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Developer Publishing

From working mod to Workshop release. (Oxide equivalent: “Plugin Guidelines” release half + “Server lifecycle”.)

1. Pre-release checklist

Section titled “1. Pre-release checklist”
  • Unique mod ID; mod.json (id / name / version / entry / min_framework_version) or [GregMod] + [GregDependsOn] filled.
  • Developer Best Practices §6 diagnostics green (doctor, patcher log, contracts, version, tests, Codacy local).
  • Save round-trip tested: save → load → remove mod → vanilla still loads.
  • Co-op scope documented (SP-only vs co-op-tested, identical-set requirement).
  • README documents: install, settings, events emitted (<modId>.*), hotkeys, troubleshooting.
  • CHANGELOG.md (Unreleased) entry; Conventional Commits on the branch (feat/…, fix/…, docs/… off current main); docs (README.md + docs/) synced.

2. Versioning

Section titled “2. Versioning”
  • Framework truth: VERSION file (BuildInfo stamps -dev.0). Mods: SemVer in manifest/attribute; gate with min_framework_version / GregDependsOn.
  • Never reuse shop/item IDs or GUIDs across versions (see Developer Shop Items); never rename a shipped custom event — add a new one (Developer Events Hooks Guide).

3. Packaging

Section titled “3. Packaging”
  • Lua: zip the mod folder (mod.json + main.lua + modules + data/ defaults, no absolute paths). Players extract to UserData/gregCore/Mods/Lua/<modId>/.
  • C#: ship the DLL (+ declared deps); soft-dep on gregCore.dll unless you consciously went hard-dep (see docs/modding/hard-dependency.md).
  • Custom items: meshes/textures/icons as files in the mod folder or pack folder (GregCustomItems mesh pre-check, traversal guard).
  • Mod packs: optional Mods/manifest.json (Name + Mods/Library/Plugins paths relative to Mods/) for curated sets; entries are validated and Library folders feed dependency probing. Never list anything under .deactivated.
  • Repo scripts: scripts/Package-SdkAssets.ps1, Create-SDK-Packs.ps1, Publish-LocalRelease.ps1, Deploy-Release-ToDataCenter.ps1 (local test) and Deploy-Release-ToWorkshop.ps1 / Copy-WorkshopUploaderToGame.ps1 / Update-ReleaseMetadata.ps1 + steamdesc.md for Workshop copy.
Section titled “4. Release flow (framework convention, recommended for mods)”

dev → pre-release → main; GitHub Releases carry the downloads (dev builds are never presented as stable). Workshop releases join the GregCore Collection on Steam so players can subscribe instead of handling files. Mirror/CI (.forgejo = source, GitHub = passive mirror via gregMirror.Sync.sh) and branch protection (docs/maintainers/branch-protection.md) apply to gregCore itself — mirror the discipline: small reviewable PRs, screenshots/logs for UI/behavior changes, security reports via SECURITY.md (never public issues).

5. Post-release

Section titled “5. Post-release”
  • Watch loader logs for [DynamicPatcher] failures after each game update, then follow Developer Harmony IL2CPP “After a game update” (re-copy interop, regenerate GameApi + hooks, validate, vanilla-first test).
  • Keep min_framework_version accurate when you adopt new APIs; announce dependency changes in the changelog.