AltimateAI
diff --git a/‎.claude/commands/release-beta.md‎
Lines changed: 12 additions & 1 deletion b/‎.claude/commands/release-beta.md‎
Lines changed: 12 additions & 1 deletion
diff --git a/‎.claude/commands/release.md‎
Lines changed: 108 additions & 51 deletions b/‎.claude/commands/release.md‎
Lines changed: 108 additions & 51 deletions
diff --git a/‎.github/workflows/ci.yml‎
Lines changed: 6 additions & 0 deletions b/‎.github/workflows/ci.yml‎
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diff --git a/‎.github/workflows/release.yml‎
Lines changed: 69 additions & 12 deletions b/‎.github/workflows/release.yml‎
Lines changed: 69 additions & 12 deletions
diff --git a/‎docs/RELEASING.md‎
Lines changed: 45 additions & 15 deletions b/‎docs/RELEASING.md‎
Lines changed: 45 additions & 15 deletions
@@ -91,7 +91,13 @@ DIST=$(find packages/opencode/dist -type d -name '*'"$(uname -m | sed s/arm64/ar
 # 4. marker guard
 bun run script/upstream/analyze.ts --markers --base main --strict
 
-# 5. Local Verdaccio sanity IF docker + a native-platform build are available
+# 5. Deterministic preflight (tag collisions, version sanity vs npm, prerelease
+#    ancestry, release-blocker PRs). For a beta cut from main use it as-is; for a
+#    branch beta the `base` check will FAIL by design — then rely on the manual
+#    tag verification in Step 4 instead.
+bun script/release-preflight.ts --version X.Y.Z-beta.N --stage tag --allow-prerelease
+
+# 6. Local Verdaccio sanity IF docker + a native-platform build are available
 #    (the docker image is linux; on a mac you cannot cross-build the linux NAPI dist,
 #     so this validates the current platform only — CI covers the rest):
 # (cd packages/dbt-tools && bun run build) && docker compose \
@@ -108,7 +114,12 @@ The `-beta.N` suffix is what routes to the beta channel. Do NOT omit it.
 
 ```bash
 BETA_TAG="vX.Y.Z-beta.N"
+# Fail closed on collisions — a stale local tag makes `git tag` no-op and the
+# push would publish whatever the old tag points at. Never delete-and-recreate.
+git rev-parse -q --verify "refs/tags/$BETA_TAG" && { echo "LOCAL TAG EXISTS — STOP"; exit 1; }
+git ls-remote origin "refs/tags/$BETA_TAG" | grep -q . && { echo "REMOTE TAG EXISTS — STOP"; exit 1; }
 git tag "$BETA_TAG"
+test "$(git rev-parse "$BETA_TAG")" = "$(git rev-parse HEAD)" || { echo "TAG MISMATCH — STOP"; exit 1; }
 git push origin "$BETA_TAG"     # push the TAG (not necessarily main)
 ```
 
 
@@ -509,6 +509,12 @@ jobs:
         run: bun test
         working-directory: script/upstream
 
+      - name: Run release preflight tests
+        # Root bunfig.toml pins `bun test` away from the repo root, so run from
+        # script/ — same pattern as the marker parser tests above.
+        run: bun test release-preflight.test.ts
+        working-directory: script
+
       - name: Check for missing altimate_change markers
         run: |
           if [[ "${{ github.event_name }}" == "push" ]]; then
 
@@ -181,14 +181,58 @@ jobs:
 
   publish-npm:
     name: Publish to npm
-    needs: [build, sanity-verdaccio]
+    # altimate_change — gate publishing on the test job. Previously publish-npm only
+    # needed [build, sanity-verdaccio], so npm could publish while typecheck/tests
+    # were red (found in the 2026-07-22 release retro).
+    needs: [test, build, sanity-verdaccio]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 60
     permissions:
       contents: read
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5 # v4
 
