diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md index bf668b7a4..3560db278 100644 --- a/docs/README.md +++ b/docs/README.md @@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ See the full documentation at [`../README.md`](../README.md) or browse sub-pages [Deployment Guide](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/deployment_guide.html) +[Container Orchestration Guide](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/container_orchestration.html) + [Linux](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/installation_linux.html) [MacOS](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/installation_macos.html) @@ -81,6 +83,8 @@ See the full documentation at [`../README.md`](../README.md) or browse sub-pages [Releasing](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/releasing.html) +[LTS provess overview](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/lts_flow.html) + ## Demos [LCORE introduction](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/demos/lcore/lcore.html#/) diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md index 03b07a3ee..c412cd6e5 100644 --- a/docs/index.md +++ b/docs/index.md @@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ product questions using backend LLM services, agents, and RAG databases. [Releasing](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/releasing.html) +[LTS provess overview](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/lts_flow.html) + ## Demos [LCORE introduction](https://lightspeed-core.github.io/lightspeed-stack/demos/lcore/lcore.html#/) diff --git a/docs/lts_flow.md b/docs/lts_flow.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..63b42ffa7 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/lts_flow.md @@ -0,0 +1,754 @@ +# LTS Process Overview + +A modular, maintainable process for Long-Term Support (LTS) management +covering: request intake, triage, patch development, testing & validation, +release, and communication. Components are defined as independent +services/roles with clear inputs, outputs, owners, and interfaces. + + + +* [Goals](#goals) +* [High-level Flow (summary)](#high-level-flow-summary) +* [Roles & Responsibilities](#roles--responsibilities) +* [Modular Components (for implementation)](#modular-components-for-implementation) +* [Decision Points & Policies](#decision-points--policies) +* [Data Model / Ticket Fields (recommended)](#data-model--ticket-fields-recommended) +* [Branching & Versioning Strategy (concise)](#branching--versioning-strategy-concise) +* [CI/CD Gates (must-have)](#cicd-gates-must-have) +* [Rollback & Emergency Procedures](#rollback--emergency-procedures) +* [Communication Templates (short)](#communication-templates-short) +* [Observability & Auditing](#observability--auditing) +* [Automation Recommendations](#automation-recommendations) +* [Example Minimal Workflow (concrete)](#example-minimal-workflow-concrete) +* [Implementation Checklist (actionable)](#implementation-checklist-actionable) +* [Suggested Documentation Structure (for the final doc)](#suggested-documentation-structure-for-the-final-doc) +* [LTS Process & Runbook](#lts-process--runbook) + * [Purpose & scope](#purpose--scope) + * [Roles & responsibilities](#roles--responsibilities-1) + * [High-level end-to-end flow](#high-level-end-to-end-flow) + * [Decision matrices & SLAs](#decision-matrices--slas) + * [Detailed module descriptions](#detailed-module-descriptions) + * [Branching, versioning & tagging rules](#branching-versioning--tagging-rules) + * [CI/CD & testing requirements](#cicd--testing-requirements) + * [Release & rollback procedures](#release--rollback-procedures) + * [Communication templates](#communication-templates) + * [Ticket & data model (fields)](#ticket--data-model-fields) + * [Observability & auditing](#observability--auditing-1) + * [Automation recommendations](#automation-recommendations-1) + * [Runbooks (concise, actionable)](#runbooks-concise-actionable) + * [Example minimal workflow (concrete)](#example-minimal-workflow-concrete-1) + * [Implementation checklist](#implementation-checklist) + * [Glossary & FAQ](#glossary--faq) + + + +### Goals + +- Fast, predictable handling of LTS requests. +- Clear ownership at each step. +- Reusable, testable modules (automation where possible). +- Auditability and traceability. + +## High-level Flow (summary) + +1. Request intake (ticket created) +2. Triage (severity, scope, risk, SLA) +3. Patch planning (backport feasibility, approver) +4. Patch