The list of releases with notes can be found at: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases ## Release schedule | Version | RC release | Stable release | | ------- | ------------------- | -------------- | | 0.38.0 | week of November 7 | November 21 | | 0.39.0 | week of November 21 | December 2 | | 0.40.0 | 1st of December | 1st of January | | 0.41.0 | 1st of January | 1st of February| | ... | ... | ... | ------------------- ## How to cut a new release branch #### Prerequisites The following are required for the local test suite to run: - Mac OS X with [Android dev environment set up](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/master/ReactAndroid/README.md) - At least 0.2.0 [react-native-cli](https://www.npmjs.com/package/react-native-cli) installed globally #### Check everything works Before cutting a release branch, make sure CI systems [Travis](https://travis-ci.org/facebook/react-native) and [Circle](https://circleci.com/gh/facebook/react-native) are green. Before executing the following script, make sure you have: - An Android emulator / Genymotion device running - No packager running in any of the projects ```bash ./scripts/test-manual-e2e.sh ``` This script bundles a react-native package locally and passes it to the `react-native` cli that creates a test project inside `/tmp` folder using that version. After `npm install` completes, the script prints a set of manual checks you have to do to ensure the release you are preparing is working as expected on both platforms. #### Cut a release branch and push to github Run: ```bash git checkout -b -stable # e.g. git checkout -b 0.22-stable ./scripts/bump-oss-version.js # e.g. ./scripts/bump-oss-version.js 0.22.0-rc # You can use the --remote option to specify a Git remote other than the default "origin" ``` Circle CI will automatically run the tests and publish to npm with the version you have specified (e.g `0.22.0-rc`) and tag `next` meaning that this version will not be installed for users by default. Go to [Circle CI](https://circleci.com/gh/facebook/react-native), look for your branch on the left side and look the npm publish step. #### Make sure we have release notes Write the release notes, or post in [React Native Core Contributors](https://www.facebook.com/groups/reactnativeoss/) that the RC is ready to find a voluteer. You can also use [react-native-release-notes](https://github.com/knowbody/react-native-release-notes) to generate a draft of release notes. To go through all the commits that went into a release, one way is to use the GitHub compare view: ``` https://github.com/facebook/react-native/compare/0.21-stable...0.22-stable ``` **Note**: This only shows **250** commits, if there are more use git. When making a list of changes, ignore docs, showcase updates and minor typos. Sometimes commit messages might be really short / confusing - try rewording them where it makes sense. Below are few examples: - `Fix logging reported by RUN_JS_BUNDLE` -> `Fix systrace logging of RUN_JS_BUNDLE event` - `Fixes hot code reloading issue` -> `Fix an edge case in hot module reloading` Before posting the list of changes, consider asking one of contributors for their opinion. Once everything is ready, post the release notes: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases **Important**: For release candiate releases, make sure to check "This is a pre-release" #### Update `Breaking Changes` document Once the release is cut, go to the [page](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/wiki/Breaking-Changes) where all breaking changes are listed and create section for the release. Don't forget to move all breaking changes from `master` that are now part of the release. When finished and there are breaking changes, include them in the release notes you just created. #### Tweet about the rc release Tweet about it! Link to release notes and say "please report issues" and link to the master issue to track bugs you created. ## IMPORTANT: Track bug reports from the community during the following month, ping owners to get them fixed A good way to do this is to create a github issue and post about it so people can report bugs. Examples: [#6087](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/6087), [#5201](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/5201) **Only cherry-pick small and non-risky bug fixes**. **Don't pick new features into the release** as this greatly increases the risk of something breaking. The main point of the RC is to let people to use it for a month and fix the most serious bugs. ------------------- ## How to release an RC update (e.g. 0.28.0-rc.1, 0.28.0-rc.2) After cherry-picking 1-2 bug fixes, it is a good idea to do a new RC release so that people can test again. Having a few RC releases can also help people bisect in case we cherry-pick a bad commit by mistake. ```bash git checkout 0.version_you_are_releasing-stable # e.g. git checkout 0.22-stable git pull origin 0.version_you_are_releasing-stable # e.g. git pull origin 0.22-stable # Cherry-pick those commits git cherry-pick commitHash1 # IMPORTANT: Test everything again (Chrome debugging, Reload JS, Hot Module Reloading) ./scripts/test-manual-e2e.sh ``` If everything worked: ```bash ./scripts/bump-oss-version.js # e.g. ./scripts/bump-oss-version.js 0.28.0-rc.1 ```` ------------------- ## How to do the final release (e.g. 0.22.0, 0.22.1) Roughly a month after the branch cut (see the release schedule above) it's time to promote the last RC to a real release. Once all bugfixes have been cherry-picked and you're sure the release is solid (example: [#6087](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/6087)), do the release: ```bash git checkout 0.version_you_are_releasing-stable # e.g. git checkout 0.22-stable git pull origin 0.version_you_are_releasing-stable # e.g. git pull origin 0.22-stable # Cherry-pick those commits, if any git cherry-pick commitHash1 # IMPORTANT: If you cherry-picked any commits, test everything again (Chrome debugging, Reload JS, Hot Module Reloading) ./scripts/test-manual-e2e.sh ``` If everything worked: ```bash ./scripts/bump-oss-version.js # e.g. ./scripts/bump-oss-version.js 0.22.0 ``` #### Update the release notes Once you see the version in the top left corner of the website has been updated: Move the release notes to the tag you've just created. We want single release notes per version, for example if there is v0.22.0-rc and later we release v0.22.0, the release notes should live on v0.22.0: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/tags For non-RC releases: Uncheck the box "This is a pre-release" and publish the notes. #### Tweet about it Tweet about it! :) ([example tweet](https://twitter.com/grabbou/status/701510554758856704))