# 1. AWS Internal - Accelerator Release Process

## 1.1. Creating a new Accelerator Code Release

1. Ensure `main` branch is in a suitable state
2. Disable branch protection for both the `main` branch and for the `release/` branches
3. Create a version branch with [SemVer](https://semver.org/) semantics and a `release/` prefix: e.g. `release/v1.0.5` or `release/v1.0.5-b` using github UI or using the commands below

    - On latest `main`, run: `git checkout -b release/vX.Y.Z`
    - **Important:** Certain git operations are ambiguous if tags and branches have the same name. Using the `release/` prefix reserves the actual version name for the tag itself; i.e. every `release/vX.Y.Z` branch will have a corresponding `vX.Y.Z` tag.
    - Push that branch to GitHub (if created locally)
        - `git push origin release/vX.Y.Z`

4. The release workflow will run, and create a **DRAFT** release if successful with all commits since the last tagged release.
5. Prune the commits that have been added to the release notes (e.g. remove any low-information commits)
6. Publish the release - this creates the git tag in the repo and marks the release as latest. It also bumps the `version` key in several project `package.json` files.
7. Re-enable branch protection for both the `main` branch and for the `release/` branches

    - Note: The `Publish` operation will run [the following GitHub Action][action], which merges the `release/vX.Y.Z` branch to `main`. **Branch Protection in GitHub will cause this to fail**, and why we are momentarily disabling branch protection.

    [action]: https://github.com/aws-samples/aws-secure-environment-accelerator/blob/main/.github/workflows/publish.yml

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