SparkleReleaseTest

This is a example project to show how to create a GitHub Action to automatically create a release for a macOS app, using Sparkle.

Complete guide to this project can be found here.

What does the workflow do?

The owner creates a PR to main (the branch which is used by GitHub Pages) and comments /release. If the PR is mergeable, this triggers a GitHub Action which will:

1. Extrapolate from Release_Notes.md the:
   • latest version number
   • its release notes
   • its title
   • previous version number
2. Replace all occurences of the previous version number with the new version number within the Xcode project
3. Archive and export the Xcode project as a .app
4. Run the generate_appcast tool from Sparkle, which will create/update the appcast.xml file in the Docs/Support folder
5. Create a GitHub release with the zipped app, the release notes, the latest version and the title
6. Merge the PR, which triggers the GitHub action to build GitHub Pages, which will host the appcast.xml file. The update is so available for all users.

Necessary steps to make this work

Necessary for Sparkle

• In the info.plist file of the Xcode project:
  • Set the SUFeedURL to https://<username>.github.io/<repo>/Support/appcast.xml
  • Set the SUPublicEDKey to the public key, see here on how to generate one

Necessary for the workflow

• Add the private sparkle key to the GitHub secrets
• Add a build certificate and a provision profile to the GitHub secrets, see here - needed in step 3
• Add a Release_Notes.md file to the root of the project, (look at Release_Notes.md for an example of how the release notes should be formatted))])
• Add a docs folder to the root of the project, with a Support folder inside it. This is where the appcast.xml file will be generated and hosted.
• Set docs in the main branch as the GitHub Pages source (repository settings > pages > source)
• In the Xcode project set the project and marketing versions to the same value (Project > General > Identity > Version and Build)
• Add an item in the Release_Notes.md file for the current version, with the title # <version> - <title>, e.g. # 1.0.0 - Initial Release, this will be used by the workflow to get the previous version number
• Create a Configuration folder and copy all the files from the Configuration folder in this repo to it

Important links

• https://sparkle-project.org/documentation/
• https://docs.github.com/en/actions/deployment/deploying-xcode-applications/installing-an-apple-certificate-on-macos-runners-for-xcode-development

Useful links for creating the workflow

• https://docs.github.com/en/rest/pulls/pulls?apiVersion=2022-11-28#get-a-pull-request
• https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/contexts#github-context