Nightly Releases

[0PandaDEV]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. It would be cool to have nightly builds in order to test the new upcoming version of checkmate.

Describe the solution you'd like A GitHub action that releases nightly build docker images with the tag :nightly

[gorkem-bwl]

Sure, we can do this.

Here are some ideas around how to implement nightly builds, so whoever will take this over from the core team can start with some pre-knowledge on the matter.

1. We have a working GitHub CI/CD system in effect, so nightlies will be built and tagged using GH CI/CD.
2. Use GitHub Actions’ schedule trigger (cron) to automatically kick off a nightly build at a specific time. Optionally, check if code changes occurred since the last build (e.g., using git history) to avoid running unnecessary builds.
3. Adopt a versioning scheme that clearly differentiates nightly builds from official releases. For instance, use a date-based tag like nightly-YYYYMMDD or a rolling tag (e.g., updating a “nightly” release) along with build metadata (commit hash, build timestamp).
4. Set up a workflow step or use existing actions to clean up older builds (for example, keeping only the last 30 days’ builds).
5. Use a tool (or script) to auto-generate release notes based on commit messages and merge logs. This can be integrated into the GitHub Release process.
6. Announce new nightly builds in one of the Discord channels we own.
7. Modify readme.md and checkmate.so pages about nightly builds. Add disclaimers that nightly builds are for testing and may be less stable than official releases. Add a section in the README explaining how to pull nightly builds.