Cargo Release Protocol
When to Invoke
Invoke this protocol when the user says: "release", "publish", "bump version", "ship", "tag a release", or "cut a version" for any crate in the trusty-tools monorepo.
Semver Bump Rules
Determine the version increment from the commit history since the last tag:
| Commit type | Bump |
|---|---|
| BREAKING CHANGE footer or ! suffix (e.g. feat!:) | Major (X.0.0) |
| feat: — new capability, no breaking change | Minor (0.X.0) |
| fix:, chore:, refactor:, perf:, docs:, test: | Patch (0.0.X) |
For the trusty-mpm-* family, all eight crates share a single workspace version and are bumped together regardless of which crate was touched.
Crate Name vs Directory Name
Cargo -p flags use the name field in Cargo.toml, not the directory name:
| Directory | Cargo flag | Tag prefix |
|---|---|---|
| crates/trusty-git-analytics/ | -p tga | tga-v |
| crates/open-mpm/ | -p open-mpm | open-mpm-v |
All others: directory name equals crate name (e.g. crates/trusty-search/ → -p trusty-search, tag trusty-search-v).
10-Step Release Sequence
Execute steps in order. Stop on any failure.
Step 1 — Bump the crate version
# crates/<name>/Cargo.toml
[package]
version = "0.5.1" # was 0.5.0
For trusty-mpm-*, the version is set under [workspace.package] in the root Cargo.toml. Bump it once; all trusty-mpm-* crates inherit it.
Step 2 — Update all dependent crates in the workspace
If other crates pin the version being bumped (e.g. trusty-common = "0.4.20"), update every occurrence to the new version. Use grep to find all pins:
grep -r '"<old-version>"' crates/ --include="Cargo.toml"
Never commit Step 1 without completing Step 2 — a partial update breaks cargo check workspace-wide.
Step 3 — Quality gate: tests
cargo test -p <crate>
Must produce: test result: ok. N passed; 0 failed; ...
Step 4 — Quality gate: clippy
cargo clippy -p <crate> -- -D warnings
Must produce no warnings. See rust-quality-gate for the open-mpm exception.
Step 5 — Quality gate: format
cargo fmt --check
Must produce no output (exit 0). Fix with cargo fmt if needed.
Step 6 — Commit the version bump
git add crates/<name>/Cargo.toml # and any updated dependent Cargo.toml files
git commit -m "chore(<crate>): bump to v<version>"
Example: chore(trusty-memory): bump to v0.5.1
For trusty-mpm-* family: chore(trusty-mpm): bump to v0.7.0
Step 7 — Create the git tag
Tag format: <crate-name>-v<version>
git tag trusty-memory-v0.5.1
Examples:
trusty-search-v1.2.0trusty-memory-v0.5.1tga-v0.3.0open-mpm-v0.2.1trusty-mpm-cli-v0.7.0(one tag pertrusty-mpm-*crate)
Step 8 — Push the tag to GitHub
git push origin trusty-memory-v0.5.1
Push the commit first if not already on the remote:
git push origin main # or the current branch
git push origin trusty-memory-v0.5.1
Step 9 — Publish to crates.io
cargo publish -p trusty-memory
Publishing order for cross-crate deps: publish dependencies before consumers. If trusty-common is being published alongside trusty-search, publish trusty-common first and wait for the index to propagate (~30 seconds) before publishing trusty-search.
publish = false crates — skip this step: Some crates are not published to crates.io. Check the crate's Cargo.toml for:
[package]
publish = false
Known non-published crates include those that are internal-only or tightly coupled to the monorepo. Skip Step 9 for these and proceed directly to Step 10.
Step 10 — Install binary locally (binary crates only)
For crates that produce a binary, install it to PATH after publishing:
cargo install --path crates/<dir> --locked
Examples:
cargo install --path crates/trusty-search --locked
cargo install --path crates/trusty-mpm-cli --locked
cargo install --path crates/trusty-memory --locked
macOS Codesign Safety Rule (Critical)
NEVER copy a release binary directly to ~/.cargo/bin/:
# WRONG — causes EXC_CRASH / CODESIGNING on macOS
cp target/release/trusty-search ~/.cargo/bin/trusty-search
On macOS, cargo build produces "ad-hoc linker-signed" binaries. The kernel's code-signing cache is keyed by cdhash. A plain cp over an existing on-PATH binary leaves the kernel with a stale cached identity. The next execution is killed with EXC_CRASH / CODESIGNING — Taskgated Invalid Signature before any code runs, producing only zsh: killed with zero output — indistinguishable from an OOM kill but unrelated.
cargo install writes to a temp path and renames atomically, keeping the signing cache consistent. Always use it.
If a manual copy was made by mistake, fix with:
codesign --force --sign - ~/.cargo/bin/<binary>
trusty-mpm-* Family Release
The trusty-mpm-* family uses a shared workspace version. Release all eight crates together:
- Bump
versionunder[workspace.package]in rootCargo.toml. - Run quality gates across all
trusty-mpm-*crates:cargo test -p trusty-mpm-core,cargo test -p trusty-mpm-mcp, etc. - Commit:
chore(trusty-mpm): bump to v<version>. - Tag each crate separately:
trusty-mpm-core-v<version>,trusty-mpm-mcp-v<version>,trusty-mpm-daemon-v<version>,trusty-mpm-client-v<version>,trusty-mpm-cli-v<version>,trusty-mpm-tui-v<version>,trusty-mpm-telegram-v<version>,trusty-mpm-gui-v<version>. - Publish publishable crates in dependency order (core → client → mcp/daemon/cli/tui/telegram/gui).
- Install binaries:
cargo install --path crates/trusty-mpm-cli --locked.
Cross-Crate Library Release Checklist
When releasing a shared library (trusty-common, trusty-mcp-core, trusty-embedder, trusty-symgraph):
- Bump library version (Step 1).
- Update all dependent crates'
Cargo.tomlversion pins (Step 2) — usegrepto find every reference. - Run
cargo check(workspace-wide) to confirm the workspace compiles with the new version. - Run
cargo test -p <lib>andcargo test -p <consumer>for each dependent. - Commit all Cargo.toml changes together — workspace builds are atomic.
- Publish the library first; wait ~30 seconds for index propagation.
- Publish consumers in order.
Evidence Required
After completing the release, report:
Released: trusty-memory v0.5.1
Tag: trusty-memory-v0.5.1 (pushed to origin)
Published: https://crates.io/crates/trusty-memory/0.5.1
Installed: cargo install --path crates/trusty-memory --locked ✓
Test result: ok. 87 passed; 0 failed; 5 ignored
Clippy: clean
Fmt: clean
Anti-Patterns
- Copying binaries with
cpinstead ofcargo installon macOS — causeszsh: killed/ codesign crash. - Publishing a consumer crate before its newly-bumped library dependency is available on crates.io.
- Forgetting to update dependent crates' version pins after bumping a library — breaks workspace compilation.
- Tagging before quality gates pass — a bad tag requires a follow-up patch release.
- Using
cargo installwithout--locked— may resolve different dependency versions than what was tested. - Skipping Step 2 for
trusty-mpm-*— the shared workspace version must be consistent across all eight crates.