.gitea/workflows/release.yml

@@ -2,10 +2,31 @@ name: release
 
 # Builds and pushes the minstrel container image to the Gitea registry.
 #
+#   push to dev                  → :dev (freshly-built dev APK bundled)
 #   push to main                 → :main and :latest (latest-release APK bundled)
 #   push tag vYYYY.MM.DD.HHMM    → :vYYYY.MM.DD.HHMM and :latest (fresh APK bundled)
 #   workflow_dispatch            → manual trigger (same rules based on the ref)
 #
+# The dev channel exists so testing a build does not require shipping one.
+# Before it, the only way to get an APK onto a phone was to cut a release,
+# which made `main` the staging area by default. `:dev` carries its own
+# freshly-built APK, signed with the SAME key as release builds — a different
+# key cannot install over the stable app, so anyone crossing channels would
+# have to uninstall and lose their data.
+#
+# :dev is published ALONE, with no per-commit tag. A rolling channel is
+# rolling by definition; a commit-addressable image for it would be a
+# rollback target nobody ever pulls, kept forever. Recovery on dev is to fix
+# forward.
+#
+# Note what this repo does NOT need: a cross-repo dispatch to refresh the
+# channel when its bundled APK is rebuilt. That mechanism exists elsewhere in
+# the family because the app and the server live in separate repos. Minstrel
+# is a monorepo — one push builds the APK and the image in the same run from
+# the same commit, so the channel cannot go stale against its own artifact.
+# The requirement is satisfied structurally; copying the mechanism would add
+# a moving part to fix a problem that does not exist here.
+#
 # Release model: the tag IS the artifact's version name with a `v` in front.
 # `v2026.09.10.1432` and `2026.09.10.1432` are the same string, derived from
 # the tagged commit's UTC timestamp — so there is no mismatch to reconcile
@@ -48,7 +69,7 @@ name: release
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches: [main]
+    branches: [main, dev]
     tags: ['v*']
     paths-ignore:
       - 'docs/**'
@@ -65,8 +86,11 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   android-release:
-    name: Build signed APK (tag releases only)
+    name: Build signed APK (releases and dev)
-    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+    # Also builds on `dev`, which is what makes a test channel possible at
+    # all. Without it the only way to get a build onto a phone was to cut a
+    # release, which quietly turns `main` into the staging area.
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || github.ref == 'refs/heads/dev'
     runs-on: flutter-ci
     container:
       image: git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/ci-android:36
@@ -91,6 +115,7 @@ jobs:
     outputs:
       version_name: ${{ steps.ver.outputs.name }}
       version_code: ${{ steps.ver.outputs.code }}
+      channel: ${{ steps.ver.outputs.channel }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -115,7 +140,18 @@ jobs:
           # unverifiable until a release is already running.
           out="$(ci/version.sh HEAD)"
           printf '%s\n' "${out}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "::notice::APK $(printf '%s' "${out}" | tr '\n' ' ')"
+
+          # The channel is a property of the LANE, not of the commit, which is
+          # why it is derived here rather than in version.sh. Same commit built
+          # on dev and on main reports the same NAME and differs only here —
+          # that is the whole point of separating the two values.
+          if [ "${GITHUB_REF}" = "refs/heads/dev" ]; then
+            channel=dev
+          else
+            channel=stable
+          fi
+          echo "channel=${channel}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "::notice::APK $(printf '%s' "${out}" | tr '\n' ' ') channel=${channel}"
 
       # Checked BEFORE the expensive work, not after it. "Attach APK to gitea
       # Release" below resolves the release by tag and fails if it is absent —
@@ -127,6 +163,7 @@ jobs:
       # the release together, so this passes). A bare `git push origin vX` is the
       # case this catches.
       - name: Release must exist for this tag
+        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
         shell: bash
         working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
         env:
@@ -190,6 +227,10 @@ jobs:
           if-no-files-found: error
 