development (branching, CI) +5. QA & validation (automated + manual tests) +6. Release staging (artifact build, signing) +7. Release & deployment (channels: repo, packages) +8. Post-release verification & rollback plan +9. Communication & documentation +10. Postmortem and metrics + +## Roles & Responsibilities + +- Requester: reports issue/need. +- Triage Engineer: assesses severity & scope. +- Maintainer/Developer: implements patch. +- QA Engineer: validates changes. +- Release Manager: builds and publishes artifacts. +- Security/Compliance: reviews if security-sensitive. +- Communications Lead: prepares release notes & announcements. +- Automation/CI Owner: maintains pipelines, tests. + +## Modular Components (for implementation) + +1. Intake Module + - Inputs: user issue report (bug, CVE, feature-safe change). + - Outputs: standardized ticket with metadata. + - Mechanisms: issue template; automated enrichment (git metadata, environment, reproducible steps, stack traces). + - Owner: triage team. + - Interfaces: ticketing system API, email, webhook. + +2. Triage Module + - Inputs: ticket. + - Outputs: priority, SLA deadline, decision (backport, defer, reject), assigned owner. + - Decision criteria: severity (blocker/critical/high/medium/low), affected versions, exploitability, workaround availability, dependency constraints. + - Artefacts: triage checklist, risk score, initial patch scope. + - Owner: senior engineer/triage rotation. + - Interfaces: ticket updates, vulnerability database, release calendar. + +3. Planning & Approval Module + - Inputs: triage decision, risk score. + - Outputs: backport plan (target versions, branching strategy), approvers list, estimated effort, security review required flag. + - Policies: only approved maintainers can sign off; emergency fast-track defined. + - Artefacts: approval ticket/state, planned branch names, milestone. + +4. Development Module + - Inputs: backport plan, target branches. + - Outputs: patch branches, commits, automated CI results. + - Conventions: branch naming (lts//issue-), commit message template (including ticket id and changelog line), tests added/updated. + - Automation: pre-commit checks, unit/integration CI, static analysis, dependency checks. + - Owner: implementer + code reviewer. + - Interfaces: source repo, CI runners, code-review system. + +5. Testing & Validation Module + - Inputs: merge request/PR. + - Outputs: test reports, signed-off status, regression checklist results. + - Tests: unit, integration, regression for affected features, upgrade/downgrade tests, performance baseline checks, security regression. + - Validation gating: must pass automated tests + at least one QA sign-off (or policy exception). + - Owner: QA, security when applicable. + - Interfaces: test orchestration system, test data, environment provisioning. + +6. Release Staging Module + - Inputs: merged patches in LTS branches. + - Outputs: build artifacts (packages, containers), checksums, signatures, release candidate (RC). + - Steps: build reproducible artifacts, run smoke tests, external dependency verification. + - Artefacts: build manifest, SBOM if required. + - Owner: Release Manager + CI Owner. + - Interfaces: artifact storage, signing keys store, package registries. + +7. Release & Deployment Module + - Inputs: RC approval. + - Outputs: published artifacts to LTS channels, release notes, update metadata. + - Channels: package repo (PyPI/internal), container registry, OS packages, downloadable release page. + - Controls: staged rollout (canaries), versioning policy (semantic + LTS modifier), rollback procedure. + - Owner: Release Manager + Ops. + - Interfaces: CD pipelines, monitoring, package registries. + +8. Communication & Documentation Module + - Inputs: release artifacts, changelog, security advisories. + - Outputs: release notes, security bulletin (if applicable), internal status update, external announcement. + - Templates: short/technical release notes, user upgrade guidance, migration notes. + - Owners: Communications Lead + Maintainer. + - Interfaces: mailing lists, status page, docs site, social channels. + +9. Post-release & Metrics Module + - Inputs: deployment telemetry, incident reports. + - Outputs: verification report, incident tickets if regressions, postmortem. + - Metrics: time-to-triage, time-to-release, rollback rate, test pass rate, adoption of LTS releases. + - Owner: SRE/Engineering leadership. + - Interfaces: monitoring dashboards, metrics systems. + +## Decision