feat(release): weekly release train — channels, onboarding, dashboard banner, cron

[suraj-markup]

Summary

Implements the full release pipeline described in release-process.html. Combines what would otherwise be five separate PRs into one cohesive landing.

Supersedes #1525 — incorporates that PR's release infrastructure (canary + release workflows, changeset config, publishConfig on every package) with the cron / no-stale-SHA-guard / no-merged-PR-comment modifications called out in the design doc.

Sections (mapped to the design doc)

A. Cron tweaks + release infrastructure

• .github/workflows/canary.yml — cron: '30 17 * * 5,6,0,1,2' (23:00 IST Fri–Tue) plus workflow_dispatch. No stale-SHA guard (cron uses ref: main); no merged-PR-comment step (no merged-PR context from cron).
• .github/workflows/release.yml — changesets/action opens a "version packages" PR; merging it publishes @latest.
• .changeset/config.json — adds snapshot.prereleaseTemplate: '{tag}-{commit}', moves the now-private @aoagents/ao-web to ignore[], includes all currently-shipped plugins in the linked group.
• packages/web/package.json — "private": true so changeset publish never tries to push the dashboard.
• All publishable packages get publishConfig: { access: "public", provenance: true }.

B. Channel awareness — packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts

• New updateChannel field in GlobalConfigSchema (stable | nightly | manual, default manual). Schema is .optional().catch(undefined) so legacy / typo'd values don't break config load.
• fetchLatestVersion(channel) now reads dist-tags[channel] from the registry (full package doc, not the per-tag URL) and falls back to latest if nightly isn't published yet.
• isVersionOutdated compares prerelease segments numerically + lexically per semver — SHA-suffixed nightlies (0.5.0-nightly-abc < 0.5.0-nightly-def) sort correctly.
• maybeShowUpdateNotice and scheduleBackgroundRefresh skip entirely on manual so opted-out users see no traffic and no nudges.
• Cache file gains a channel field; entries from a different channel are ignored.

C. Active-session guard — packages/cli/src/commands/update.ts

• ensureNoActiveSessions() runs before any install. Lists sessions, refuses with N session(s) active. Run ao stop first. if any are in working/idle/needs_input/stuck. Never auto-stops.
• Same guard duplicated in POST /api/update so the dashboard returns a structured 409 { activeSessions, message }.

D. Onboarding question + ao config set

• packages/cli/src/lib/update-channel-onboarding.ts — prompts once on first ao start. Ask-once gate keyed on the absence of updateChannel in the global config; dismissal persists manual so we don't re-ask.
• ao config set updateChannel <stable|nightly|manual> — also handles installMethod. New packages/cli/src/commands/config.ts.
• runStartup calls maybePromptForUpdateChannel() after preflight.

E. Dashboard banner

• GET /api/version (packages/web/src/app/api/version/route.ts) reads the same cache file the CLI writes ($XDG_CACHE_HOME/ao/update-check.json). Cache-only; never makes a network call inside a request handler.
• POST /api/update (packages/web/src/app/api/update/route.ts) runs the active-session guard, then spawns ao update detached.
• UpdateBanner.tsx — top-of-page strip wired into Dashboard.tsx. Visible only when isOutdated. Click POSTs to /api/update. Dismissal persists per-version in localStorage; a newer version reappears the banner. Tailwind only, var(--color-*) tokens, no inline styles.

F. Bun + Homebrew detection

• classifyInstallPath adds /Cellar/ao/ (homebrew, notice-only — brew upgrade ao, never auto-install because brew owns the symlinks) and ~/.bun/install/global/ (auto-installs bun add -g @aoagents/ao@<channel>). Cellar check runs first because brew nests the npm tree under lib/node_modules/.
• New installMethod global-config field overrides path detection for users with custom prefixes.

Test plan

New tests added (155 total, all green):

• update-check.test.ts — channel resolution, prerelease compare (rc.1 < rc.2, nightly SHA suffixes), dist-tags fetch, channel-mismatched cache, manual-channel skip, bun/homebrew classifiers, installMethod override, channel-aware getUpdateCommand.
• update.test.ts — active-session guard (refuse on working/idle/needs_input/stuck, allow terminal statuses), soft auto-install (skip prompt on stable/nightly, prompt on manual), homebrew notice-only.
• update-channel-onboarding.test.ts — ask-once gate, dismissal persists manual, no re-prompt after persistence.
• version-update-api.test.ts — channel-aware cache reading, channel-mismatched entries ignored, 409 active-session refusal, 202 happy path.
• UpdateBanner.test.tsx — hides on up-to-date, hides on manual, hides when dismissed for current latest, re-appears for new version, POST + 409 surface.

