Create a Release Draft

The first step in creating a new release for your app is to create a draft. You will need:

• The Application’s slug (example: devtools-desktop)
• The Organization’s slug (example: crabnebula)
• The version number for this draft (example: 1.0.0)

When combined like crabnebula/devtools-desktop this is referred to as a “fully qualified” application slug. The slugs can be found on the Application’s details page.

Tip

Be sure to follow the instructions to setup the CrabNebula Cloud CLI before continuing.

Create a draft by running the following command:

cn release draft {org-slug/app-slug} {version-number}

Tip

When using Tauri or cargo-packager, you can automatically draft a release with your app’s version by running cn release draft {org-slug/app-slug} --framework [tauri|packager].

You can also add notes to a release by including the --notes flag when running cn release draft. Alternatively, a file containing the notes can be specified with the --notes-file flag.

Note that the version number can be any string that represents the version of the application so that any versioning scheme is supported.

For example, if wanting to create the 1.0.0 release for an application with the fully qualified slug crabnebula/devtools-desktop you would run the following command:

cn release draft crabnebula/devtools-desktop "1.0.0"

You will now see a new draft in the Cloud Platform for the specified application. Take note of the id value output from the cn release draft command as it will be needed when uploading assets in the next step.

Release Channels

Release channels are a mechanism that allows you to deploy assets to different environments such as beta releases or QA builds. To draft a release on a specific channel, use the --channel <channel-name> CLI argument. If no channel is set, it is assumed to be the default/production channel which does NOT have an actual name, so no value provided as channel name matches it.

Note

The --channel <channel-name> CLI argument must also be provided to the release show, release purge, release upload and release publish commands.

Caution

Release channels are NOT visible on your application’s public page, but they are still publicly accessible. Consider the channels “public, but not advertised”.

Release Creation

Create a draft release on a specific channel (such as beta) by running the following command:

cn release draft crabnebula/devtools-desktop "1.0.0" --channel beta

App Download

To utilize this channel in download links such as in our Download Button Snippet generator, use the channel query parameter. For example, to download the latest release of an application under a specific channel, you would use the following URL format:

https://cdn.crabnebula.app/download/<org-slug>/<app-slug>/latest/<asset-file-name>?channel=<channel>

Where you must replace <org-slug>, <app-slug>, <asset-file-name>, and <channel> with your organization’s slug, the application slug, the release asset file name, and the channel, respectively.

(Tauri) App Updates

To utilize this channel in the Tauri Updater links, the channel query parameter is also used. For example, the following URL format could be used in your tauri.conf.json file:

"endpoints": [
  "https://cdn.crabnebula.app/update/<org-slug>/<app-slug>/{{target}}-{{arch}}/{{current_version}}?channel=<channel>"
],

Where you must replace each of the <..> pieces with with your data. Visit your application’s ‘Configure Tauri Updates’ page to get the correct URL for your application, and just add the channel parameter.

Tip

If you would like to offer app users the ability to switch between channels, you must clear the configured endpoints and check for updates on the Rust side. See AppHandle::updater and UpdateBuilder::endpoints for Tauri v1 and UpdaterExt::updater_builder and UpdaterBuilder::endpoints for Tauri v2.

Delete a Release Draft

If you need to delete a release draft, you can do so from the Cloud Platform. Go to the applications page and find the unpublished draft. Click on the “View” button on the right and then select “Delete draft” from the Danger Zone. Note that this cannot be undone.

Next, upload assets for the release.