Points & Policies + +- Backport eligibility: bug fix vs. feature; security fix → high priority; API-breaking changes disallowed in LTS unless emergency. +- Semantic versioning: patch releases only (no minor/major changes) unless explicitly approved. +- Time SLAs: triage within 24 hours (critical: 4 hours), patch plan within 3 business days, release within SLA window depending on severity. +- Approval matrix: security-sensitive must have Security sign-off; critical regressions require product owner + engineering lead approval. + +## Data Model / Ticket Fields (recommended) + +- Ticket ID, Reporter +- Affected versions (list) +- Severity (enum) +- CVE ID (if applicable) +- Repro Steps + Testcase +- Proposed patch branch +- Target LTS branches +- Triage owner & date +- Estimated effort +- Approvals (list with timestamps) +- Release versions & artifacts +- Post-release notes + +## Branching & Versioning Strategy (concise) + +- Main development: main (or trunk). +- LTS branches: release-lts/vX.Y (only patch commits). +- Patch branch: lts/vX.Y/issue- +- Merge flow: PR to LTS branch → after CI+QA, merge; then optionally back-merge to main if fix is relevant. +- Tagging: vX.Y.Z-lts or vX.Y.Z (use stable, consistent tags); include build metadata. + +## CI/CD Gates (must-have) + +- Lint + static analysis +- Unit + integration +- Backport-specific regression suite +- Security scan (dependency, SAST) +- Artifact signing step +- Canary deployment + automated health checks (for server-side components) + +## Rollback & Emergency Procedures + +- Predefine rollback commands and scripts per platform. +- Keep previous artifact in registry and mark as "safe". +- Time-limited automatic rollback if critical health checks fail. +- Emergency fast-track: skip non-essential processes but require post-facto audit and mandatory postmortem. + +## Communication Templates (short) + +- Release Note: 1–2 line summary, affected versions, upgrade instructions, link to full changelog. +- Security Advisory: severity, CVE, impact, mitigation, upgrade method, contact. +- Internal Status: release time, success/failure, known issues, rollback status. + +## Observability & Auditing + +- Log every state transition for ticket (who/when/why). +- Store immutable build manifests and signatures. +- Enable telemetry on adoption and errors post-release. +- Retain audit logs for policy/compliance retention period. + +## Automation Recommendations + +- Automate ticket creation from monitoring alerts and CVE feeds. +- Auto-populate ticket metadata via CI/webhooks. +- Release pipelines: parameterized for target LTS versions. +- Auto-generate changelogs from commit metadata. +- Use feature flags or phased rollout utilities for safer releases. + +## Example Minimal Workflow (concrete) + +1. Issue opened with template → Intake Module enriches and assigns. +2. Triage Engineer marks severity = high → creates backport plan targeting release-lts/v1.4 and v1.3; security review flagged. +3. Developer creates branch lts/v1.4/issue-123, adds tests; CI runs; PR created. +4. QA runs regression suite; Security runs SAST. All pass → approvals recorded. +5. Release Manager runs staging build → artifact signed and smoke-tested. +6. Publish to LTS channel with release note; communications sent. +7. Monitor metrics for 48 hours; no issues → close ticket; update changelog and postmortem if anything notable. + +## Implementation Checklist (actionable) + +- Create issue templates and ticket fields. +- Define triage checklist & severity rubric. +- Implement branching policy and naming conventions. +- Build CI jobs for backport branches and regression suite. +- Implement artifact signing and storage. +- Create release automation with staged rollouts. +- Create communication templates and docs pages. +- Instrument metrics and dashboards. +- Document rollback scripts and emergency path. +- Schedule periodic drills for emergency releases/rollbacks. + +## Suggested Documentation Structure (for the final doc) + +1. Purpose & scope +2. Roles & responsibilities +3. End-to-end flow diagram (visual) +4. Detailed module descriptions (as above) +5. Decision matrices & SLAs +6. Branching, versioning, tagging rules +7. CI/CD and testing requirements +8. Release & rollback procedures +9. Communication templates +10. Metrics & audit logging +11. Runbooks & emergency drills +12. Glossary & FAQs + +-------------------- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + LTS Process Flow — Request intake → Triage → Patch dev → Release → Communication + + + + + + Requesting / Ticketing + Engineering / QA + Release / Communications / Ops + + + + + Intake + Owner: Requester / Intake Module + Output: standardized ticket (metadata) + + + + + + + + + Triage + Owner: Triage Engineer + Decide: severity, SLA, affected versions + Output: triage decision, risk score + + + + + + + + + Planning and Approval + Owner: Maintainer / Leads + Output: backport plan, approvers, branches + Policy: security flag, emergency fast-track + + + + + + + + + + Development + Owner: Developer / Code Reviewer + Branch: lts/vX.Y/issue-# + Output: patch branch, CI runs + + + + + + + + + Testing and Validation + Owner: QA (+Security if needed) + Tests: unit, integration, regression, upgrade + Output: signed-off PR, test reports + + + + + + + + + Release Staging + Owner: Release Manager / CI Owner + Output: artifacts, checksums, RC + Includes: SBOM, smoke tests, signing + + + + + + + + + Release and Deployment + Owner: Release Manager / Ops + Channels: PyPI/container/OS packages + Controls: staged rollout, rollback plan + + + + + + + + + Communication and Docs + Owner: Communications Lead + Maintainer + Outputs: release notes, upgrade guidance + Channels: mailing lists, status page + + + + + + + + + Post-release and Metrics + Owner: SRE / Engineering Leadership + Outputs: verification report, postmortem + Metrics: time-to-triage, rollback rate + + + + + Optional: back-merge fix to main + + + + Legend and Quick Rules + • Branch naming: lts/vX.Y/issue-# + • Policy: patch-only for LTS (no breaking changes) unless emergency-approved + • Must log approvals and timestamps on ticket + • Security-sensitive items require Security sign-off before release + • CI gates: lint, unit, integration, regression, security scan, artifact signing + • SLA examples: triage within 24h (critical 4h); plan within 3 business days + + + Use this diagram as a printable quick-reference — add links to runbooks, ticket templates, and CI pipelines in your docs. + + +-------------------- + +## LTS Process & Runbook + +### Purpose & scope + +Provide a modular, maintainable process for managing Long-Term Support (LTS) changes: intake, triage, planning/approval, patch development, testing & validation, release staging, release & deployment, communication, and post-release. Applies to production-critical Python project components that receive LTS patch releases. + +### Roles & responsibilities + +- **Requester:** reports issues; provides reproduction, logs, environment. +- **Triage Engineer:** assesses severity, affected versions, assigns owner, sets SLA. +- **Maintainer / Developer:** implements backport patch and tests. +- **Code Reviewer:** verifies correctness and compatibility. +- **QA Engineer:** validates changes via automated and manual tests. +- **Security Reviewer:** required for security-sensitive fixes. +- **Release Manager:** builds, signs, stages, and publishes artifacts; coordinates rollout/rollback. +- **Ops / SRE:** runs deployments, monitors health, executes rollback if needed. +- **Communications Lead:** prepares release notes, advisories, internal/external comms. +- **Automation/CI Owner:** maintains pipelines and test suites. +- **Engineering Leadership:** approves emergency exceptions and policy changes. + +### High-level end-to-end flow + +1. Intake (ticket created/enriched) +2. Triage (severity, scope, SLA) +3. Planning & Approval (backport targets, approvers) +4. Development (branching, commits, CI) +5. Testing & Validation (automated + manual) +6. Release Staging (build artifacts, signing) +7. Release & Deployment (publish, staged rollout) +8. Communication & Documentation (release notes/advisories) +9. Post-release verification & metrics +10. Postmortem if incidents occur + +### Decision matrices & SLAs + +- Severity mapping: + - Critical: service down, data loss, remote code execution — triage within 4 hours. + - High: major functionality broken, security exploitability — triage within 24 hours. + - Medium/Low: minor bug or enhancement — triage within 3 business days. +- Backport eligibility: + - Security fixes → always considered for all supported LTS branches. + - Bug fixes → considered if fix is low-risk and patchable without API breaks. + - Feature requests → generally deferred; only included if trivial and low risk. +- Versioning policy: + - LTS releases are patch-only (increment Z in X.Y.Z). No minors/majors in LTS without explicit approval. +- Timeline examples: + - Triage done → plan within 3 