Preparing your first release

How to get started with your first release in Runway

Once you have key integrations set up, preparing a new release in Runway is straightforward. There are a few ways that new releases are added to your app's release timeline, described below.

New code detected on a static release branch, or a new release branch is detected

Version-specific release branch workflow

When Runway detects a new release branch matching your release branch pattern, it will create a new release record with a version number matching the version defined in your release branch on your VCS.

Static release branch workflow

If your team has a static release branch or a single, trunk-style branch, a new release record will be created by Runway automatically as soon as new commits are detected past your previous release's tag.

When creating new releases as a result of new code being detected on the release branch, Runway will, by default, assume the new release has a version equal to a minor version increment from your previous release.

For example, if your previous release was 1.1.0, and Runway detects new code on your release branch, it will automatically create a new release with the version 1.2.0.

New feature affiliation detected

During the setup process, you define a feature affiliation pattern that allows Runway to map tickets in your project management system to a particular release. A new release record will be created in Runway if it detects a ticket with a matching feature affiliation pattern, but no matching release record yet exists for that version.

For example, if Runway detects a ticket in Jira with an ios-1.1.0 fix version, and in Runway, you've defined the feature affiliation pattern ios-{version}, Runway will associate that ticket with your 1.1.0 release. If a 1.1.0 release record does not yet exist in Runway, a new record will be created.

Preparing a release manually

You can always choose to manually prepare a release in Runway using the "Prepare release" button on the releases timeline. You will be prompted to enter a version, choose a release pilot, and optionally set target dates for kickoff, submission, and release (depending on your platform).

Prepare new release modal

You can always edit a release's details, or delete the release record entirely if needed. Actions for editing and deleting a release can be found on the Kickoff step's Summary tab.

Prepare next release version automation

One of Runway's handy automations will automatically create the next-up release in your app's release timeline as soon as your current release is kicked off.

By default, Runway will follow a minor-increment pattern for newly created releases, but you can change this by updating the Version defaults setting in App settings > General > Version defaults.