[bokelley]

Summary

npm run promote:rc only accepted the 3.2.0 line. The WG wants a 3.3 release candidate on Mon Nov 16, so this PR derives the line from package.json. The script now promotes the current line's final beta, X.Y.0-beta.N, to X.Y.0-rc.0.

• scripts/promote-release-candidate.mjs: the three 3.2 literals now come from the package version:

  • the line restriction;
  • the marker's to: '3.2.0-rc.0';
  • the '3.2.0-beta.' intermediate guard.

  The safety properties are unchanged:

  • one-way;
  • beta pre mode required;
  • the exact changeset pool snapshotted by SHA-256;
  • any changed, added or removed changeset refused;
  • a marker that doesn't name the current beta's rc.0 refused;
  • no intermediate beta.

  Only X.Y.0 betas can be promoted. --check and --prepare now list the pending changesets that fold into rc.0.

• tests/promote-release-candidate.test.cjs: runs the full prepare, tamper and version cycle for both 3.3.0-beta.5 and 3.2.0-beta.10. It adds cases for:

  • added and removed changesets;
  • cross-line and stale markers;
  • patch-line betas;
  • extra prerelease identifiers.

  It also fails if a version literal comes back into the script.

• RELEASING.md: the "Cutting a release candidate" section is version-neutral. It also records:

  • how to handle the open beta Version Packages PR;
  • that the marker goes stale when another changeset lands, and the main freeze;
  • the X.Y-rc docs label;
  • the hosted training agent preview bump.

• The playbook's stale pre-mode paragraph is fixed separately in docs(agents): describe pre mode and RC promotion for any line #8868, because .agents/** is human-gated in Ladon. Merge it after this PR.

No workflow files change, and no changeset is needed (the scope check finds no protocol-scoped changes).

RC-path audit

Surface	Result
scripts/promote-release-candidate.mjs:31,104,189	3.2 literals. Fixed here.
scripts/version-packages.mjs:4	Comment only ("3.2 beta -> rc.0"). Fixed here.
.github/workflows/release.yml	No hardcoding. .changeset/ makes the marker push release-relevant (:125). npm run version dispatches on the marker (:389). --prerelease comes from *-* (:503, :529).
scripts/fence-changesets.cjs:143	Generic. The PR title follows the tested pre.json tag.
.github/workflows/release-docs.yml:35-44 + scripts/update-release-docs-nav.mjs	Generic: v3.3.0-rc.0 becomes the 3.3-rc label. I simulated it locally: copied the beta.5 snapshot to rc.0, then ran rewrite-dist-links.sh and update-release-docs-nav.mjs. Result: a 3.3-rc selector beside 3.3-beta, plus .dockerignore and DOCS_SCHEMA_RELEASES entries. Tests passed: docs-nav-validation and update-release-docs-nav 42/42, Addie schema-tools and docs-indexer 95/95.
server/src/training-agent/candidate-version.ts:28-31	Deliberately pinned to 3.3-beta.5 / 3.3.0-beta.5, because it must match what the installed @adcp/sdk negotiates. It can't follow package.json. Move it to 3.3-rc.0 in the PR that adopts an SDK negotiating rc.0. RELEASING now says so.
workers/artifact-cdn/src/index.js, server/src/schemas-middleware.ts, scripts/build-schemas.cjs	Generic semver. Aliases skip prereleases, -rc.N serves by exact path, and superseded_by is derived. The only literals are the withdrawn/unpublished map (3.1.3, 3.2.0-rc.5, 3.2.0).
RELEASING.md:136-218	3.2-specific. Made version-neutral here.
.agents/playbook.md:579-582,602	Stale 3.2 RC wording. Fixed in #8868.
.agents/shortcuts/cut-minor-ga.md	3.2-specific, but it is the GA runbook, not the RC path. Left for 3.3 GA.

Verification

• npm run test:release-workflow: all suites pass.
• npm run promote:rc -- --check on this branch:

  Ready to prepare 3.3.0-beta.5 -> 3.3.0-rc.0.
  Pending changesets folded into 3.3.0-rc.0 (8):
    gate-image-creative-on-format-kind.md
    inline-legacy-asset-slots.md
    product-signal-targeting-wholesale-gate.md
    python-sdk-beta5-support-docs.md
    refresh-3-3-release-docs-beta5.md
    test-agent-preview-beta4-docs.md
    test-agent-preview-beta5-docs.md
    versioning-three-rules.md
  

• I also ran --prepare and --version with the real Changesets CLI in a throwaway worktree, which I then deleted. No marker was committed. The result:
  • package and lockfile at 3.3.0-rc.0;
  • pre.json tag rc;
  • the changelog opens at ## 3.3.0-rc.0 with no beta.6 heading;
  • all 8 changesets moved to .changeset/pre/;
  • the marker deleted.