       - name: Attach APK to gitea Release
+        # Tag releases only. A dev build has no Release to hang assets on and
+        # does not need one — the :dev image bundles the APK, and the server
+        # serves it from /api/client/apk like any other.
+        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
         shell: bash
         env:
           CI_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CI_TOKEN }}
@@ -298,6 +339,15 @@ jobs:
             echo "args=-t ${IMAGE}:${VERSION} -t ${IMAGE}:latest" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             echo "version=${VERSION}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             echo "::notice::Release build: ${VERSION} + latest"
+          elif [[ "${GITHUB_REF}" == "refs/heads/dev" ]]; then
+            # The rolling test channel, and :dev ALONE — deliberately no
+            # per-commit tag. A rolling channel is rolling by definition, so a
+            # commit-addressable image here would be a rollback target nobody
+            # has ever pulled, accumulating in the registry forever. Recovery
+            # on dev is to fix forward.
+            echo "args=-t ${IMAGE}:dev" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "version=dev" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "::notice::Dev-branch build: :dev"
           else
             # Main is the protected, post-PR-merge branch. Treat it as the
             # rolling stable channel — every main push moves :latest.
@@ -316,9 +366,12 @@ jobs:
             | docker login git.fabledsword.com -u "${{ github.actor }}" --password-stdin
 
       - name: Download signed APK artifact
-        # Tag pushes only — android-release just produced this. Non-tag
+        # Tag and dev pushes — android-release just produced this. Only `main`
-        # builds take the "Bundle latest release APK" path below instead.
+        # takes the "Bundle latest release APK" path below, because it is the
-        if: steps.guard.outputs.ready == 'true' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+        # one ref that moves a channel without building an APK of its own.
+        if: >-
+          steps.guard.outputs.ready == 'true' &&
+          (startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || github.ref == 'refs/heads/dev')
         # Consuming half of the pair — never actions/download-artifact. Same fork,
         # same reason: upstream's client-side GHES check rejects this hostname
         # before it connects. bvandeusen/download-artifact mirrors
@@ -338,22 +391,26 @@ jobs:
           path: client/
 
       - name: Stage bundled APK + version sidecar
-        if: steps.guard.outputs.ready == 'true' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+        if: >-
+          steps.guard.outputs.ready == 'true' &&
+          (startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || github.ref == 'refs/heads/dev')
         shell: bash
         env:
-          # Both pulled from android-release's outputs so the sidecar the
+          # All three pulled from android-release's outputs so the sidecar the
           # server hands clients matches exactly what is baked into the APK
           # they are comparing against.
           APK_VERSION_NAME: ${{ needs.android-release.outputs.version_name }}
           APK_VERSION_CODE: ${{ needs.android-release.outputs.version_code }}
+          APK_CHANNEL: ${{ needs.android-release.outputs.channel }}
         run: |
           set -euxo pipefail
           # The artifact lands as `app-release.apk` (the original Gradle
           # output name). The Dockerfile COPYs client/* into /app/client/
           # and the server reads minstrel.apk + minstrel.apk.version.
           mv client/app-release.apk client/minstrel.apk
-          printf '{"name":"%s","code":%s,"channel":"stable"}\n' \
+          printf '{"name":"%s","code":%s,"channel":"%s"}\n' \
-            "${APK_VERSION_NAME}" "${APK_VERSION_CODE}" > client/minstrel.apk.version
+            "${APK_VERSION_NAME}" "${APK_VERSION_CODE}" "${APK_CHANNEL}" \
+            > client/minstrel.apk.version
           cat client/minstrel.apk.version
           ls -lh client/
 
@@ -365,7 +422,7 @@ jobs:
         # that build actually recorded rather than something re-derived here.
         # Degrades to an empty client/ (404 update channel) — never a wrong
         # version — if no release or APK asset can be resolved.
-        if: steps.guard.outputs.ready == 'true' && !startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+        if: steps.guard.outputs.ready == 'true' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
         shell: bash
         env:
           CI_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CI_TOKEN }}

README.md

@@ -115,8 +115,13 @@ Image tags (`git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/minstrel:<tag>`):
 - `:latest` — the newest blessed image. Moves on every `main` push **and** every release. Recommended for most operators.
 - `:vYYYY.MM.DD.HHMM` — immutable release tags, never moved or deleted. Pin one for a deployment you don't want changing under you. The tag is the build's own version name with a `v` in front, derived from the tagged commit's UTC timestamp, so two releases can never collide and a re-cut is simply a new tag.
 - `:main` — the rolling post-merge tip. Same image as `:latest` at push time; choose it if you want to track `main` explicitly rather than the release line.
+- `:dev` — the rolling test channel, rebuilt on every push to `dev` and carrying its own freshly-built Android APK. Run this when you want to try something before it ships. It moves constantly, has no per-commit tag to pin, and its only recovery path is forward — if a `:dev` image is broken, the fix is the next push, not a rollback.
 
