From 448e81a872b586296ed7d327eaa13af7836d6418 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raj Nakarja <raj@siliconwitchery.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:15:24 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Make the release path explicit and single-pass

---
 .github/workflows/ci.yml |  4 ----
 CLAUDE.md                |  2 +-
 README.md                | 27 ++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 3 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 59d4d39..a0b7c4c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -51,10 +51,6 @@ jobs:
             exit 1
           fi
 
-      - run: go vet ./...
-
-      - run: go test ./...
-
       - name: Build the release the same way a tag would
         uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@f06c13b6b1a9625abc9e6e439d9c05a8f2190e94 # v7.2.3
         with:
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 9e58b0b..1c3bd2c 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ General and meant to be reused verbatim across projects.
 ## Development cycle
 
 One request, one branch, one pull request, and the branch never outlives it.
-Raj owns steps 1, 5 and 7; the rest happen here.
+Raj owns steps 1, 5, 7 and 8; the rest happen here.
 
 1. **Raj asks for something.** A cycle starts from a request, never from
    picking up where the last one stopped.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ac57944..c50cf44 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -111,12 +111,33 @@ Do everything below once.
 
 ## Releasing
 
-1. Change `version` in `main.go`, then open and merge a release pull request.
+1. Create `dev` fresh from `main`:
 
-1. Tag the commit that merging created:
+    ```sh
+    git fetch origin
+    git switch -C dev origin/main
+    ```
+
+1. Change `version` in `main.go`, run the checks, commit, and push:
+
+    ```sh
+    CGO_ENABLED=0 go vet ./...
+    CGO_ENABLED=0 go test ./...
+    git diff --check
+    git add main.go
+    git commit -m "Version <version>"
+    git push -u origin dev
+    ```
+
+1. Open the `dev` pull request, review it, and merge it with squash.
+
+1. Return to `main`, remove the stale branch, and tag the commit that merging
+   created:
 
     ```sh
-    git switch main && git pull
+    git switch main
+    git pull --ff-only
+    git branch -D dev
     tag="v$(sed -n 's/^const version = "\(.*\)"$/\1/p' main.go)"
     git tag "$tag" && git push origin "$tag"
     ```