CI:

• pnpm typecheck clean
• pnpm lint clean (0 errors; 50 pre-existing warnings, none in changed code)
• pnpm --filter @aoagents/ao-cli test — 92 update-check + 34 update-command + 11 onboarding tests pass; same 10 pre-existing failures observed on main still present (environment-dependent: /private path canonicalization, ~/.agent-orchestrator/ state).
• pnpm --filter @aoagents/ao-web test — 18 new tests pass; same 2 pre-existing projects-route failures still present.

Manual verification needed

The release workflows themselves can only be exercised by merging — the cron schedule won't trigger from a feature branch and the release environment requires NPM_TOKEN. The dashboard banner can be exercised locally by writing a stub cache file:

mkdir -p ~/.cache/ao && cat > ~/.cache/ao/update-check.json <<JSON
{"latestVersion":"99.0.0","checkedAt":"$(date -Iseconds)","currentVersionAtCheck":"$(node -p "require('@aoagents/ao/package.json').version")","channel":"stable"}
JSON
ao config set updateChannel stable
ao start

Closes #1525

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[github-actions]

Test Coverage Report

Metric	Value
Lines covered	2739/3398
Lines not covered	659/3398
Overall coverage	80.6%

Per-file breakdown

File	Coverage
packages/cli/src/commands/config.ts	19/89 (21.3%)
packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts	853/1225 (69.6%)
packages/cli/src/commands/update.ts	244/259 (94.2%)
packages/cli/src/lib/update-channel-onboarding.ts	55/63 (87.3%)
packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts	310/329 (94.2%)
packages/cli/src/program.ts	57/58 (98.3%)
packages/core/src/global-config.ts	302/366 (82.5%)
packages/core/src/update-cache.ts	0/16 (0.0%)
packages/core/src/version-compare.ts	34/34 (100.0%)
packages/web/src/app/api/update/route.ts	56/64 (87.5%)
packages/web/src/app/api/version/route.ts	31/33 (93.9%)
packages/web/src/components/Dashboard.tsx	678/753 (90.0%)
packages/web/src/components/UpdateBanner.tsx	100/109 (91.7%)

Uncovered lines

• packages/cli/src/commands/config.ts: L28-L30, L32-L39, L41-L53, L55-L69, L71-L80, L91-L104, L111-L117
• packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts: L116-L117, L128-L130, L133-L135, L137, L139-L143, L146-L147, L149, L151-L155, L157-L159, L199-L200, L205-L223, L225-L232, L234-L235, L241-L247, L249, L280-L281, L295-L297, L306-L307, L310-L334, L379-L393, L395-L398, L400-L414, L442, L453, L477-L478, L481-L482, L490-L491, L498-L503, L541-L542, L566-L569, L583-L584, L591-L601, L604-L605, L629-L630, L633-L637, L645-L652, L659-L660, L697-L700, L715-L720, L737-L739, L741-L748, L750-L752, L754-L759, L761-L762, L861-L864, L911, L933-L941, L969-L977, L985-L989, L998-L1000, L1033-L1034, L1050-L1051, L1057-L1058, L1060-L1061, L1065, L1120-L1121, L1139-L1144, L1177-L1178, L1184-L1185, L1256, L1276-L1277, L1361-L1362, L1414-L1431, L1488, L1522-L1524, L1547-L1554, L1581-L1589, L1600-L1601, L1635-L1636, L1644-L1655, L1658, L1674, L1680, L1683-L1691, L1701-L1702, L1743-L1746, L1749, L1751-L1753, L1758-L1759, L1768-L1772, L1774-L1775, L1784-L1785, L1795-L1800, L1836-L1842
• packages/cli/src/commands/update.ts: L147-L148, L156-L162, L177-L178, L191-L192, L201-L202
• packages/cli/src/lib/update-channel-onboarding.ts: L51-L52, L123-L128
• packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts: L97-L98, L107-L108, L125-L126, L146-L148, L150-L151, L222-L223, L242-L243, L339-L340, L405-L406
• packages/cli/src/program.ts: L59
• packages/core/src/global-config.ts: L26, L38, L97, L381-L382, L404, L427, L447-L449, L452, L471, L478, L486-L487, L489, L492, L522-L524, L537-L539, L541-L543, L545-L546, L548-L550, L600, L617, L625-L631, L634, L661, L671, L720-L721, L733, L742, L881, L889, L978, L989, L991, L995, L997, L999, L1003, L1110, L1143, L1155-L1156, L1212-L1214, L1223
• packages/core/src/update-cache.ts: L53-L55, L60-L64, L66, L82-L87, L92
• packages/web/src/app/api/update/route.ts: L91-L98
• packages/web/src/app/api/version/route.ts: L37-L38
• packages/web/src/components/Dashboard.tsx: L62-L63, L88-L89, L136, L230, L309-L335, L346-L348, L353-L355, L371-L385, L396-L398, L404-L406, L478, L483-L488, L615, L705-L706, L810, L827-L830
• packages/web/src/components/UpdateBanner.tsx: L35, L67, L92, L95-L97, L125-L127

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

This PR implements the full release pipeline: weekly stable releases via changesets, nightly canary publishes via cron, and a CLI/dashboard update experience with channel awareness (stable/nightly/manual), session guards, and an onboarding prompt.

• Release infrastructure: Adds canary.yml (cron Fri–Tue, 23:00 IST) and release.yml (changesets/action Version Packages PR flow); configures the changeset linked group, snapshot template, and marks @aoagents/ao-web private.
• CLI update pipeline: Introduces updateChannel + installMethod global-config fields, channel-aware registry fetches, prerelease semver comparison in @aoagents/ao-core, active-session guard in ao update and POST /api/update, and the ao config set command.
• Dashboard banner: UpdateBanner.tsx reads the CLI-maintained cache via GET /api/version (cache-only, never network) and offers a one-click POST /api/update that refuses when sessions are active (409).

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge. All previously flagged issues are confirmed fixed; the single new observation is a minor style-guide deviation that does not affect correctness.

The release infrastructure, channel-aware update pipeline, active-session guard, and dashboard banner are all well-structured. All previously flagged issues from prior review rounds are confirmed fixed. The core version comparison logic lives in a single tested location in @aoagents/ao-core. The remaining observation is a cosmetic alignment with the internal spawn convention.

No files require special attention. The only note is the detached: true value in packages/web/src/app/api/update/route.ts, which is a style-guide alignment rather than a functional concern.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
packages/web/src/app/api/update/route.ts	Active-session guard + detached spawn of ao update. Windows PATHEXT fix applied; detached: true always violates cross-platform guide's detached: !isWindows() rule.
packages/cli/src/commands/update.ts	Adds active-session guard and channel-aware npm/pnpm/bun update routing. shell: isWindows() + windowsHide: true correctly applied to runNpmInstall.
packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts	Channel-aware version checking, cache management, homebrew/bun path classifier; isVersionOutdated re-exported from core.
packages/core/src/version-compare.ts	New shared isVersionOutdated implementation with prerelease segment comparison; correct SHA-suffix ordering via lexical fallback.
packages/web/src/app/api/version/route.ts	Cache-only GET for banner; correctly handles git installs via cached.isOutdated fallback, channel mismatch, and legacy cache entries.
packages/web/src/components/UpdateBanner.tsx	Banner hides on manual channel, dismissed version, and after update starts. handleDismiss resets phase so the hide condition fires from blocked/error state.
packages/cli/src/lib/update-channel-onboarding.ts	Ask-once gate for update channel; uses createDefaultGlobalConfig() (platform-aware runtime default) when no config file exists yet.
.github/workflows/canary.yml	New cron-driven nightly canary workflow; creates a minimal temp changeset when none exist, publishes under @nightly tag.
.github/workflows/release.yml	Stable release via changesets/action on CI pass on main; Version Packages PR flow; correctly gates on push event and successful conclusion.

Sequence Diagram

sequenceDiagram
    participant CLI as ao CLI (startup)
    participant Cache as ~/.cache/ao/update-check.json
    participant Registry as npm registry
    participant Dashboard as Next.js Dashboard
    participant Banner as UpdateBanner.tsx

    CLI->>Registry: fetchLatestVersion(channel) [background]
    Registry-->>CLI: latestVersion
    CLI->>Cache: "writeCache({ latestVersion, channel, installMethod, isOutdated })"

    Dashboard->>Banner: mount
    Banner->>Dashboard: GET /api/version
    Dashboard->>Cache: readUpdateCheckCacheRaw()
    Cache-->>Dashboard: cached version info
    Dashboard-->>Banner: current, latest, channel, isOutdated

    alt isOutdated and channel not manual
        Banner->>Banner: show update strip
        Banner->>Dashboard: POST /api/update
        Dashboard->>Dashboard: ensureNoActiveSessions()
        alt sessions active
            Dashboard-->>Banner: 409 activeSessions message
            Banner->>Banner: phase blocked show error
        else no active sessions
            Dashboard->>CLI: spawn ao update detached
            Dashboard-->>Banner: 202 ok true
            Banner->>Banner: phase started hide banner
        end
    end

Loading

Prompt To Fix All With AI

Fix the following 1 code review issue. Work through them one at a time, proposing concise fixes.

---

### Issue 1 of 1
packages/web/src/app/api/update/route.ts:79-84
Per the cross-platform guide (`docs/CROSS_PLATFORM.md`): "Use `detached: !isWindows()` rather than always-`true` or always-`false`." On Windows, `detached: true` creates a new console process group, which behaves differently from POSIX detachment. `child.unref()` already prevents the Node.js event loop from waiting for the child on both platforms, so setting `detached: !isWindows()` achieves the same "fire and forget" result while respecting the Windows process-group convention.

```suggestion
    const child = spawn("ao", ["update"], {
      detached: !isWindows(),
      stdio: "ignore",
      shell: isWindows(),
      windowsHide: true,
    });
```

_{Reviews (7): Last reviewed commit: "chore(release-train): cosmetic — workflo..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

[suraj-markup]

Pushed 3c2f706 — mirrored the shell: isWindows() + windowsHide: true fix from /api/update (9f29131) into runNpmInstall in packages/cli/src/commands/update.ts. Without it, ao update on Windows would silently ENOENT because spawn("npm", ...) without a shell wrapper doesn't consult PATHEXT, so the *.cmd shims never resolve.

Same single spawn site handles every npm-style install command (npm-global, pnpm-global, bun-global, unknown), so this one change covers all of them. Added 4 unit tests asserting the spawn options on Windows vs macOS/Linux, parametrized across npm/pnpm/bun.

[suraj-markup]

Pushed bd25890, 655b6db, dfc7cb1, 3786ba5 addressing all 10 findings.

MUST fix (commit bd25890)

• feat: implement core services (metadata, event-bus, tmux, session-manager, lifecycle-manager) #3 — loadConfig(globalPath) semantics in ensureNoActiveSessions. Now consults loadGlobalConfig() first as a quick "any projects registered?" check, then routes through loadConfig(globalPath) only when the registry actually has projects. Defends against AO_GLOBAL_CONFIG override to a non-canonical path. 3 new tests cover: registered-projects path fires the guard correctly; empty registry returns early; missing global file returns early without even reading it.
• feat: implement SCM and tracker plugins (github, linear) #4 — Restored --skip-smoke rejection on non-git installs. Now exits non-zero with --skip-smoke only applies to git installs (current install: npm-global).. Test it.each across npm/pnpm/bun/homebrew/unknown plus a positive test that git installs still accept it.

SHOULD fix (commit 655b6db)

• feat: implement runtime and workspace plugins (tmux, process, worktree, clone) #2 — Channel-switch prompt. Snapshots the previously-cached channel BEFORE forcing a refresh, then detects previousChannel !== activeChannel && !info.isOutdated and forces an explicit confirm with default=no. Onboarding copy gained one line about "switching later prompts before installing the other channel's build." 4 new tests cover the switch path, the decline path, the same-channel no-op, and the first-ever-update no-op.

POLISH (commit dfc7cb1)

• feat: agent plugins, OpenCode plugin, integration tests, CI #5 — setTimeout(0) deferral gone. UpdateBanner runs its mount fetch synchronously again. The two brittle Dashboard tests (projectOverview, renderCadence) now route by URL via mockImplementation instead of relying on mockImplementationOnce queue ordering. The cadence test asserts "no other endpoints touched" rather than "no fetch at all."
• feat: notifier-composio plugin + integration tests for all plugins #7 — createDefaultGlobalConfig() extracted in core. Promoted internal makeEmptyGlobalConfig to a public export; CLI's persistUpdateChannel and loadOrInit (in ao config) both consume it. Single source of truth.
• Integration: wire core services to CLI and web dashboard #8 — Cache layout unified. New packages/core/src/update-cache.ts exports getUpdateCheckCachePath, readUpdateCheckCacheRaw, getInstalledAoVersion. Both the CLI's update-check.ts and the dashboard's /api/version route consume from there. The CLI keeps its richer per-call validation (install-method / channel / git-rev) layered on top.
• Fix cross-cutting code convention issues across all packages #9 — isManualOnlyInstall deduped. Removed the re-export from update.ts (also dropped the unused import); canonical export stays in update-check.ts.

COSMETIC (commit 3786ba5)

• feat: implement web dashboard with attention-zone UI and API routes #1 — release.yml comment. Added a one-line warning above workflows: [CI] that GitHub matches by name (not filename) and silently no-ops on mismatch.
• Add comprehensive test coverage across all packages #10 — text-sm / text-xs. Replaced text-[13px] and text-[12px] in UpdateBanner.
• feat: implement CLI with all commands (init, status, spawn, session, send, review-check, dashboard, open) #6 — Banner refresh comment. The existing useEffect now explicitly notes the no-interval design and the conditions under which to revisit it.
• Phase 2: Multi-agent adapters + more trackers #11 — @aoagents/ao-web removed from changeset. It's private: true and in changeset's ignore[], so listing it would just clutter the eventual release notes.

Test status

• CLI tests: 690 passed / 4 pre-existing failures (env-dependent: ~/.cache/ao state, /private realpath on macOS).
• Web tests: 900 passed / 2 pre-existing failures in projects-route.test.ts.
• pnpm typecheck and pnpm lint both clean (0 errors).

Nothing deferred to follow-up.