Distribution: package and publish for Linux (AUR/Flatpak/AppImage), macOS (Homebrew), Windows (winget)

[robflowk]

Goal

Installable builds for all three platforms through the channels users actually use:

• Linux: AUR, Flatpak, AppImage
• macOS: Homebrew (cask)
• Windows: winget

Plan

Phase 1 — Release pipeline (prerequisite for everything)

• GitHub Actions workflow using tauri-apps/tauri-action: build on tag push for macOS (universal or arm64+x64), Windows (NSIS), Linux (AppImage + .deb + .rpm — Tauri's bundler produces all three already)
• Publish artifacts to GitHub Releases with checksums
• Decide on the Tauri updater plugin (needs a signing keypair) — nice-to-have, not blocking

Phase 2 — Signing (unblocks the package managers)

• macOS: Developer ID certificate + notarization in CI (without it, Homebrew users get Gatekeeper blocks)
• Windows: code-signing cert (winget accepts unsigned but flags it; signing strongly preferred)

Phase 3 — Channels

• AppImage: already produced by Phase 1, just attach to releases
• AUR: babel-shift-bin PKGBUILD sourcing the release artifacts; optionally babel-shift (source build) later
• Homebrew: start with a personal tap (robflowk/homebrew-tap) cask pointing at the notarized dmg; homebrew-cask mainline once the project has traction
• winget: manifest PR to microsoft/winget-pkgs referencing the NSIS installer
• Flatpak: manifest + Flathub submission (most involved: needs offline-buildable deps; Tauri has documented guidance)

Notes

• Bundle identifier is already set (com.robinwloka.babelshift in tauri.conf.json) — Flathub app ID should match
• Version currently 0.1.0; the release workflow should derive from the tag

[robflowk]

Heads-up: this issue is now blocked by the license decision in #14 (free-for-noncommercial requires a source-available license, which must be settled before the first public release/publishing to any channel). The packaging work itself is unaffected, but nothing should ship publicly until #14's axis-1 question is answered.

[robflowk]

Unblocked: the license decision from #14 landed in d72410a (PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0). Distribution work can proceed whenever — note the Required Notice line in LICENSE.md must ship with all packaged artifacts.

[robflowk]

Phase 1 + channel prep landed in 589c706 (license blocker was resolved via #14/#15):

Done

• .github/workflows/release.yml: tag push v* → version/tag consistency gate → tauri-action matrix (macOS universal dmg, Linux AppImage/deb/rpm, Windows NSIS/MSI) → draft release → SHA256SUMS job. Apple signing env is wired and inert until secrets exist.
• packaging/: AUR babel-shift-bin PKGBUILD, Homebrew cask (for a personal tap), winget manifest triple, Flatpak skeleton (explicitly deferred).
• RELEASING.md: release procedure, signing secrets table, per-channel update steps.

Needs Robin (can't be done from here)

1. First tag (git tag v0.1.0 && git push origin main v0.1.0) — the workflow has never run; expect one iteration loop on the first attempt.
2. Apple Developer membership + the six APPLE_* secrets for signed/notarized macOS builds (phase 2). Until then: right-click → Open.
3. One-time channel accounts: robflowk/homebrew-tap repo, AUR account + SSH key, winget-pkgs fork PR after the first published release.

Suggest keeping this open until the first release has actually run through the pipeline and at least Homebrew + AUR are live.

[robflowk]

First pipeline run through: after one expected iteration (empty APPLE_* secrets triggered the signing path — fixed in 2b574da by exporting them only when the certificate exists), v0.1.0 built green on all three platforms. Draft release holds dmg (universal), AppImage/deb/rpm, NSIS exe + msi, and SHA256SUMS. Asset names match the packaging templates and install.sh exactly.

Next: Robin reviews + publishes the draft → curl installer goes live → local makepkg -si test of the AUR PKGBUILD on CachyOS → then the one-time channel setups (tap repo, AUR, winget PR).

[robflowk]

v0.1.0 is published (pre-release badge) and the curl installer passed its first real end-to-end test on macOS: pre-release resolution via the releases list, download, SHA256SUMS verification, DMG mount, install to /Applications — all green.

Remaining for this issue:

• AUR PKGBUILD reality check on CachyOS (cd packaging/aur && updpkgsums && makepkg -si) + AppImage/curl path on Linux
• One-time channel setups: robflowk/homebrew-tap repo, AUR account + first push, winget-pkgs PR
• Phase 2 signing (Apple Developer account + APPLE_* secrets) — optional until macOS distribution matters
• Flatpak (deferred)