[Epic] E3: Independent versioning, packaging, and compatibility #8198

Current program ownership — 2026-10-11

Program: #8741. Native parent: #8741. Portfolio/history: #8194.

Existing Features #8217/#8218/#8219/#8220 retain their criteria. Mixed source/contributor/operational Feature #8216 is now also a native child here; preserve all accepted children and source-program crosslinks. Source Feature #8214 stays open for a separate source closeout audit; its remaining operational requirements are traced to #8216/#8219/#8220/#8636/#8643 here, not waived.

#8734 is accepted/closed; #8746 is the sole active delivery Task under source Program #8740. #8736 stays queued behind actual #8734 acceptance and the newly selected source-first Apps/Templates milestones; it is not automatically assigned next. Independent product releases, supported maintenance, first aligned 3.10, full browser/package gates, publisher/reader/trust/immutability/recovery and approved source retirement/archival remain required. Archive-first sequencing still does not require full 3.10 certification before the verified maintenance/publisher handoff.

Current checkpoint — 2026-10-11T20:15:25.947278+00:00: #8734 accepted; #8746 is the sole active Task (In Progress / Assigned / Pending), with Sol6.1High in an isolated worktree performing the first source-mapping checkpoint before edits. #8736 is queued Todo / Agent Ready / Pending; no second implementation is assigned.

Earlier scope and dated evidence (retained)

Program: #8194
Parent: #8194
Planning ID: E3

Features

• F3.1: Explicit release-unit manifests and scoped versions.
• F3.2: Dependency-aware CI and selective publication.
• F3.3: Published-package compatibility validation.
• F3.4: Artifact provenance, release notes, and recovery procedures.

Required behavior

• A connector change can publish only that release unit; unrelated packages are not version-bumped.
• Shared changes expand the impacted build/test set using the dependency graph.
• Explicit change records declare version intent; connector-specific tags identify immutable release commits.
• CI validates source/project-reference development and clean consumers using built/published NuGet artifacts against claimed released Elsa versions.
• Check package dependency metadata and prohibit accidental reliance on unreleased core changes.
• Verify the exact artifacts being published match the release commit; smoke-test actual packages, not only source.
• Document supported compatibility ranges/matrix and SDK dependency conflicts.
• Preserve existing package version monotonicity; do not reset a migrated package from 3.x to 1.x.
• Document failed/partial publication recovery without overwriting immutable NuGet versions.

Exit: an existing connector demonstrates an independent prerelease/release process, clean host consumption, and no unrelated publication; a shared-dependency change triggers the right additional tests.

Delivery management

Planning container; not a claim of completed work. Dependencies are tracked separately from parentage. Implementation requires evidence from E0. Discovery may overlap.

Follow repository AGENTS.md; use existing test/ and doc/adr/ conventions. Do not mass-move core paths for cosmetic consistency. Child links will be added below.

Hierarchy: native parent/sub-issue relationships verified on 2026-09-23. Explicit blocking dependencies are configured separately; Markdown links remain references. See #8194.

Children

• [Feature] F3.1: Explicit release-unit manifests and scoped versions #8217 — Explicit release-unit manifests and scoped versions
• [Feature] F3.2: Dependency-aware CI and selective publication #8218 — Dependency-aware CI and selective publication
• [Feature] F3.3: Published-package compatibility validation #8219 — Published-package compatibility validation
• [Feature] F3.4: Artifact provenance, release notes, and recovery procedures #8220 — Artifact provenance, release notes, and recovery procedures

Dependencies (separate from hierarchy)

• [Epic] E0: Program initialization and current-state audit #8195 — prerequisite evidence; discovery may overlap.