Release record · 01 of 03 · The shape
One release, and where each step is written
A release is followed from the moment the one before it ships until anyone can say how it went. Every step a person decides lands in git as a commit or a pull request. Only the part that is still moving lives on a cluster.
One release, and where each step is written
Top row, the six stages of one release, named when its draft opens: the draft opens as the previous release ships; the release PR carries the sign-off before it merges; the release rolls out while Argo Rollouts sends facts; the record is sealed once the release is healthy in its first Flight environment; it bakes for seven days in production; and it ends with an outcome, clean or rolled back. Middle row, where each step is written down: the draft is next.yaml, a direct commit to the app repo; the release PR is a reviewed PR in the app's gitops repo; rollout state is a tracking ConfigMap on the dev cluster, swept after 14 days, not git; the sealed record is a PR adding releases/<app>@<tag> to the gitops repo; baking is read live and not stored; and the outcome is a second PR to the same record file. Bottom row, the release modes that decide what the release PR needs: Hand-flown, an approving review from one of the app's owners; Assisted, the default, where a person merges and Tower notes who; and Autoland, no human, not built yet.
ONE RELEASE · NAMED WHEN ITS DRAFT OPENS WRITTEN DOWN AS WHO DECIDES AT THE RELEASE PR · RELEASE MODES Draft opens as the last ships next.yaml direct commit · app repo Release PR sign-off before merge Release PR gitops-<app> · reviewed Rolling out Rollout facts arrive Tracking record ConfigMap · swept at 14d Sealed healthy in first Flight Record PR releases/<app>@<tag> Baking 7 days in production Nothing saved read live, not stored Outcome clean or rolled back Outcome PR the same record file Hand-flown an owner's approving review Assisted · the default a person merges, Tower notes who Autoland no human · not built yet Git gets every decision. The cluster keeps only what is still moving. LEGEND A stage A commit or a PR Cluster state, not git Computed, not saved Not built
The draft exists before any pull request does, so notes get written while the work merges, not the night before.
The record is a YAML file in the app's gitops repo, added by a pull request. Tower reads it back; it never owns it.
A release is not done at healthy. The outcome is written into the same file once the bake window says how it went.