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Tractus-X Release Process

The Eclipse Tractus-X Release Process is a structured, transparent, and collaborative approach to planning and delivering high-quality releases. This process ensures that all contributors, committers, and stakeholders are aligned on deliverables, timelines, and expectations for each release cycle.

Release Cadence

Tractus-X follows a quarterly release cycle with releases typically occurring in March, June, September, and December. Release naming follows the pattern R{YY}.{MM} (e.g., R24.03 for March 2024).

Release Timeline Overview​

The release process consists of several key phases that span approximately 3-4 months:

Timeline Example

The timeline shown above is illustrative. Actual dates vary by release. Check the Timeline View for specific release schedules.

Key Milestones​

The release process includes two critical milestone days that bring the community together to align on features and plan the upcoming release.

Alignment Day​

The Alignment Day is a collaborative session focused on addressing open questions and resolving dependencies between features planned for the upcoming release.

Purpose

This is not a planning or refinement session — it's a dedicated space to clarify uncertainties, discuss dependencies, and ensure all teams understand what's expected from each feature.

What to Expect:

  • Duration: Typically 2-4 hours
  • Focus: Features labeled with open question
  • Participants: Feature owners, component developers, committers, and stakeholders
  • Activities:
    • Overview of features with open questions
    • Group discussions and breakout sessions as needed
    • Documentation of decisions and clarifications

Prerequisites for Features:

  • Features must be labeled open question at least 3 days prior to the Alignment Day
  • Feature owners should be prepared to describe their needs or concerns
  • Component developers should be ready to clarify what is expected from them

Key Focus Areas:

  • Cross-component dependencies
  • Technical constraints and architectural decisions
  • Unclear requirements or acceptance criteria
  • Resource availability and capacity planning

Open Planning Day​

The Open Planning Day is the main planning session where the community finalizes the roadmap for the upcoming release, prioritizes features, and assigns milestones.

Who Should Attend
  • Contributors and Committers from the open-source community
  • Experts
  • Feature requesters and stakeholders

Your participation is crucial to ensure the success of release planning!

What to Expect:

  • Duration: Typically 3-5 hours
  • Focus: Feature prioritization and milestone assignment
  • Structure: Sessions organized by Topic/Product areas (e.g., Portal, BPDM, EDC, etc.)
  • Activities:
    • Vision and introduction to the release
    • Topic-by-topic planning sessions
    • Feature discussion and milestone assignment
    • Feedback and wrap-up

Agenda Structure (Example):

TimeTopicDescription
09:05 - 09:20Open Planning - Vision & IntroductionOverview of release goals and process
09:20 - 11:50Joint Open PlanningTopic-by-topic feature planning sessions
11:50 - 12:15Feedback Retro / Wrap-upSummary, next steps, and retrospective

Prerequisites for Features:

For a feature to be considered during Open Planning, it must meet the following criteria:

  • Status: Must be set to Backlog (set by Committers and experts, requester after refinement)
  • Milestone: Must NOT be set (will be assigned during the session)
  • Assignees: Both Contributor and Committer must be assigned
  • Topic/Product: Must be set to categorize the feature
  • Template Completeness: All sections of the feature template must be filled (do not delete any sections)
Special Case - KITs

For KIT features, only the Contributor, Committer, and Description fields need to be filled. There is also a seperate issue template for KITs

Release Planning Board​

The Release Planning is managed through the Release Planning Board on GitHub.

Key Views:

  • Timeline View: Visualize the release timeline and feature deadlines
  • Topic/Product View: Features organized by their product or topic area
  • Status View: Track features by their current status (Backlog, In Progress, Done, etc.)

Issue Labels and Attributes​

Understanding and using the correct labels and attributes is essential for effective release planning.

Important Labels​

LabelPurposeWhen to Use
Prep-R{YY.MM}Identifies features for a specific releaseAdd when creating a feature for an upcoming release (e.g., Prep-R26.03)
open questionMarks features with unresolved questionsAdd at least 3 days before Alignment Day
edc, portal and moreMarks other topic groups which might be needed to fullfill the requirements of the featureUsed for dependencies

Required Attributes​

When creating a feature issue, ensure the following attributes are set:

AttributeDescriptionRequired For
StatusCurrent state of the feature (Backlog, In Progress, Done, etc.)All features
MilestoneTarget release (set during Open Planning)After Open Planning
AssigneesContributor and Committer assigned to the featureBefore Open Planning
Topic/ProductProduct or topic area (e.g., Portal, BPDM, EDC)Before Open Planning
LabelsIncludes preparation label (e.g., Prep-R26.03)All features

Issue Templates​

Feature Template​

When creating a new feature for a release, use the feature template which includes:

  • Description: Clear description of the feature and its value
  • Acceptance Criteria: Specific, measurable criteria for completion
  • Dependencies: List of other features or components this feature depends on
  • Technical Details: Architecture, implementation approach, and technical considerations
  • Testing Approach: How the feature will be tested
  • Documentation: Required documentation updates
Best Practices
  • Don't delete any sections from the template (except for KITs as noted above)
  • Fill out all sections completely before the Open Planning session
  • Update the issue regularly during development
  • Link related issues and pull requests

Development and Testing Phases​

Feature Development Phase​

After Open Planning, the development phase begins:

  • Features with assigned milestones move to "In Progress"
  • Regular product meetings track development progress
  • Committers review pull requests and ensure quality standards
  • Features must follow all Tractus-X Release Guidelines (TRGs)

Test Phase Preparation​

Before the E2E testing phase:

  • Release Check Issues: Creation of Release Check Issues to be part of the Release and Test Phase
  • Briefing Session: Preparation meeting to review the release checklist and deployment process
  • Kick-Off Session: Launch meeting for the test phase with latest updates
  • Features must be deployed to the integration environment

E2E Testing Phase​

The End-to-End testing phase validates the entire release:

  • Duration: Typically 3 weeks
  • Daily Sync: Daily standup meetings to track progress and blockers
  • Focus: Deployment status, defect/blocker updates, test status for all products
  • Environment: Integration (INT) environment

Open Meetings​

The release process is supported by various open meetings where the community collaborates:

General Office Hour​

Product-Specific Meetings​

Individual products have their own regular sync meetings:

  • Portal Open Meeting
  • EDC Weekly
  • BPDM Open Meeting
  • Industry Core Hub & Tractus-X SDK Weekly
  • And more...

See the full list on the Open Meetings page.

Communication Channels​

Stay connected and informed throughout the release process:

Tips for Success​

For Feature Requesters
  1. Start Early: Create your feature issues well before the Alignment Day
  2. Be Complete: Fill out all template sections thoroughly
  3. Attend Meetings: Participate in Alignment Day and Open Planning
  4. Stay Engaged: Monitor your feature's progress and respond to questions promptly
For Committers and Contributors
  1. Review Early: Look at features before Open Planning to assess feasibility
  2. Be Realistic: Don't over-commit; consider capacity and dependencies
  3. Communicate: Use labels like open question when you need clarity
  4. Follow TRGs: Ensure all contributions meet the Release Guidelines
For Everyone
  • Keep the Release Planning Board clean and up-to-date
  • Use the provided templates and don't delete sections
  • Join the Matrix chat rooms for real-time discussions
  • Subscribe to the mailing list for important announcements

Additional Resources​

For questions or further information, reach out via the mailing list or join the Tractus-X Matrix channel.