BTrace 3.0 Release Gate Checklist

Use this checklist for every 3.0 release candidate. The GitHub release workflow runs the same commands and uploads both full logs and filtered Markdown summaries. A release is a GO only when every required lane is green and every exception row has an owner, rationale, and explicit release decision.

Candidate identity

Field	Value
Version
Source commit
RC tag
Workflow run
Release owner
Decision (GO / NO-GO)

Recorded build and test gates

The workflow stores these under release-gate-logs/. scripts/run-release-gate.sh records the shell-escaped command, exit code, filtered result lines, and complete command output.

Gate	Recorded command	Required result
Core, agent, client	./gradlew --continue :btrace-core:test :btrace-agent:test :btrace-client:test	All module tests pass
Gradle plugins	cd btrace-gradle-plugin && ../gradlew test	All extension and fat-agent tests pass
Plugin Portal validation	./gradlew -p btrace-gradle-plugin -PbtraceVersion=<release> publishPlugins --validate-only	Both plugin IDs and marker publications validate at the exact release version
Maven fat-agent removal	test ! -e btrace-maven-plugin/build.gradle	The unpublished module remains absent
Formatting	./gradlew spotlessCheck	Pass
Clean masked JAR	./gradlew clean :btrace-dist:btraceJar	Pass; libs/btrace.jar exists
Full distribution	./gradlew :btrace-dist:build	ZIP, TGZ, SDKMAN, DEB, and RPM tasks pass
Integration matrix	./gradlew -Pintegration :integration-tests:test	Pass after the distribution build on every target JDK

The JDK matrix is Java 8, 11, 17, 21, 25, and the configured OpenJDK early-access build. In each lane, scripts/verify-jdk-warning.sh runs the real BTrace warning code twice in one target JVM:

• Java 8 and 11 must emit exactly one Java-version deprecation warning.
• Java 17 and newer, including EA, must emit no Java-version deprecation warning.

Security and compatibility behavior

The built-distribution smoke matrix must prove all of the following:

• default startup performs no telemetry DNS or network operation;
• prepared mode uses a loopback/ephemeral endpoint rather than a wildcard listener;
• no prepared-mode command is accepted before authentication;
• btrace doctor reports preparation state before attach and authenticated readiness afterward;
• noServer=true executes the startup probe and leaves the configured command socket closed;
• privileged embedded extensions are denied unless the policy grants them;
• non-privileged embedded extensions execute without privileged consent;
• forced V1, forced V2, and automatic negotiation all produce the expected probe output.

Launch incident-kit commands

These five operator paths are release-blocking. scripts/release-smoke.sh runs them against the extracted candidate distribution and retains target, client, compiler, migration, and doctor logs.

1. Dynamic first trace:

   btrace -n 'OrderService::processOrder @return { print method, time }' <PID>
   

2. Source probe:

   btrace <PID> OrderTiming.java
   

3. Readiness diagnosis before and after attach:

   btrace doctor <PID>
   

4. Authenticated prepared mode:

   java -javaagent:libs/btrace.jar=port=0 DemoApp.java
   

5. Startup-only mode with no command socket:

   java -javaagent:libs/btrace.jar=script=StartupProbe.class,noServer=true,port=<PORT>,stdout=true DemoApp.java
   

Release-candidate artifacts

Surface	Required evidence
Maven Central	Candidate POM and masked JAR resolve; version and Apache-2.0 metadata match
Gradle Plugin Portal	io.btrace.extension and io.btrace.fat-agent validate, publish, and resolve at the candidate version; neither is staged to Maven Central
JBang	Exact Maven coordinate and btrace@btraceio catalog alias report the candidate version
SDKMAN	Archive has bin/ and libs/ at its root; no extra version directory
Docker	OCI version/license labels match and /opt/btrace/libs/btrace.jar is the intended layout
GitHub release	Binary ZIP, TGZ, SDKMAN ZIP, DEB, RPM, and masked Maven JAR assets are present

Public download counts and analytics are never release inputs.

Exceptions and release decision

Blank owner, rationale, or decision cells are an automatic NO-GO.

Gate or exception	Owner	Rationale	Release decision
Maven fat-agent module	Release engineering	It was never publicly released and used obsolete artifact/classdata contracts	Removed from 3.0; reappearance is a release failure

Do not add an exception for a silent no-op, authentication bypass, telemetry opt-out failure, permission bypass, missing artifact, or red required JDK lane. Those conditions are always NO-GO.