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.

Versioning config

Version strings are an important identifier in Runway, allowing us to match up release data across different contexts and integrated tools.

Custom versioning configs

Not all teams follow standard semantic versioning, so we offer the ability to set custom versioning configurations that allow Runway to interpret different version string formats and still map them to the correct release. You can set these mappings for different contexts if needed — for example, you could set one config for version strings as they appear in your app’s bundle and in the app stores, and a different one for version strings that appear to users in Runway.

Below are common examples of custom versioning configs. If you’re not sure how Runway might support your team’s versioning convention, get in touch!

• Concise: 3.15

• Version with build number for patch digit: 3.15.1234 (where 1234 is the store build number that was released)

Currently, custom versioning configs need to be set by the Runway team on our backend.

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.