Release Model

KiCad Studio Kit uses one repository and separate product release surfaces.

Product	Version file	Artifact	Publish workflow
VS Code extension	apps/vscode-extension/package.json	VSIX	publish-extension.yml
Python MCP server	packages/mcp-server/pyproject.toml	sdist / wheel	publish-python.yml
npm launcher	packages/mcp-npm/package.json	npm package	publish-npm.yml
MCP Registry listing	packages/mcp-server/server.json	registry metadata	publish-mcp-registry.yml

Release Please owns version proposals through .release-please-manifest.json and release-please-config.json. The manifest tracks product package paths only; the private repository root is not a release surface.

Release PRs are product-scoped:

• apps/vscode-extension releases as the VS Code extension product.
• packages/mcp-server and packages/mcp-npm release as the kicad-mcp-pro product and keep one version through the linked-versions plugin.

The extension is intentionally not part of the kicad-mcp-pro linked-version group. A change that only affects the extension can produce only an extension release PR, and a change that only affects the MCP server product can produce only an MCP release PR.

Conventional Commit scopes are part of the release boundary. Use kicad-studio for extension-only changes, kicad-mcp-pro for MCP server or npm launcher changes, repo for repository governance and release policy, and deps for dependency-only updates. A single commit that touches both product directories must either be split or use kicad-studio/kicad-mcp-pro so CI can reject changelog cross-contamination before Release Please runs.

Compatibility gate

Before release, compatibility metadata must agree across the root matrix, extension, MCP server, and MCP Registry manifests:

corepack pnpm run check:version
corepack pnpm run check:compatibility
corepack pnpm run test:contract
corepack pnpm run release:dry-run

The extension declares the MCP server range it supports, and the MCP server advertises protocol/tool compatibility through its server metadata. Protocol or schema changes must update compatibility metadata and release notes for both products before either release PR is merged.

Release ownership

Release and publish execution is intentionally external to normal development work:

• The release PR may update versions and changelogs.
• Publishing uses protected GitHub environments.
• PyPI and npm publish through trusted publishing/OIDC.
• Marketplace publish uses VSCE_PAT and OVSX_PAT in the extension-marketplaces environment.

Do not publish from local development shells.