business days. + - Patch delivery SLA depends on severity and branch support policy (document per-release). +- Approval rules: + - Security-sensitive: Security sign-off required before release. + - Emergency fast-track: Engineering lead + Release Manager sign-off; post-facto audit required. + +### Detailed module descriptions + +Intake Module +- Purpose: standardize incoming reports and collect required metadata. +- Inputs: issue report (bug, CVE, customer report, monitoring alert). +- Outputs: ticket with required fields. +- Required ticket fields (template): + - Title, description, reproduction steps, logs, environment, Python version, package versions, traceback, test case (if available). + - Affected versions (list), severity (enum), CVE ID (if known), initial triage owner, links to failing CI/job. +- Automation: + - Issue templates in GitHub/GitLab. + - Webhooks to enrich ticket (commit info, recent deploys). + - Auto-labeling based on keywords (CVE, security, regression). + +Triage Module +- Purpose: quickly determine impact, scope, and target LTS branches. +- Inputs: intake ticket. +- Outputs: triage decision (backport/ defer/ reject), risk score, SLA, assigned owner. +- Checklist: + - Can the defect be reproduced? (yes/no) + - Which versions are affected? (explicit list) + - Is there a public exploit? (yes/no) + - Is there a safe workaround? (yes/no) + - Does fix require API change? (yes/no) + - Estimated effort (small/medium/large) + - Security flag set if relevant +- Artefacts: triage comment, labels, deadline. + +Planning & Approval Module +- Purpose: create an actionable backport plan and obtain approvals. +- Inputs: triage decision, risk score. +- Outputs: backport plan (target branches, branch names), approvers list, estimated effort, required reviews. +- Plan elements: + - Target LTS branches (e.g., release-lts/v1.4, release-lts/v1.3). + - Branch naming convention: lts/vX.Y/issue-. + - Tests required and CI gating. + - Rollout strategy (immediate publish vs staged canary). +- Approval flows: + - Normal: code reviewer + QA + Release Manager. + - Security-sensitive: add Security Reviewer. + - Emergency: Engineering lead + Release Manager for fast-track. + +Development Module +- Purpose: implement minimal, safe patch for each target LTS branch. +- Inputs: backport plan, target branches. +- Outputs: patch branches, commits, PRs/MRs with required metadata. +- Conventions: + - Branch name: lts/vX.Y/issue-. + - Commit message: include ticket ID, short changelog line, “Backport to vX.Y”. + - Small, focused changes only; avoid refactors or API changes. + - Add/adjust tests to cover the bug. +- Automation: + - Pre-commit hooks, linters, static analysis, dependency checks. + - CI should run targeted regression suite for backport branches. + +Testing & Validation Module +- Purpose: ensure patch correctness and absence of regressions. +- Inputs: PR/MR against LTS branch. +- Outputs: test reports, QA sign-off, security scan results. +- Required tests: + - Unit tests (must pass). + - Integration tests for affected components. + - Regression suite that exercises prior bug scenarios. + - Upgrade/downgrade tests if relevant. + - Performance smoke tests for critical paths. + - SAST/Dependency checks for security fixes. +- Gating: automated tests must pass; at least one QA engineer must sign off (exceptions allowed only with documented approval). +- Test artifacts: test logs, environment descriptions, reproducer if available. + +Release Staging Module +- Purpose: produce reproducible artifacts and verify them before public release. +- Inputs: merged patches in LTS branches. +- Outputs: build artifacts (sdist/wheel/container), checksums, signatures, release candidate (RC) metadata and SBOM. +- Steps: + - Build artifacts in clean environment (record build env). + - Generate checksums (SHA256) and sign artifacts. + - Produce SBOM if required. + - Run smoke tests against built artifacts (install & run core integration tests). + - Produce build manifest with build id, commit SHAs, builder, dependencies. +- Storage: artifacts stored in artifact registry with immutable tags. + +Release & Deployment Module +- Purpose: publish artifacts to LTS channels and execute rollout. +- Inputs: RC approval. +- Outputs: published artifacts, release notes, release metadata updated. +- Channels: PyPI/internal package repo, container registry, downloadable release page, OS packages if applicable. +- Controls: + - Staged rollout: canary → partial → full. + - Rollback