Monday Nov 16: cutting 3.3.0-rc.0

Merge first, in this order

1. chore(release): derive the RC promotion line from package.json #8865 (this RC script fix). It doesn't touch any workflow files, so ordinary human review is enough.
2. DR-0036, docs(governance): DR-0036 records open schemas within a major; withdraw DR-0032 and DR-0033 #8858 ("records open schemas within a major"). Supersede or close Konstantin's docs(governance): state DR-0036 as a decision; corrections live in the register #8777 to match.
3. The 3.3 open-schemas PR on main. It isn't open yet; fix(schemas): open schemas that were closed by accident (3.2.x backport) #8864 is its 3.2.x backport. Decide whether it supersedes Konstantin's fix(schemas): open the capability blocks and containers 3.3 extends, against DR-0019 (#8501) #8772 or that one lands too. Then any other rc.0 content, each with its own changeset.
4. Forward merge chore(release): forward-merge 3.2.x maintenance fixes into main #8820 (3.2.x). Land it before the marker PR, or hold it until rc.0 has published. Never merge it in between. The same applies to any forward merge for 3.2.10. chore(release): forward-merge AdCP 3.1.33 into main #8851 (3.1.33) already merged on Nov 9.

Commands

gh release view v3.3.0-beta.5 --json isPrerelease,assets   # or the last beta, if beta.6 is cut first
# Beta VP PR #8801: either leave it open (it regenerates in place as rc.0,
# as #7196 did for 3.2), or `gh pr close 8801 --delete-branch`.
# Never close it and keep the branch: the release fence then stops the run.
git fetch origin
git switch -c chore/prepare-3.3-rc0 origin/main
npm ci --ignore-scripts
npm run promote:rc -- --check     # expect "Ready to prepare 3.3.0-beta.N -> 3.3.0-rc.0." and the pool
npm run promote:rc -- --prepare
git diff --check
git add .changeset/rc-promotion.json
git commit -m "chore(release): prepare 3.3.0-rc.0"
git push -u origin chore/prepare-3.3-rc0
gh pr create --base main --title "chore(release): prepare AdCP 3.3.0-rc.0"

• Keep the marker PR state-only. If any changeset reaches main before it merges, delete the marker, rebase, and run --prepare again.
• Freeze main from the marker PR's merge until rc.0 has finished publishing.
• release.yml regenerates the Version Packages PR at 3.3.0-rc.0 as a Draft. Before approving, confirm git merge-base <head> origin/main equals the tip of origin/main. Then mark it Ready, approve it on the final head (a non-author human with write access), and merge.

Confirm before merging the RC Version Packages PR (from RELEASING)

• package.json and the lockfile are at 3.3.0-rc.0, and .changeset/pre.json is {"mode":"pre","tag":"rc"}.
• The changelog opens at ## 3.3.0-rc.0, holds only changes meant for the candidate, and has no beta.6 heading.
• dist/schemas, dist/compliance, and dist/protocol/3.3.0-rc.0.tgz with its .sha256, .sig and .crt all carry that exact version.
• The compact lifecycle storyboards and the training-agent profile tests pass.
• The SDK disposition is recorded (see below).
• The 10 open 3.3.0 milestone items are closed or moved out by their owners.

SDK disposition to record

SDK	Version	Bundles	Status
TypeScript @adcp/sdk	17.0.0-beta.21	3.3.0-beta.5	Negotiates only 3.3-beta.5. rc.0 needs a new SDK prerelease.
Python adcp	10.0.0b13	3.3.0-beta.5	Same as TypeScript.
Go adcp/v3	v3.2.1	3.2.0-rc.1 types	No 3.3 support. Record it as unsupported.
Java	none	none	No SDK. Record it as unsupported.

