b05f386711
The Play publish workflow uses distribution/whatsnew/whatsnew-en-US (its whatsNewDirectory), NOT the fastlane changelogs/*.txt (those feed F-Droid). That file was stale at v0.4.7 — so 0.4.8/0.4.9/0.4.10 all shipped to the internal track with outdated release notes. Updated it to 0.4.10 (<500 chars). Also corrected PUBLISHING.md, which I'd previously written wrong: (a) app.json android.versionCode is overridden by CI (github.run_number+100), so 0.4.10's real Play versionCode is 142, not the app.json value — hand-bumping it is pointless for Play; (b) Play release notes live in distribution/whatsnew, not fastlane changelogs. Discovered while promoting 0.4.10 (the Console showed versionCode 142, not the app.json 37). Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01T12AhSnQVrSxNnvwfCx2z6 Co-authored-by: engineer <engineer@macbookpro.lan> Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
70 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
70 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
# Publishing to Google Play Store
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## Required GitHub Secrets
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Configure these in **Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions**:
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| Secret | Description |
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|--------|-------------|
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| `PLAY_STORE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON` | Google Play Console service account JSON key (full JSON content) |
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| `KEYSTORE_BASE64` | Base64-encoded release keystore (`base64 -w0 release.keystore`) |
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| `KEYSTORE_PASSWORD` | Keystore password |
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| `KEY_ALIAS` | Key alias in the keystore |
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| `KEY_PASSWORD` | Key password |
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## Setup Steps
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### 1. Create a release keystore
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```bash
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keytool -genkeypair -v -storetype PKCS12 \
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-keystore release.keystore -alias release \
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-keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000
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```
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Encode it for GitHub secrets:
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```bash
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base64 -w0 release.keystore
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```
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### 2. Create a Google Play service account
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1. Go to [Google Cloud Console](https://console.cloud.google.com/) > IAM > Service Accounts
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2. Create a service account and download the JSON key
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3. In Google Play Console > Settings > API access, link the service account
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4. Grant it release management permissions for your app
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### 3. Workflow triggers
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The publish workflow runs on:
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- GitHub Release publish events
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- Tag pushes matching `v*`
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It builds an AAB (Android App Bundle), signs it with the release keystore, and uploads to the **internal** track. Promote to production via Play Console.
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## Releasing (proven runbook)
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1. Bump `version` in `package.json` **and** `app.json` (`expo.version`). Do **not** bother hand-bumping `android.versionCode` for Play — the publish workflow overrides it with `github.run_number + 100` at build time (so the Play `versionCode` is e.g. `142`, unrelated to the number in `app.json`; that field only matters for local/other builds).
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2. Update the **Play** release notes in `distribution/whatsnew/whatsnew-en-US` (single file, applied to the build being uploaded; **max 500 chars**). This — not the `fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/changelogs/*.txt` files — is what the Play publish uses (`whatsNewDirectory` in the workflow). The fastlane `changelogs/*.txt` files feed **F-Droid**, not Play; keep them for F-Droid but don't expect Play to read them. Merge to `main`.
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3. Tag the release: `git tag -a vX.Y.Z <sha> -m "..." && git push origin vX.Y.Z`. This triggers the publish workflow → **internal** track.
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4. Verify the publish run is green, then confirm the build on the internal track. Note its real Play `versionCode` (run_number+100) — that's what you promote, not the `app.json` number.
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5. **Promote to production** (see below).
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## Promoting to production
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Production is **not** published by CI by default — the service account is scoped to the internal track only, which is intentional (a human gate before a build reaches all users).
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- **Recommended — Play Console:** Production → Create release → **Add from library** → select the build by its **versionName** (e.g. `0.4.10`) and confirm its `versionCode` (the run_number-derived one, e.g. `142` — not the `app.json` number) → review → roll out. If the "What's new" field is empty, paste from `distribution/whatsnew/whatsnew-en-US`. No rebuild.
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- **Fully automated (optional):** grant the CI service account **"Release to production"** for this app in Play Console → Users & permissions, then run the workflow's `workflow_dispatch` with `track=production`, `status=completed`. **Without that permission the production dispatch fails with `The caller does not have permission` after building** — so don't dispatch `track=production` until the service account has been granted production access.
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## Fastlane (Alternative)
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A Fastlane setup is included for local publishing:
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```bash
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bundle install
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bundle exec fastlane android deploy
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```
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Set environment variables: `SUPPLY_JSON_KEY`, `RELEASE_STORE_FILE`, `RELEASE_STORE_PASSWORD`, `RELEASE_KEY_ALIAS`, `RELEASE_KEY_PASSWORD`.
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