-Every `:latest` and every `:vYYYY.MM.DD.HHMM` bundles the current signed Android APK, so the in-app update channel is always live. Database migrations run automatically at startup; rollbacks require restoring a Postgres dump.
+Every `:latest`, `:vYYYY.MM.DD.HHMM` and `:dev` bundles a signed Android APK, so the in-app update channel is always live. All of them are signed with the same key, so a phone can move between the stable and dev channels without uninstalling — point it at a `:dev` server and the in-app updater offers that channel's build.
+
+The app reports which channel it is on alongside its version, and decides whether an update is available using the build's ordering key rather than its displayed name — the same value Android installs by, so an offer it makes is one the platform will accept.
+
+Database migrations run automatically at startup; rollbacks require restoring a Postgres dump.
 
 Releases before 2026-09-10 use the older per-day `:vYYYY.MM.DD` shape. Those tags still exist and still work — they are simply not extended.
 

internal/server/release_version_test.go

@@ -177,3 +177,66 @@ func TestReleaseWorkflow_UsesTheSharedDerivation(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("release.yml derives a commit count again — that is not monotonic across branches")
 	}
 }
+
+// devArm returns the branch of "Compute image tags" that handles refs/heads/dev.
+func devArm(t *testing.T, yaml string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	const marker = `elif [[ "${GITHUB_REF}" == "refs/heads/dev" ]]; then`
+	i := strings.Index(yaml, marker)
+	if i < 0 {
+		t.Fatal("no refs/heads/dev arm in Compute image tags — the dev channel is not wired")
+	}
+	rest := yaml[i+len(marker):]
+	if j := strings.Index(rest, "\n          else"); j >= 0 {
+		return rest[:j]
+	}
+	return rest
+}
+
+// The worst regression this wiring can produce: a dev push that also moves
+// :latest would ship untested code to every stable operator, silently, on the
+// next pull. Nothing else in the suite would notice — the build stays green
+// and the image is valid, it is simply the wrong audience.
+func TestDevChannel_PublishesDevAloneAndNeverLatest(t *testing.T) {
+	body, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(repoRoot(t), ".gitea", "workflows", "release.yml"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	arm := devArm(t, string(body))
+
+	if !strings.Contains(arm, "${IMAGE}:dev") {
+		t.Errorf("dev arm does not publish :dev\n%s", arm)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(arm, ":latest") {
+		t.Errorf("dev arm moves :latest — that ships dev code to every stable operator\n%s", arm)
+	}
+	// Rule 145: a rolling channel gets no commit-addressable tag.
+	if strings.Contains(arm, "GITHUB_SHA") {
+		t.Errorf("dev arm publishes a per-commit tag; a rolling channel should not\n%s", arm)
+	}
+}
+
+// The two bundling paths must stay mutually exclusive. If the rebundle step's
+// condition were relaxed back to "not a tag", a dev push would run BOTH: stage
+// its freshly-built APK, then overwrite it with the previous release's. The
+// image would still build and the sidecar would still parse — it would just
+// quietly serve stale art to the channel whose whole job is being current.
+func TestDevChannel_RebundlePathIsMainOnly(t *testing.T) {
+	body, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(repoRoot(t), ".gitea", "workflows", "release.yml"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	yaml := string(body)
+
+	i := strings.Index(yaml, "- name: Bundle latest release APK")
+	if i < 0 {
+		t.Fatal("no 'Bundle latest release APK' step")
+	}
+	step := yaml[i:]
+	if j := strings.Index(step, "\n      - name:"); j >= 0 {
+		step = step[:j]
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(step, "github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'") {
+		t.Errorf("the rebundle step is not gated to main; a dev push would overwrite its own APK\n%s", step)
+	}
+}