After the merge

• Run RELEASING's VERSION=3.3.0-rc.0 verification: tag, prerelease release with exactly 4 assets, schemas, compliance, and the tgz on the CDN.
• Merge the auto/docs-v3.3.0-rc.0 snapshot PR, which adds the 3.3-rc selector. The banner ("AdCP 3.3 beta is open") is a manual edit.
• When an SDK that negotiates 3.3-rc.0 ships, move TRAINING_AGENT_HOSTED_PREVIEW to { wireVersion: '3.3-rc.0', bundle: '3.3.0-rc.0' } in server/src/training-agent/candidate-version.ts, and update its preview tests in the same PR.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[aao-secretariat]

Ladon verdict: Approve

Approve — clean refactor of RC-promotion tooling, no blocking findings.

Checked:

• scripts/promote-release-candidate.mjs: the three hardcoded 3.2 literals now derive the release line from package.json via releaseLine(), and readPreparedRcPromotion derives targetVersion through planRcPromotion instead of a hardcoded 3.2.0-rc.0. Validation stays fail-closed — new prerelease.length !== 2 and patch !== 0 guards reject malformed and patch-line betas.
• Tests exercise both 3.3.0 and 3.2.0 lines plus added/removed-changeset, stale/cross-line-marker, and literal-regression cases.
• Scope: release scripts + runbooks only (RELEASING.md, scripts/*, tests/*). No static/schemas/source/**, dist/**, or normative-docs surface touched, so no changeset required — scope check confirms. No protocol-policy/governance question, no oneOf/discriminator surface, no breaking-class change.

Decision table: no critical/high/medium findings; gated_paths false; high_risk false; no no-auto-approve team match; first review. Rows 1–8 do not fire → row 9 approve. (review_decision is REVIEW_REQUIRED, but gated_paths is false and no prose hard gate applies, so this does not force escalate.)

[aao-secretariat]

Ladon verdict: Escalate to human review

Escalate — gated path touched and review not yet approved.

This PR modifies .agents/playbook.md, which matches the gated glob .agents/** (gated_paths: true). The review_decision is REVIEW_REQUIRED, not APPROVED, so the hard approval gate (decision table row 2) is not satisfied and the PR cannot be auto-approved despite a clean diff.

Content assessment: The reviewer found no blocking issues. The delta is a single file (.agents/playbook.md, ~31 lines) making the pre-mode paragraph version-neutral; verified accurate against repo state (pre.json {"mode":"pre","tag":"beta"}, package.json 3.3.0-beta.5), with 3.2 history preserved correctly. No code, wire, schema, or changeset-scoped change. The prior pass also had no blockers.

Blocking findings: None.

Escalation reasons:

• .agents/playbook.md is under the hard approval gate (.agents/**); human/CODEOWNERS review is required before merge. The gate lifts once review_decision becomes APPROVED.

Why human review

• Touches gated path .agents/playbook.md (matches .agents/**) and review_decision is REVIEW_REQUIRED, not APPROVED — human/CODEOWNERS review required before merge.
• This PR touches a path under a hard, non-overridable approval gate (.agents/playbook.md (modified) matches .agents/**) and the current GitHub review decision is 'REVIEW_REQUIRED', not APPROVED. This is a hard gate enforced in code — Ladon cannot auto-approve until a human/CODEOWNERS approval is recorded, regardless of how clean the diff is.

[aao-secretariat]

Ladon verdict: Approve

Approve — clean pass on a release-tooling generalization.

What I checked:

• The prior decision (escalate) was driven entirely by a gated path .agents/playbook.md matching .agents/** under REVIEW_REQUIRED. The current diff touches only RELEASING.md, scripts/promote-release-candidate.mjs, scripts/version-packages.mjs, and tests/promote-release-candidate.test.cjs — no gated path (gated_paths: false), so row 2 no longer applies. The sticky-escalation rule (row 6) requires a fresh critical/high/medium finding to persist the prior escalate; there are none, so it does not stick.
• No critical/high/medium findings (rows 1, 4, 5, 8 don't fire). high_risk: false (rows 3, 5 don't fire). No no-auto-approve team match (row 7 doesn't fire). Falls through to row 9.
• Core logic is sound: planRcPromotion tightens prerelease validation and swaps the 3.2 restriction for patch !== 0; readPreparedRcPromotion derives the target via planRcPromotion so stale/cross-line markers fail closed; the intermediate-beta guard anchors to releaseLine(parse(currentVersion)). All branches covered by parametrized tests over 3.2/3.3/4.0 lines.
• Changeset correctly omitted — neither release script is in the scope gate's PROTOCOL_SCOPED_PATHS. RELEASING.md's candidate-version.ts reference verified to exist.

No blocking or medium findings; outcome is approve per row 9.