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magnus919_agent-skills/platform-engineering/references/release-engineering.md
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Magnus HedemarkandGitHub c7c4d3b74f Port 11 methodology skills from hermes-profiles (#69)
Engineering: backend-engineering, frontend-engineering, data-engineering,
ml-engineering, platform-engineering, qa-methodology

Executive: go-to-market, legal-strategy, operational-design, org-design,
product-strategy

ml-engineering: added missing training-infrastructure.md reference
qa-methodology: added test-data-management, performance-testing,
security-testing references

All frontmatter converted to agent-skills convention.
Source: https://github.com/magnus919/hermes-profiles
2026-07-21 00:58:26 -04:00

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Release Engineering for Infrastructure Artifacts

Release engineering for infrastructure artifacts differs from open source releases. Infrastructure artifacts — container images, Helm charts, Terraform modules, Compose stacks — have different publication patterns, versioning strategies, and verification requirements.

Artifact Types and Publication Targets

Artifact Type Publication Target Versioning Verification
Container image Container registry (GHCR, Docker Hub, ECR) Git SHA + semver tags Image scan, size check, smoke test
Helm chart OCI registry, chart repo Chart.yaml version, semver helm template dry-run, install test
Terraform module Git tag, registry Semver tag terraform validate, tflint
Docker Compose stack Git tag Semver or date tag docker compose config, smoke test
Internal package Private registry (PyPI, npm) Semver + pre-release label Build, install, import test

Container Image Lifecycle

Build → Tag → Scan → Sign → Push → Verify → Deploy
Step Tooling Success Criteria
Build docker build, buildkit, ko Exit code 0, image ID captured
Tag docker tag with SHA + semver + "latest" Tags applied to build image
Scan Trivy, Grype, Snyk No critical/high CVEs, or exceptions documented
Sign cosign Signature attached to image
Push docker push, crane Registry confirms digest
Verify cosign verify, digest comparison Signature valid, digest matches
Deploy Helm upgrade, kubectl apply, compose up Pods healthy, endpoint responds

Versioning Strategies

Strategy When to Use Example
Git SHA only Development, CI-only artifacts sha-a1b2c3d
Semver tags Public-facing releases, API consumers v1.2.3
Date-based Internal rollups without consumer compatibility 2026-06-01
Semver + pre-release Release candidates, staging deployments v1.2.3-rc.1
Git SHA + semver Production — both for traceability and semantics v1.2.3-sha-a1b2c3d

Release Gate Checklist

Before promoting any artifact to production:

  • All tests pass (unit, integration, E2E)
  • Security scan passes with no unexcepted critical/high CVEs
  • Image is signed (for containerized deployments)
  • Changelog entry exists for the release
  • Rollback plan documented (previous version, restore command)
  • Smoke test passes against staging
  • Release notes drafted for communication