+      # altimate_change — validate the tag BEFORE any publish work. Tag-format
+      # validation previously lived in github-release, which runs AFTER publish-npm,
+      # so a malformed tag could publish to npm and only fail afterwards.
+      - name: Validate release tag
+        run: |
+          # Strict SemVer: no leading zeros in numeric identifiers, no empty
+          # prerelease identifiers (rejects v01.2.3, v1.2.3-01, v1.2.3-a..b).
+          SEMVER_ID='(0|[1-9][0-9]*|[0-9]*[A-Za-z-][0-9A-Za-z-]*)'
+          if ! echo "$CURRENT_TAG" | grep -qE "^v(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)(-${SEMVER_ID}(\.${SEMVER_ID})*)?$"; then
+            echo "::error::Invalid tag format: $CURRENT_TAG — refusing to publish"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          # Ask origin directly what the tag points to — the event payload and
+          # the checkout's local tag ref are both stale if the tag was force-moved
+          # between the push event and this job. An unforced `git fetch` would
+          # refuse to clobber the local tag, so ls-remote is the authority.
+          LS=$(git ls-remote origin "refs/tags/$CURRENT_TAG" "refs/tags/$CURRENT_TAG^{}") || {
+            echo "::error::Could not query origin for tag $CURRENT_TAG"
+            exit 1
+          }
+          # Annotated tags list a peeled ^{} line pointing at the commit; prefer it.
+          TAG_SHA=$(echo "$LS" | grep '\^{}' | cut -f1 | head -1)
+          [ -z "$TAG_SHA" ] && TAG_SHA=$(echo "$LS" | cut -f1 | head -1)
+          if [ -z "$TAG_SHA" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Tag $CURRENT_TAG no longer exists on origin — refusing to publish"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          HEAD_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+          if [ "$TAG_SHA" != "$HEAD_SHA" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Tag $CURRENT_TAG points at $TAG_SHA on origin but workflow checked out $HEAD_SHA (tag moved since the push event?)"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          VERSION="${CURRENT_TAG#v}"
+          if ! grep -q "\[$VERSION\]" CHANGELOG.md && [ "${CURRENT_TAG#*-}" = "$CURRENT_TAG" ]; then
+            echo "::error::CHANGELOG.md has no entry for $VERSION — stable releases require a changelog entry"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "Tag validation passed: $CURRENT_TAG @ $TAG_SHA"
+        env:
+          CURRENT_TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+
       - uses: oven-sh/setup-bun@ecf28ddc73e819eb6fa29df6b34ef8921c743461 # v2
         with:
           bun-version: "1.3.14"
@@ -276,9 +320,19 @@ jobs:
             # comment for why this matters. The binary must start without
             # walking the workspace for node_modules.
             cd "${RUNNER_TEMP:-/tmp}"
-            env -u NODE_PATH "$BINARY" --version
-            echo "Pre-publish smoke test passed"
+            # altimate_change — assert the EXACT version, not just "it starts".
+            # The 2026-07-22 release retro found a smoke test once validated a
+            # stale binary (0.7.3) while releasing 0.9.2.
+            REPORTED=$(env -u NODE_PATH "$BINARY" --version)
+            EXPECTED="${CURRENT_TAG#v}"
+            if [ "$REPORTED" != "$EXPECTED" ]; then
+              echo "::error::Binary reports version '$REPORTED' but tag says '$EXPECTED'"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            echo "Pre-publish smoke test passed ($REPORTED)"
           fi
+        env:
+          CURRENT_TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
 
       - name: Publish to npm
         run: bun run packages/opencode/script/publish.ts
@@ -321,15 +375,18 @@ jobs:
 
           # Get the previous tag.
           # altimate_change — pick the newest STABLE tag that is an ANCESTOR of this
-          # commit, excluding the current tag and any prerelease (-beta etc). Plain
-          # `--sort=-version:refname | head -2 | tail -1` picked the 2nd-highest tag by
-          # name, which for a stable release lands on a prerelease or a stray/divergent
-          # tag (e.g. a dangling v0.9.0), producing a bogus compare range. Restricting to
-          # `--merged HEAD` non-prerelease tags yields the real previous release.
-          PREV_TAG=$(git tag --merged HEAD --sort=-version:refname \
-            | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' \
-            | grep -vx "$CURRENT_TAG" \
-            | head -1)
+          # commit AND strictly LOWER than the current tag. Excluding only equality is
+          # not enough: if upstream history is ever merged, fork-inherited tags (e.g.
+          # v1.18.3) would beat the real previous release for a v0.9.x target and the
+          # compare range would silently omit history.
+          PREV_TAG=""
+          for t in $(git tag --merged HEAD --sort=-version:refname | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$'); do
+            if [ "$t" != "$CURRENT_TAG" ] && \
+               [ "$(printf '%s\n%s\n' "$t" "$CURRENT_TAG" | sort -V | head -1)" = "$t" ]; then
+              PREV_TAG="$t"
+              break
+            fi
+          done
 
           # Generate changelog from commits between tags
           echo "## What's Changed" > notes.md
 
@@ -34,7 +34,22 @@ The version is injected into the binary via esbuild defines at compile time.
 
