v0.1.0-alpha.1 Release Gate Checklist

This checklist defines the evidence required before releasing v0.1.0-alpha.1. The alpha release cutline is declared in release/floe-release.yaml.

Current status: Evidence gate blocked on release tooling, live infrastructure validation, and Customer 360 observability proof. The release-candidate validation record for 2026-05-13 is linked below. Do not run the real prepare-release.yml workflow until the missing make test-contract target is resolved or waived, and the DevPod+Hetzner plus AWS S3+Glue live lanes pass with accurate failure taxonomy in the release evidence bundle. Do not tag or publish a GitHub Release until the Customer 360 observability proof records fresh logs, traces, metrics, and lineage for the same product run ID.

Release-candidate commit validated on this branch: d3a30c43b78e4778b85e69d0989810b0358c0fc5.

Latest branch head after evidence and release-safety fixes: 4dd1461ffd0633375fe5bf3d8a1c21daa36e8f12.

Tracking

Release milestone: v0.1.0-alpha.1

Execution plan: v0.1.0-alpha.1 Execution Plan

Release gates:

Issue	Status	Notes
#263 Decouple Dagster Iceberg export from floe-iceberg internals	Post-alpha / non-blocking	Labeled `post-alpha`. Alpha scope requires Iceberg-backed Customer 360; Dagster without `floe-iceberg` remains post-alpha architecture debt.
#278 Release gate: assess contract-layer hard reset before alpha tag	Closed	Contract-layer worktree assessed; valuable ideas deferred to post-alpha.
#284 Release gate: triage open tech-debt backlog for alpha cutline	Closed	Tech-debt issues classified; non-blocking items labeled `post-alpha`.
#285 Release gate: run final DevPod + Hetzner validation lane	Closed	Earlier full DevPod E2E evidence exists; the manifest-driven release gate still requires current-main evidence or explicit accepted evidence in the release bundle.
#288 Release gate: validate docs and demo walkthrough	Closed	Persona walkthrough evidence recorded.
#289 Release gate: prepare release notes, tag, and rollback posture	This checklist	Final gate. Close after the manifest-driven evidence bundle is complete.

Release rule: do not run prepare-release.yml with dry_run=false while any alpha-blocker issue remains open. Do not create the tag manually. Do not create or publish a GitHub Release before every required gate below passes or is explicitly waived in the release evidence bundle.

Manifest Cutline

release/floe-release.yaml declares 15 alpha Python packages in the publish set. These packages have not been published by this checklist task:

floe-core
floe-iceberg
floe-orchestrator-dagster
floe-catalog-polaris
floe-storage-minio
floe-compute-duckdb
floe-dbt-core
floe-ingestion-dlt
floe-telemetry-jaeger
floe-rbac-k8s
floe-network-security-k8s
floe-lineage-marquez
floe-quality-gx
floe-storage-aws-s3
floe-catalog-glue

The manifest excludes 11 packages from the alpha publish set:

floe-alert-slack
floe-alert-email
floe-alert-alertmanager
floe-alert-webhook
floe-identity-keycloak
floe-secrets-infisical
floe-secrets-k8s
floe-semantic-cube
floe-dbt-fusion
floe-telemetry-console
floe-quality-dbt

Excluded packages must not be included in the alpha PyPI token-based publish set until their composition path is proven.

Helm alpha policy: helm.alpha_policy: publish, with helm.charts set to charts/floe-platform and charts/floe-jobs. This records manifest policy only; no Helm chart publication was performed by this checklist task.

Required Gates

Gate	Required evidence	Status
Release SHA	Current `main` SHA recorded before tag	Branch release-candidate SHA recorded: `d3a30c43b78e4778b85e69d0989810b0358c0fc5`; final `main` SHA still required before tag
Manifest validation	`uv run python -m testing.release.cli validate --manifest release/floe-release.yaml --tag v0.1.0-alpha.1`	Passed on 2026-05-13; 15 publish-set packages, 11 excluded packages
Package build dry-run	Manifest package build output for 15 wheels and 15 sdists	Passed on 2026-05-13; 15 wheels and 15 sdists built, `.release-build/alpha-dist` removed afterward
Current-main CI	Required release checks green on the release SHA	Blocked by release tooling gap: local `make test-contract` target is absent; `make test-unit`, `make lint`, and `make typecheck` passed
Security scans	Bandit, dependency audit, and detect-secrets release checks	Pending
DevPod+Hetzner full E2E	Full remote E2E evidence from current `main`, including workspace name and cleanup proof	Infrastructure failure on 2026-05-13 before tests ran; Hetzner server creation timed out for workspace `floe-alpha-rc-20260513-123857`; cleanup verified
Customer 360 observability proof	`make demo-customer-360-run` plus `make demo-customer-360-validate` evidence showing queryable logs, metrics, traces, and lineage for the same run ID	Pending current-main proof; release tag and GitHub Release are blocked until this passes
AWS S3+Glue live validation	Live `tests/integration/test_aws_provider_live.py` result through DevPod+Hetzner	Infrastructure failure on 2026-05-13 before AWS test ran; Hetzner server creation timed out for workspace `floe-provider-20260513-125105`
AWS cleanup	`scripts/aws-provider-test-cleanup.sh` output for the release run	Passed for `FLOE_PROVIDER_SPIKE_RUN=floe-provider-20260513T125105Z`; S3 prefix and Glue database cleanup checks passed
Hetzner cleanup	DevPod workspace deletion and direct Hetzner resource inventory	Passed after manual direct provider cleanup; no current-run `floe-734a5`, `floe-alpha`, or `floe-provi` resources remained
PyPI publish set	Published projects exactly match the 15 manifest packages	Pending until after tag
Helm manifest policy	Helm release behavior matches `helm.alpha_policy` and `helm.charts`	Manifest policy recorded: `publish`; charts `charts/floe-platform`, `charts/floe-jobs`; no chart publication performed

