Add release creation guide

[sensei-hacker]

User description

Adds comprehensive documentation for creating INAV releases, covering:

• Version numbering and where versions are set
• Pre-release checklist
• SITL binary updates
• Tagging both repositories
• Changelog generation
• Downloading artifacts from nightly builds and CI
• Creating and managing GitHub releases
• Asset naming conventions
• Maintenance branch workflow
• Hotfix releases
• Post-release tasks

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PR Type

Documentation

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Description

• Adds comprehensive release creation guide for INAV firmware and configurator

• Covers version numbering, pre-release checklist, and SITL binary updates

• Documents tagging workflow, changelog generation, and artifact management

• Includes GitHub release creation, asset naming conventions, and hotfix procedures

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Diagram Walkthrough

flowchart LR
  A["Release Readiness"] --> B["Update SITL Binaries"]
  B --> C["Create Tags"]
  C --> D["Generate Changelog"]
  D --> E["Download Artifacts"]
  E --> F["Create Draft Releases"]
  F --> G["Publish Releases"]
  G --> H["Post-Release Tasks"]

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File Walkthrough

Relevant files

Documentation

release-create.md Complete INAV release creation process documentation          docs/development/release-create.md New comprehensive guide for creating INAV firmware and configurator releases Includes version numbering scheme and locations in CMakeLists.txt and package.json Provides pre-release checklist covering code readiness and documentation requirements Documents complete release workflow with step-by-step instructions for SITL binary updates, tagging, changelog generation, artifact downloads, and GitHub release creation Covers asset naming conventions, maintenance branch strategy, hotfix procedures, and post-release tasks Includes bash commands and scripts for automating parts of the release process +333/-0

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[github-actions]

Branch Targeting Suggestion

You've targeted the master branch with this PR. Please consider if a version branch might be more appropriate:

• maintenance-9.x - If your change is backward-compatible and won't create compatibility issues between INAV firmware and Configurator 9.x versions. This will allow your PR to be included in the next 9.x release.

• maintenance-10.x - If your change introduces compatibility requirements between firmware and configurator that would break 9.x compatibility. This is for PRs which will be included in INAV 10.x

If master is the correct target for this change, no action is needed.

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This is an automated suggestion to help route contributions to the appropriate branch.

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PR Compliance Guide 🔍

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[qodo-code-review]

High-level Suggestion

The new documentation outlines a complex manual release process. This process should be automated, for example via a GitHub Actions workflow, to improve reliability and reduce human error, using the new document as a blueprint. [High-level, importance: 9]

Solution Walkthrough:

Before:

# Manual process from docs/development/release-create.md

# 1. Manually update SITL binaries
curl -L -o /tmp/sitl-resources.zip ...
unzip ...
cp ...
git commit -m "Update SITL binaries for <version>"

# 2. Manually create tags in two repos
cd inav && git tag <version> && git push origin <version>
cd inav-configurator && git tag <version> && git push origin <version>

# 3. Manually generate changelog
gh pr list --state merged ...

# 4. Manually download, rename, and upload artifacts
gh release download <nightly-tag> ...
# ... manual renaming script ...
gh release create <version> --draft ...
gh release upload <version> *.hex

After:

# .github/workflows/create-release.yml
name: Create Release
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      version:
        description: 'Release version (e.g., 8.0.0)'
        required: true
jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Run Release Automation Script
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          VERSION: ${{ github.inputs.version }}
        run: |
          ./scripts/release.sh $VERSION
          # This script would perform all steps:
          # - Update SITL binaries
          # - Tag both repositories
          # - Generate changelog
          # - Download, rename, and prepare artifacts
          # - Create draft releases on GitHub with all assets