 ## Release Process
 
-### 1. Update CHANGELOG.md
+### 1. Run preflight (before touching anything)
+
+**MANDATORY** — the deterministic gate. Run it while the tree is still clean;
+it fails on a dirty worktree by design:
+
+```bash
+# Checks: clean tree, HEAD == fresh origin/main, no tag collisions (local OR
+# remote), version sanity vs npm, prerelease-line ancestry, release-blocker
+# PRs, PREV_TAG dry-run, marker guard.
+bun script/release-preflight.ts --version 0.5.0 --stage pre
+```
+
+Do NOT proceed if any check fails. If it reports a tag collision, resolve it
+explicitly — never delete-and-recreate a tag blind.
+
+### 2. Update CHANGELOG.md
 
 Add a new section at the top of `CHANGELOG.md`:
 
@@ -48,42 +63,57 @@ Add a new section at the top of `CHANGELOG.md`:
 - ...
 ```
 
-### 2. Run pre-release sanity check
+### 3. Run pre-release sanity check
 
 **MANDATORY** — this catches broken binaries before they reach users:
 
 ```bash
-cd packages/opencode
-bun run pre-release
+(cd packages/opencode && OPENCODE_VERSION=0.5.0 bun run pre-release)
 ```
 
-This verifies:
+`pre-release` verifies:
 - All required NAPI externals are in `package.json` dependencies
 - They're installed in `node_modules`
 - A local build produces a binary that actually starts
 
 Do NOT proceed if any check fails.
 
-### 3. Commit and tag
+### 4. Commit, re-preflight, tag, push
+
+Stage files **individually** — never `git add -A` (release worktrees carry
+scratch files that must not ship in the release commit). Releasing does not
+require being literally on the `main` branch: the invariant is that a clean
+HEAD equals freshly fetched `origin/main` (worktrees push via `HEAD:main`).
 
 ```bash
-git add -A
+git add CHANGELOG.md <other release files>
 git commit -m "release: v0.5.0"
+
+# Re-run preflight now that the release commit exists. Stage `tag` allows
+# local commits ahead of origin/main (the tree must be clean again).
+bun script/release-preflight.ts --version 0.5.0 --stage tag || exit 1
+
 git tag v0.5.0
-git push origin main v0.5.0
+# Verify the tag points at HEAD BEFORE pushing — a pre-existing tag makes
+# `git tag` silently fail, and pushing a stale tag publishes old code.
+test "$(git rev-parse v0.5.0)" = "$(git rev-parse HEAD)" || exit 1
+# Atomic: branch and tag land together or not at all.
+git push --atomic origin HEAD:main v0.5.0
 ```
 
-### 4. What happens automatically
+### 5. What happens automatically
 
 The `v*` tag triggers `.github/workflows/release.yml` which:
 
-1. **Builds** all platform binaries (linux/darwin/windows, x64/arm64)
-2. **Publishes to npm** — platform-specific binary packages + wrapper package
-3. **Creates GitHub Release** — with auto-generated release notes and binary attachments
-4. **Updates AUR** — pushes PKGBUILD update to `altimate-code-bin`
-5. **Publishes Docker image** — to `ghcr.io/altimateai/altimate-code`
+1. **Runs release-critical tests** — typecheck + branding/install tests (gates npm publish)
+2. **Builds** all platform binaries (linux/darwin/windows, x64/arm64)
+3. **Validates the tag** — format, tag-SHA == checked-out SHA, CHANGELOG entry present (before any publish)
+4. **Publishes to npm** — platform-specific binary packages + wrapper package
+5. **Creates GitHub Release** — with auto-generated release notes and binary attachments
+6. **Publishes Docker image (best-effort)** — to `ghcr.io/altimateai/altimate-code`; failures are logged but do NOT fail the release, so verify manually if you need the image
+7. ~~Updates AUR~~ — currently **disabled** (the workflow step is commented out; see `publish.ts` for setup steps to re-enable)
 
-### 5. Verify
+### 6. Verify
 
 After the workflow completes: