# Release process

Shamrock is released on a 6-month basis. The release process goes as follows.

## Changing the version

We first change the version of the code :
```cmake
set(SHAMROCK_VERSION_MAJOR 2025)
set(SHAMROCK_VERSION_MINOR 10)
set(SHAMROCK_VERSION_PATCH 0)
```
Here the major version is the current year, and the minor version is the current month. Finally, the patch version indicates the minor release (bug fix or other).

Also one should change the version tag also in `dox.conf` as well as `env/helpers/_pysetup.py`.

## The release branch

First, if this is a true release (opposed to a patch), we branch from `main` and name it `release/<major>.<minor>.x`.

## Creating the release

We then draft a new release on GitHub. The tag must be set to `v<major>.<minor>.<patch>`, and we set the target branch to `release/<major>.<minor>.x`. Then set the release name to `Shamrock <major>.<minor>.<patch>`.

Then generate the release note from the last tag.

For the files, add the documentation, license, and coverage, named `Shamrock-<major>.<minor>.<patch>-<filename>`, except for the license file that will be named `LICENSE`.

Finally, write the text and ... done!