Sauci/.codex/skills/release-mobile/SKILL.md

name, description

name	description
release-mobile	Prepare, verify, and ship Sauci iOS or Android releases end to end. Use for versioning, EAS/native builds, store uploads, App Review / Play review submission, and rollout.

Mobile release

Read docs/releasing.md, apps/mobile/RELEASING.md when present, and the mobile scoped instructions. Confirm target platform and release profile. Run repository verification plus a native acceptance pass before starting a release build.

OTA update vs full store release

Choose the delivery mechanism before doing anything else; they are different pipelines with different blast radii. docs/mobile-ota.md is the authority.

• OTA update (npm run ota:publish:<env> in apps/mobile): ships only the JavaScript bundle and assets to builds already installed on devices. No store review, live within minutes, and rolled back by repointing the XPREM channel at a previous update. Valid only when the change touches no native code, no native dependency, no ios//android/ project files, and no config that alters the native binary. The OTA runtime version equals the public app version, so an OTA update can only reach installs of the current expo.version.
• Full store release (this skill): a new signed binary through App Store Connect and Google Play, including review. Required whenever native code, native dependencies, the checked-in native projects, Expo SDK, permissions, entitlements, or expo.version change. Rollback is coarser: Play staged rollouts can be halted, iOS phased release can be paused, and a bad release is otherwise superseded by shipping the next version.

When a change qualifies for OTA, prefer OTA unless the user asks for a store release. Never present an OTA publish as a store release or vice versa; report which mechanism was used.

Authorization

An explicit request for a mobile release authorizes the complete pipeline for the stated platforms: version bump, build, verification, store upload, review submission (App Review / Google Play review), and rollout — including full production rollout. Rollout is recoverable by design (staged-rollout halt, phased-release pause, OTA supersession, or the next store version), so do not pause to re-confirm these steps; execute them and report. A request that explicitly narrows scope (for example "upload only", "TestFlight only", or a named track) still bounds what you do.

Before a build from the current upstream branch, fetch, require a clean worktree, and prove HEAD matches its upstream. The generate-release skill may instead build a clean, scoped release-preparation commit that descends directly from that fetched upstream; between its multi-platform builds it commits only independently verified EAS version metadata. Sauci tracks its native iOS and Android projects, so routine release builds must package those checked-in sources. Do not run expo prebuild first; native regeneration is a separate reviewed change.

Run npm run release:preflight -w @sauci/mobile before allocating an EAS build. It rejects inconsistent public/runtime versions, an iOS widget build-setting override, and a public OTA certificate that would be omitted from the archive. For a local EAS build, also run npm run release:preflight:local-eas -w @sauci/mobile after setting EAS_LOCAL_BUILD_PLUGIN_PATH to the matching plugin's executable bin/run. Do not point it at the package directory or hardcode a machine-local cache path.

Classify a failure before rebuilding. Archive, plugin-spawn, package-install, and disk-space failures happen before native compilation and must be repaired and preflighted without consuming another build. After a signing, profile, or capability failure, read back the provider state and prove only the affected input changed before rebuilding. Retain the EAS work directory, command log, and stable artifact path for every meaningful attempt. Never retry an ambiguous upload.

Report provider progress by phase: packaging, native compilation, submission queue, or store processing. Do not describe every failure as a rebuild.

Use the package scripts in apps/mobile/package.json to build artifacts and the Fastlane lanes in apps/mobile/fastlane/Fastfile to upload, submit, and roll out.

Upload and submission execution

Verification before upload is unchanged and mandatory. Independently verify and report:

• the platform, exact artifact path, bundle/package identifier, public version, build number, signature identity, and SHA-256 digest;
• the exact destination and resulting state: which Play track and rollout status, or App Store Connect version state and whether App Review submission and automatic release are included.

Once these details match the request, proceed through upload, review submission, and rollout without requesting further confirmation.

• Android: bundle exec fastlane android release aab:<absolute path> commits the release on the production track (pass track: to target another track, rollout:0.1 for a staged rollout). Play review runs automatically; rollout proceeds on approval. Use the upload lane only when the request is explicitly upload-only.
• iOS: bundle exec fastlane ios release ipa:<absolute path> uploads, creates the App Store version, submits for App Review, and releases automatically on approval (pass phased_release:true for a 7-day phased release, release_notes:"..." for What's New). Use the upload lane for TestFlight-only requests. eas submit remains valid for upload-only flows; when used, pass explicit --platform, --profile production, --path, and --wait — never --latest.

App Store Connect API group association does not establish the automatic- distribution switch. Verify that switch in an authenticated App Store Connect UI session before upload; if that UI verification is unavailable, stop rather than inferring the distribution effect from API data.

If an upload or submission command returns an ambiguous result, inspect EAS and the store before doing anything else; do not retry blind. After submission, read back the store state (Play Console track status / App Store Connect version state) and report it.

Preserve platform signing and local EAS versioning. After a build, verify that tracked changes are limited to the expected version metadata, then independently read the artifact version and signature. For an iOS IPA, inspect every packaged app extension as well as the containing app and require matching CFBundleShortVersionString and CFBundleVersion values. Treat Xcode archive warnings as diagnostic evidence, not the final artifact state: decide whether to reject or rebuild only after reading the exported IPA itself. Report the artifact, version/build number, upload and submission results, rollout state, and store read-back state.

For Android, verify the accepted AAB has all four required ABIs, the Worklets, Reanimated, and Skia native libraries, no broad READ_MEDIA_IMAGES or READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions, and the production OTA runtime, channel, and public certificate. For iOS, verify the exported IPA, not archive warnings, and check both the containing app and every extension.

For the Android native dependency ordering already tracked in Gradle, preserve the explicit task dependency that makes Prefab inputs available before dependent native tasks. Fix task validation with ordering, not Firebase removal or dependency-version roulette.

After Android upload, EAS Submit FINISHED, the exact internal/DRAFT/no-rollout submit configuration, and the retained artifact digest are the available authoritative read-back when a direct Play track read would require creating an edit. Never create an edit merely to claim read-only verification.

For a checked-in iOS entitlement, inspect the real Apple App ID capability state before a signing rebuild. The capability sync bug tracked in https://github.com/expo/eas-cli/issues/3986 can report success while Apple rejects a malformed update. Read back Associated Domains, regenerate only the affected profile, and decode that profile to prove the entitlement before rebuilding. Noninteractive managed App Store Connect key auth may require EXPO_APPLE_TEAM_ID; preserve certificates and unrelated target profiles.