plan documented and scripts available. + - Versioning: semantic patch bump X.Y.Z; tag vX.Y.Z-lts or vX.Y.Z (consistent with existing scheme). +- Ops activities: + - Execute CD job for registries. + - Monitor health metrics and error rates. + - If critical failure, trigger rollback and notify stakeholders. +- Post-publish tasks: + - Update package index and upgrade metadata. + - Close release ticket with artifacts and links. + +Communication & Documentation Module +- Purpose: inform stakeholders and users, provide upgrade guidance. +- Inputs: release artifacts, changelog entries, security advisories. +- Outputs: release notes, security bulletin, internal summary, docs updates. +- Templates: + - Short release note: 1–2 line summary, affected versions, upgrade command, link to full changelog. + - Security advisory: severity, CVE (if assigned), impact, mitigation steps, affected versions, upgrade instructions, contact. + - Internal status: release time, success/failure, known issues, rollback status. +- Channels: docs site, release notes page, mailing lists, status page, product communication channels. +- Timing: + - For security releases: coordinate embargo handling with Security Reviewer before public announcement if necessary. + +Post-release & Metrics Module +- Purpose: verify release success and collect telemetry for continuous improvement. +- Inputs: deployment telemetry, error reports, user feedback. +- Outputs: verification report, metrics dashboard, postmortem (if incident). +- Key metrics: + - Time-to-triage, time-to-release, time-to-rollback. + - Test pass rate, rollback rate, number of affected users. + - Adoption rate of LTS release (pinned versions). +- Audit: + - Log all state transitions with actor/timestamp. + - Keep immutable build manifests and signatures stored with the ticket. + - Retain release logs for retention policy period. + +### Branching, versioning & tagging rules + +- Main/trunk used for active development. +- LTS branches: release-lts/vX.Y — only accept patch commits. +- Patch branch convention: lts/vX.Y/issue-. +- Merge flow: + - Create PR to LTS branch. After CI & QA sign-off, merge. + - Optionally back-merge to main if applicable; prefer cherry-pick with careful review. +- Tags: vX.Y.Z or vX.Y.Z-lts (choose one consistent scheme across project). +- Release artifacts must include commit SHAs for reproducibility. + +### CI/CD & testing requirements + +- CI gates: + - Lint and static analysis. + - Unit tests. + - Integration tests where applicable. + - Backport-specific regression suite. + - Security scans (SAST / dependency checks). + - Artifact build and signing step in staging pipeline. +- Pipelines: + - Parameterized jobs for target LTS branches. + - Staged pipelines: build → test → smoke → sign → publish. + - Canary/rollout pipeline with automated health checks. +- Test data: + - Use reproducible fixture datasets. + - Provide small reproducible unit/integration tests to ensure fixes don’t regress. + +### Release & rollback procedures + +- Pre-release checklist: + - All required approvals present and recorded. + - CI green; smoke tests passed on artifacts. + - Signatures and checksums produced. + - Rollback procedure and previous artifact verified in registry. + - Communications draft ready. +- Rollback steps (example for package-based release): + 1. Stop staged rollout. + 2. Mark new release as deprecated in registry. + 3. Re-publish previous artifact to staging channel or direct users to pinned version. + 4. Run remediation scripts (DB migrations reversal only if safe). + 5. Notify stakeholders and open incident ticket. +- Emergency fast-track: + - Skip non-essential steps (e.g., extended manual QA) only when approved by Engineering lead + Release Manager. + - Require post-facto audit, root-cause, and retrospective. + +### Communication templates + +Release Note (short) +- Summary: Fix for [short description]. +- Affected versions: vX.Y.Z -> vX.Y.Z+1 +- Upgrade: pip install --upgrade your-package==vX.Y.Z+1 +- Changelog: link to full changelog. + +Security Advisory (template) +- CVE: CVE-XXXX-YYYY (if assigned) +- Severity: Critical/High/Medium/Low +- Affected versions: list +- Impact: brief impact summary +- Mitigation: upgrade instructions or workaround +- Contact: security@your-org.example +- Disclosure timeline: (if coordinated disclosure) + +Internal Status +- Release ID, time, artifacts published, rollout status, known issues, rollback executed/needed, owner contacts. + +### Ticket & data model (fields) + +- Ticket ID +- Title & description +- Reporter & contact +- Affected versions (list) +- Severity (enum) +- CVE ID (if applicable) +- Repro steps + test case +- Proposed patch branch names +- Target LTS branches +- Triage owner & date +- Estimated effort +- Approvals (list with timestamps and roles) +- Release versions & artifact IDs +- Build manifest link +- Post-release notes & metrics + +### Observability & auditing + +- Record all ticket state transitions, approvals, and actions (actor + timestamp). +- Store immutable build manifests and artifact signatures with ticket. +- Monitor runtime metrics and alerts for 48–72 hours post-release (adjust per SLA). +- Keep dashboards for key metrics and export weekly reports for LTS releases. + +### Automation recommendations + +- Auto-create tickets from monitoring alerts and CVE feeds. +- Auto-enrich tickets with commit, deploy, and environment metadata. +- Auto-generate changelog entries from commit messages following templates. +- Parameterize release pipelines for targeted LTS branches. +- Automate artifact signing and SBOM generation. +- Provide bot-driven reminders for pending approvals and approaching SLAs. + +### Runbooks (concise, actionable) + +Triage runbook (steps) +1. Reproduce issue locally or in staging within 4h (critical) or 24h (high). +2. Identify all affected versions; label ticket accordingly. +3. Determine backport feasibility (does fix require API change?). If API-breaking, mark as deferred unless emergency. +4. Estimate effort and set SLA deadline in ticket. +5. Assign owner and required approvers. Add security flag if needed. + +Backport development runbook +1. Create branch lts/vX.Y/issue-. +2. Implement minimal change; include tests. +3. Run pre-commit hooks and local CI subset. +4. Open PR to LTS branch with commit message including ticket id and changelog line. +5. Request code review and QA. + +Release runbook (pre-publish) +1. Ensure PRs merged into release-lts branch. +2. Trigger staging build pipeline; produce artifacts and signatures. +3. Run smoke tests on artifacts; review build manifest. +4. Obtain Release Manager approval. +5. Publish to staging channel; start canary rollout (if applicable). +6. If canary healthy for configured window, publish to full LTS channel. +7. Update ticket and communicate. + +Rollback runbook +1. Detect failure via monitoring or alerts. +2. Notify Release Manager and SRE; pause rollout. +3. Revert to previous artifact using documented scripts. +4. Re-run smoke tests and monitor. +5. If successful, document incident and trigger postmortem. + +Postmortem runbook +1. Gather timeline from ticket and logs. +2. Identify root cause and contributing factors. +3. Document corrective actions (tests, process changes, automation). +4. Assign owners and deadlines for follow-up. +5. Share internally and update runbooks. + +### Example minimal workflow (concrete) +1. Issue opened → Intake Module enriches and assigns. +2. Triage Engineer marks severity = high → selects release-lts/v1.4 and v1.3 as targets. +3. Developer creates lts/v1.4/issue-123, adds tests, opens PR. +4. CI runs regression suite; QA signs off. +5. Release Manager stages build, signs artifacts, runs smoke tests. +6. Publish to LTS channel; Communications sends release note. +7. Monitor for 48 hours; no issues → close ticket, update metrics. + +### Implementation checklist +- Create issue templates and ticket fields in tracker. +- Publish triage checklist and severity rubric. +- Enforce branching policy and naming conventions. +- Add CI jobs for backport/branch-specific tests. +- Automate artifact builds, signing, and SBOM generation. +- Implement staged rollout and rollback scripts. +- Create communication templates and documentation pages. +- Instrument metrics and dashboards for LTS releases. +- Schedule periodic drills for emergency releases/rollbacks. + +### Glossary & FAQ + +- LTS branch: release branch receiving only patch fixes. +- Backport: applying a fix from main to an older release branch. +- RC: release candidate. +- SBOM: software bill of materials. +- Canary: staged rollout to a subset of users. + +FAQ (short) +- Q: When is a fix eligible for LTS? A: Security fixes and low-risk bug fixes that don't break APIs; product policy may refine exceptions. +- Q: Who approves emergency fast-track? A: Engineering lead + Release Manager (plus Security for security-sensitive). +- Q: How are patches tagged? A: Use consistent semantic patch tags (vX.Y.Z or vX.Y.Z-lts). +