punktfunk.list
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sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
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# rpm-ostree (Bazzite / Fedora)
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sudo sed -i 's#/rpm/bazzite#/rpm/bazzite-canary#' /etc/yum.repos.d/punktfunk.repo # or fedora-44 → fedora-44-canary
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rpm-ostree upgrade
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# Flatpak (Steam Deck client)
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flatpak install --user https://flatpak.unom.io/io.unom.Punktfunk.Canary.flatpakref
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```
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