xPulse Chat – Release Day & Staging Switch Protocol

This document describes the complete flow of a release day: from the end of the test period through the production release to setting up the new staging environment for the next RC.

Overview

1
End of Test Period
2
      ↓
3
Merge RC to production & deploy
4
      ↓
5
Staging teardown (incl. log deletion)  ← promise to testers
6
      ↓
7
Prepare new RC branch
8
      ↓
9
Set up new staging
10
      ↓
11
Send out new feedback survey

1. End of Test Period

• Close feedback form (save / export responses)
• Notify testers via email / channel: "Test period ended, release follows"
• Review open feedback issues – what goes into this release, what into the next?

2. Production Release

2.1 Merge Branch

1
git checkout main
2
git merge --no-ff release/vX.Y.Z
3
git tag vX.Y.Z
4
git push origin main --tags

2.2 Deploy to Production

1
make prod-down
2
git pull
3
make prod

2.3 Smoke Test

• https://chat.xpulse.one reachable
• Login works
• Pairing works
• Version pill shows vX.Y.Z

3. Staging Teardown

Privacy promise: After each test period ends, all staging containers, volumes, and logs are completely removed. Tester activity is no longer reconstructable afterwards.

3.1 Makefile Target

1
make stage-teardown

The target handles automatically (see Makefile):

1. Stop and remove containers
2. Remove Docker volumes (-v)
3. Delete log files in var/log/stage/
4. Remove Docker images for this RC

3.2 Verify Manually

1
# No containers running anymore
2
docker ps | grep stage
3
 
4
# Log directory empty
5
ls -la var/log/stage/
6
 
7
# Subdomain no longer reachable
8
curl -I https://rc-X-Y-Z.stage.xpulse.one
9
# → should return 404 / Connection refused

• All checks passed
• Teardown timestamp noted: ____________________

4. Prepare New RC Branch

1
git checkout -b release/vA.B.C
2
# Update .env.stage:
3
# RC_VERSION=rc-A-B-C

• RC_VERSION updated in .env.stage
• CHANGELOG.md entry for vA.B.C created
• Version pill in index.html / sidebar updated
• Pull-to-refresh from v1.2.0 carried over to v1.3.0 (modules/pull-to-refresh.js)

5. Set Up New Staging

1
make stage

Smoke Test Staging

• https://rc-A-B-C.stage.xpulse.one reachable
• Login works
• Pairing works
• Version pill shows correct RC

6. New Feedback Survey

• Deploy new survey at https://rc-A-B-C.stage.xpulse.one/feedback/vA.B.C/
• Roadmap items for this version visible in the survey
• Test survey link
• Notify testers via email / channel:
  • New version available
  • Link to staging environment
  • Link to feedback survey
  • Planned test period duration

Makefile Reference

Version History of This Protocol