docs: add releasing document

README.md

@@ -86,3 +86,7 @@ In order to upgrade the Subnet-EVM version, you need to change the version in `g
 [v0.2.5] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 38)
 [v0.3.0] [email protected] (Protocol Version: 39)
 ```
+
+## Release Process
+
+Please refer to the [Releasing document](docs/releasing/README.md) for more information on how to release a new version of Precompile-EVM.

docs/releasing/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+# Releasing
+
+## When to release
+
+- When a [Subnet-EVM](https://github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/releases) release is made
+- If there is a significant code change or bugfix in this repository
+
+## Procedure
+
+In this section, we create a release `v0.4.0`. We therefore assign these environment variables to simplify copying instructions:
+
+```bash
+export VERSION=v0.4.0
+export GITHUB_USER=username
+```
+
+`GITHUB_USER` is the username of the person creating the release. This is simply used to prefix branches.
+
+1. Create your branch, usually from the tip of the `main` branch:
+
+    ```bash
+    git fetch origin main:main
+    git checkout main
+    git checkout -b "$GITHUB_USER/releases/$VERSION"
+    ```
+
+1. Modify the [plugin/main.go](../../plugin/main.go) `Version` global string constant and set it to the desired `$VERSION`.
+1. Upgrade the [subnet-evm Go dependency](https://github.com/ava-labs/subnet-evm/releases), which will likely also upgrade the AvalancheGo dependency version:
+
+    ```bash
+    go get github.com/ava-labs/subnet-evm
+    go mod tidy
+    ```
+
+1. Get the Go version from the `go.mod` file:
+
+    ```bash
+    cat go.mod | grep -oE "^go 1\.\d+" | grep -oE "1\.\d+"
+    ```
+
+    and update the [.devcontainer/devcontainer.json](../../.devcontainer/devcontainer.json) file with the Go version at `.features.["ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/go:1.version"].version`, for example:
+
+    ```json
+    {
+        "features": {
+            "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/go:1": {"version": 1.23},
+        }
+    }
+    ```
+
+1. Get the AvalancheGo version from the `go.mod` file:
+
+    ```bash
+    go list -m all | grep github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego | awk '{print $2}'
+    ```
+
+    and update the [.devcontainer/devcontainer.json](../../.devcontainer/devcontainer.json) file with it at `.build.args.AVALANCHEGO_VERSION`, for example:
+
+    ```json
+    {
+        "build": {
+            "args": {
+                "AVALANCHEGO_VERSION": "v1.13.0"
+            }
+        },
+    }
+    ```
+
+1. Add an entry in the object in [compatibility.json](../../compatibility.json), adding the target release `$VERSION` as key and the AvalancheGo RPC chain VM protocol version as value, to the `"rpcChainVMProtocolVersion"` JSON object. For example, we would add:
+
+    ```json
+    "v0.4.0": 39,
+    ```
+
+    💁 If you are unsure about the RPC chain VM protocol version, set the version to `0`, for exampple `"v0.4.0": 0`, and then run:
+
+    ```bash
+    go test -run ^TestCompatibility$ github.com/ava-labs/precompile-evm/plugin
+    ```
+
+    This will fail with an error similar to:
+
+    ```text
+    compatibility.json has precompile-evm version v0.4.0 stated as compatible with RPC chain VM protocol version 0 but AvalancheGo protocol version is 39
+    ```
+
+    This message can help you figure out what the correct RPC chain VM protocol version (here `39`) has to be in compatibility.json for your current release.
+1. Specify the AvalancheGo compatibility in the [README.md relevant section](../../README.md#avalanchego-compatibility). For example we would add:
+
+    ```text
+    ...
+    [v0.4.0] [email protected]/1.13.0-fuji/1.13.0 (Protocol Version: 39)
+    ```
+
+1. Commit your changes and push the branch
+
+    ```bash
+    git add .