Previous Validation Records

These records are useful context, but they do not replace the manifest-driven release evidence bundle unless the release manifest or final evidence summary explicitly accepts them.

2026-04-29 Alpha Customer 360 Release Validation
2026-04-30 Alpha Docs Quality Review
2026-05-02 Alpha Docs And Demo Walkthrough
2026-05-13 Alpha Release Candidate Validation
DevPod E2E validation artifact: test-artifacts/devpod-run-20260504T055244Z-82334/ (local, 2026-05-04)

Distribution

Channel	Gate	Details
GitHub Release	Evidence bundle complete before tag	`prepare-release.yml` creates the tag and GitHub Release only after all gates pass, including Customer 360 observability proof
PyPI packages	`PYPI_API_TOKEN` access for the 15 manifest packages	`pypi-publish.yml` publishes only `python_packages.publish` from successful Prepare Release metadata
Helm charts	Manifest policy check	`helm-release.yaml` may release `helm.charts` when `helm.alpha_policy` allows

Known Alpha Limitations

The alpha release requires Customer 360 validation with Iceberg enabled.
Dagster without floe-iceberg installed is not part of the alpha promise.
Customer 360’s alpha query proof is command-based business metric validation against generated Iceberg outputs.
Cube and alert/secret/identity packages are excluded from the alpha publish cutline until their composition paths are proven.
PyPI package publishing for this alpha uses secrets.PYPI_API_TOKEN in the pypi GitHub environment (see docs/guides/pypi-trusted-publishers.md).
No Windows or macOS-specific testing; alpha validation is Linux-based.

Release Command

Do not run with dry_run=false until the dry run passes and PYPI_API_TOKEN publishing access is verified for the 15 manifest packages. Do not create the tag manually.

gh workflow run prepare-release.yml \
  --repo Obsidian-Owl/floe \
  -f version=v0.1.0-alpha.1 \
  -f dry_run=true

gh workflow run prepare-release.yml \
  --repo Obsidian-Owl/floe \
  -f version=v0.1.0-alpha.1 \
  -f dry_run=false

This triggers:

prepare-release.yml - validates the manifest, runs all release gates, creates the tag, and creates the GitHub Release.
pypi-publish.yml - builds and publishes the 15 manifest packages to PyPI from release metadata.

Helm chart release is governed separately by helm-release.yaml and the manifest Helm policy.

The release evidence bundle must include the Customer 360 run ID, Loki-compatible log query and count, Prometheus-compatible metric query and fresh samples, trace query and span inventory, Marquez product run plus model/table ParentRunFacet evidence, and product-vs-infra failure classification. Grafana screenshots or dashboard links are optional evidence when the target platform provisions Grafana.

Weekly failures and release-gate failures create or update GitHub issues with the failed gate, classification, cleanup status, and workflow run link. A failed release gate creates no tag, no GitHub Release, and no PyPI publication.

Rollback Procedure

If the tag must be reverted after push:

# Delete the remote tag (stops any in-progress workflows)
git push origin :refs/tags/v0.1.0-alpha.1

# Delete the local tag
git tag -d v0.1.0-alpha.1

# Delete the GitHub Release (if created)
gh release delete v0.1.0-alpha.1 --repo Obsidian-Owl/floe --yes

# PyPI packages cannot be deleted, only yanked
# Yank published versions (prevents pip install, shows warning):
# pip install pypi-yank  # or use the PyPI web UI per-package

PyPI caveat: yanked versions are still installable with ==exact_version but won’t appear in resolution. The same version number cannot be re-uploaded. If the release is bad, bump to v0.1.0-alpha.2 with the fix.