version-bump

Version Bump

Action

When this skill is invoked:

1. Read current version from mac-app/macos-host/Info.plist
2. Increment CFBundleShortVersionString (bump the last number, e.g., 0.2.0-alpha.10 → 0.2.0-alpha.11)
3. Increment CFBundleVersion build number (e.g., 11 → 12)
4. Apply the changes to Info.plist
5. Report the version change to the user

Single Source of Truth

All version information comes from:

mac-app/macos-host/Info.plist

Two version fields:

• CFBundleShortVersionString: Display version (e.g., 0.2.0-alpha.4)
• CFBundleVersion: Build number (e.g., 5) - must be incremented for every release

How to Update Version

1. Edit mac-app/macos-host/Info.plist
2. Update both fields:

<key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key>
<string>0.2.0-alpha.5</string>
<key>CFBundleVersion</key>
<string>6</string>

Important: Always increment CFBundleVersion. Sparkle uses this numeric value to determine if an update is available.

Version Format

Follow semantic versioning with optional pre-release identifiers:

• MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH for stable releases (e.g., 1.0.0)
• MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH-alpha.N for alpha releases (e.g., 0.2.0-alpha.4)
• MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH-beta.N for beta releases (e.g., 0.2.0-beta.1)

Release Process

1. Update version in Info.plist (both fields)
2. Commit the change
3. Push to main
4. Go to GitHub Actions and manually trigger the "Release macOS App" workflow
5. The workflow will:
   • Read version from Info.plist
   • Build and sign the app
   • Notarize with Apple
   • Create GitHub release with tag v{version}
   • Update the appcast at releases.nomendex.com

Where Version is Used

API Endpoint

The sidecar serves version info at /api/version:

{
  "version": "0.2.0-alpha.4",
  "buildNumber": "5"
}

This reads from Info.plist at runtime, checking multiple paths for dev vs bundled app.

Sparkle Update Detection

Sparkle compares CFBundleVersion (build number) to determine updates:

• Current app: build 5
• Appcast shows: build 6
• Result: Update available

This is why CFBundleVersion must always increase, even for the same display version.