# `omnipackage release`

Build and publish in one pass per distro. The most common command: most users only run `release`, not the separate `build` / `publish` pair.

```text
omnipackage release [project-dir] [flags]
```

`project-dir` defaults to `.`.

`release` is not literally `build` followed by `publish`. For each distro it runs build, repo metadata generation, and signing in a single container, then uploads and renders the install page. This is why `release` does not depend on a prior `--build-dir`, while `publish` does.

Previously published packages are pruned per the repository's [`retain_packages`](https://docs.omnipackage.org/configuration/repositories/#package-retention) setting before the upload.

## Flags

The union of `build` and `publish` flags. Every flag has a default; the table shows the value used if the flag is omitted.

| Flag                           | Default                              | Description                                                                                                                                      |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `<project-dir>`                | `.`                                  | Project root                                                                                                                                     |
| `--config-path <rel>`          | `.omnipackage/config.yml`            | Config path relative to the project dir                                                                                                          |
| `--env-file <path>`            | `.env`                               | Env file for `${...}` substitution in `config.yml`                                                                                               |
| `--distros <ids...>`           | **all distros in `builds:`**         | Space-separated subset of distros                                                                                                                |
| `--build-dir <path>`           | `$TMPDIR/omnipackage-build`          | Where per-distro build subdirs live                                                                                                              |
| `--fail-fast`                  | off                                  | Stop on the first failing distro                                                                                                                 |
| `--image-cache <name>`         | none                                 | Use a configured [image cache](https://docs.omnipackage.org/configuration/image_caches/index.md)                                                 |
| `--repository <name>`          | first entry in `repositories:`       | Which `repositories:` entry to publish to                                                                                                        |
| `--version-extractor <name>`   | first entry in `version_extractors:` | Pick a [version extractor](https://docs.omnipackage.org/configuration/version_extractors/index.md) by name                                       |
| `--custom-install-page <path>` | built-in template                    | Override the generated `install.html` template. See [Custom install page](https://docs.omnipackage.org/guides/install_page/#custom-install-page) |
| \`--container-output \<stderr  | stdout                               | null>\`                                                                                                                                          |
| `--disable-container-echo`     | off                                  | Disable `set -x` inside the container (less noisy output)                                                                                        |
| `--fail-log-lines <n>`         | `50`                                 | On failure with `--container-output=null`, print the last N lines of the on-disk log. Ignored otherwise                                          |

## `release` vs. separate `build` + `publish`

- **`release`** — the default. Everything happens in one container per distro, so it is also faster than the two-step pair.
- **`build` then `publish`** — useful for inspecting the artefact (install it locally, run a smoke test) before pushing to the repository, or for publishing the same artefact to multiple repositories without rebuilding.