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CI/CD and release flow

This guide explains how GitHub Actions and the pyrevit build CLI work together: integrating work on develop (WIP builds), shipping from master (releases), and how versions are bumped.

Branches and roles

Branch Role
develop Day-to-day integration. Merged PRs produce WIP builds and tester notifications.
master Release line. Merges here drive release builds, a draft GitHub Release, Chocolatey publish, and an automatic patch bump on develop.

Feature work branches from develop. Changes reach develop and master through pull requests (and maintainers can also trigger the workflow manually on master).

Workflow: pyRevitCI

The pipeline lives in .github/workflows/main.yml as job pyRevitCI.

Triggers

  • Pull requests targeting develop or master: events opened, reopened, and closed (merge is a closed event with merged == true).
  • workflow_dispatch: manual run from the Actions tab.

PR pushes do not re-run CI

The workflow does not subscribe to synchronize. New commits pushed to an open PR do not trigger another run. Close and reopen the PR, or merge and follow up, if you need a fresh CI run after fixes.

Path filter

PRs only trigger the workflow if they change files under:

  • bin/, dev/, extensions/, pyrevitlib/, release/, or site-packages/

Doc-only or other out-of-scope changes may skip CI entirely.

Official repository vs forks

Many steps run only when github.repository is pyrevitlabs/pyRevit:

  • Environment check, copyright year, WIP/release build stamping, signing, commits, tags, GitHub Release, Chocolatey, issue notifications.

Forks still get checkout, pipenv, and unsigned product and installer builds (useful for validation).

Feature or fix → develop (WIP)

  1. Create a branch from develop, implement the change, open a PR into develop (touch paths under the filter if you need CI).

  2. After the PR is merged into develop, the workflow sets WipRun. On the main repo it:

    • Runs pipenv run pyrevit set build wip (refreshes the build segment and applies WIP versioning; see dev/_props.py).
    • Runs pipenv run pyrevit set products, then pipenv run pyrevit build products, signs binaries, pipenv run pyrevit build installers, and uploads installer artifacts.
    • Runs pipenv run pyrevit notify wip with the Actions run URL so linked issues can be updated for testers.

Merge to develop ⇒ WIP build and notification, not a public GitHub Release.

develop → master (release)

  1. Open a PR from develop into master and merge when ready.

  2. That merge sets ReleaseRun. On the main repo the workflow:

    • Runs pipenv run pyrevit set build release.
    • Builds and signs products and installers (same overall shape as WIP).
    • Generates release notes: pipenv run pyrevit report releasenotes → release_notes.md.
    • Runs pipenv run pyrevit build commit: commits metadata with message Publish! [skip ci], creates tags v<build-version> and cli-v<build-version>, pushes commits and tags (dev/_release.py).
    • Publishes a draft GitHub Release (title uses the install version) and attaches installers.
    • Pushes the Chocolatey package.
    • Notifies linked issues: pipenv run pyrevit notify release with the release URL.
    • Checks out develop, rebases on origin/develop, runs pipenv run pyrevit set next-version, and pushes develop (patch bump + commit Next Version [skip ci]).

Manual release

Running workflow_dispatch on master also sets ReleaseRun, so the same release steps can run without a PR merge when maintainers need it.

Version files and commands

File Purpose
pyrevitlib/pyrevit/version Full build version string used across the product.
release/version Install / marketing version used for installers and the release title.

CI invokes the pyrevit CLI from the repo root (via pipenv); relevant commands:

Command When / purpose
pipenv run pyrevit set year Updates copyright year (CI on main repo, before stamping).
pipenv run pyrevit set build wip After merge to develop.
pipenv run pyrevit set build release Release build on master.
pipenv run pyrevit set products Refreshes product metadata before build products.
pipenv run pyrevit set version <ver> Manual bump, e.g. 4.8.0; tooling adds build/time segments (and WIP suffix when used in that mode).
pipenv run pyrevit set next-version Patch bump on develop after a release (normally done by CI).

Quick reference

Goal Action
Validate a change in CI PR to develop; ensure changed paths match the workflow filter.
WIP installers + issue ping Merge PR → develop.
Ship a release Merge develop → master (or dispatch workflow on master).
Publish the release Open the draft release on GitHub and publish when ready.
Next dev version after release Usually automatic via set next-version on develop after release.