+    git commit -S -m "chore: release $VERSION"
+    git push -u origin "$GITHUB_USER/releases/$VERSION"
+    ```
+
+1. Create a pull request (PR) from your branch targeting main, for example using [`gh`](https://cli.github.com/):
+
+    ```bash
+    gh pr create --repo github.com/ava-labs/precompile-evm --base main --title "chore: release $VERSION"
+    ```
+
+1. Wait for the PR checks to pass
+1. Update the `hello-world-example` branch to be rebased on your release branch:
+
+    ```bash
+    git fetch origin hello-world-example:hello-world-example
+    git checkout hello-world-example
+    git rebase "$GITHUB_USER/releases/$VERSION"
+    # Fix eventual conflicts
+    git push --force hello-world-example
+    ```
+
+1. [Wait for the checks](https://github.com/ava-labs/precompile-evm/pull/12/checks) of the `hello-world-example` branch [PR](https://github.com/ava-labs/precompile-evm/pull/12) to pass. **Never merge this PR**. You can also use `gh` with:
+
+    ```bash
+    gh pr checks 12 --watch
+    ```
+
+1. Squash and merge your release branch into `main`, for example:
+
+    ```bash
+    gh pr merge "$GITHUB_USER/releases/$VERSION" --squash --delete-branch --subject "chore: release $VERSION" --body "\n- Bump subnet-evm from v0.7.3 to v0.7.4\n- Update AvalancheGo from v1.12.3 to v1.13.0"
+    ```
+
+1. Create a release branch from the `main` branch, this time without your username prefix:
+
+    ```bash
+    git checkout -b "releases/$VERSION"
+    ```
+
+    This is to avoid creating a release targeting the `main` branch, which may contain new commits merged whilst the release is being created.
+1. Create a new release on Github, either using:
+    - the [Github web interface](https://github.com/ava-labs/subnet-evm/releases/new)
+        1. In the "Choose a tag" box, enter `$VERSION` (`v0.4.0`)
+        1. In the "Target", pick the branch `releases/$VERSION` (`releases/v0.4.0`)
+        1. Pick the previous release, for example as `v0.3.0`.
+        1. Set the "Release title" to `$VERSION` (`v0.4.0`)
+        1. Set the description using this format:
+
+            ```markdown
+            # AvalancheGo Compatibility
+
+            The plugin version is unchanged at 39 and is compatible with AvalancheGo version v1.13.0.
+
+            # Breaking changes
+
+            # Features
+
+            # Fixes
+
+            # Documentation
+
+            ```
+
+        1. Only tick the box "Set as the latest release"
+        1. Click on the "Create release" button
+    - the Github CLI `gh`:
+
+        ```bash
+        PREVIOUS_VERSION=v0.3.1
+        NOTES="# AvalancheGo Compatibility
+
+        The plugin version is unchanged at 39 and is compatible with AvalancheGo version v1.13.0.
+
+        # Breaking changes
+
+        # Features
+
+        # Fixes
+
+        # Documentation
+
+        "
+        gh release create "$VERSION" --target "releases/$VERSION" --title "$VERSION" --notes-start-tag "$PREVIOUS_VERSION" --notes "$NOTES"
+        ```

plugin/version_test.go

@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@ package main
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/ava-labs/avalanchego/version"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
 type rpcChainCompatibility struct {
@@ -17,13 +18,19 @@ const compatibilityFile = "../compatibility.json"
 
 func TestCompatibility(t *testing.T) {
 	compat, err := os.ReadFile(compatibilityFile)
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "reading compatibility file")
 
 	var parsedCompat rpcChainCompatibility
 	err = json.Unmarshal(compat, &parsedCompat)
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "json decoding compatibility file")
 
 	rpcChainVMVersion, valueInJSON := parsedCompat.RPCChainVMProtocolVersion[Version]
-	assert.True(t, valueInJSON)
-	assert.Equal(t, rpcChainVMVersion, version.RPCChainVMProtocol)
+	if !valueInJSON {
+		t.Fatalf("%s has precompile-evm version %s missing from rpcChainVMProtocolVersion object",
+			filepath.Base(compatibilityFile), Version)
+	}
+	if rpcChainVMVersion != version.RPCChainVMProtocol {
+		t.Fatalf("%s has precompile-evm version %s stated as compatible with RPC chain VM protocol version %d but AvalancheGo protocol version is %d",
+			filepath.Base(compatibilityFile), Version, rpcChainVMVersion, version.RPCChainVMProtocol)
+	}
 }