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Release Management

Release Packaging

An approved model is still not deployable. Release Packaging converts registry-backed models into signed, target-specific artifacts that can actually run on robots. It packages model, runtime, configuration, compatibility metadata, performance constraints, and activation instructions so rollout and updates operate on validated release units rather than raw checkpoints.

What This Surface Owns

Release Packaging own the packaging and validation of deployable runtime units.

  • Package a model with runtime dependencies, pre/post-processing, configuration bundles, and deployment metadata.
  • Produce target-specific variants for different compute and robot environments.
  • Validate artifact integrity, compatibility, and readiness before rollout.
  • Sign and version the resulting artifact so rollout systems can trust what they are activating.

This surface sits after Model Registry approval and before Deployment & Updates take over rollout and field activation.

Core Capabilities

Packaging

  • Wrap model weights with inference runtime, config, transforms, and deployment manifest.
  • Support model-serving bundles for edge GPU, CPU, or accelerator-specific targets.
  • Keep artifact composition explicit so later teams know exactly what is on the robot.

Target specialization

  • Build variants by robot class, compute profile, runtime stack, or site constraints.
  • Capture compatibility metadata for GPU class, memory footprint, operating environment, supported sensors, and required dependencies.
  • Prevent one approved model from being treated as universally deployable when hardware reality differs.
  • Attach region-, customer-, or sovereignty-specific rollout constraints when an artifact is only valid for certain jurisdictions or hosting models.

Pre-deploy validation

  • Validate packaging completeness and dependency closure.
  • Verify loadability, runtime assumptions, compatibility claims, and policy-required checks.
  • Record artifact metadata such as size, target, latency profile, and build provenance.

Signing and integrity

  • Sign artifacts to prevent unauthorized or corrupted rollout payloads.
  • Bind artifact identity to model lineage and build record.
  • Make delivery and activation systems reject artifacts that fail integrity checks.

Artifact Model

Each artifact should answer:

  • Which model and registry state does it derive from?
  • Which runtime and configuration are included?
  • Which hardware targets and robot classes is it valid for?
  • Which performance envelope was measured or declared?
  • Which deployment and update policies are allowed to activate it?
  • Which region, residency, or customer-boundary constraints apply to activation?
  • Which fleets are currently running it and what did they replace?

This makes the artifact a release unit, not just a tarball.

Relationship To Neighboring Surfaces

Upstream

  • **Model Registry** supplies approved model identity and promotion evidence.
  • **Evaluation & Release** supplies readiness criteria and any hardware- or site-specific constraints.

Downstream

  • **Deployment Manager** consumes artifacts for first rollout and staged activation.
  • **Update Manager** distributes artifact revisions over time across fielded fleets.
  • **Telemetry & Monitoring** attributes runtime behavior back to artifact identity, not just model family.

Why This Matters Architecturally

The Artifact Builder is where release evidence becomes operationally actionable.

  • It separates model approval from runtime packaging.
  • It lets one approved model produce multiple valid deployment artifacts.
  • It preserves compatibility and rollout logic as first-class metadata.
  • It gives deployment and update systems a stable unit for activation, rollback, and audit.

Without it, deployment quickly collapses into checkpoint copying and environment drift.

Reliability And Governance

  • Artifact generation is a recorded lifecycle event with inputs, outputs, build version, and signer identity.
  • Packaging policy can enforce target-specific validation and required signatures.
  • Artifacts remain immutable after build.
  • Rollout systems can gate activation on artifact readiness, not just model approval.

Why Teams Care

Deployment safety

Packaging issues are caught before rollout instead of in production.

Hardware fit

Teams can build valid variants for heterogeneous fleets without losing lineage.

Operational clarity

It is always clear what exact runtime unit is on the robot.

Rollback quality

Rollbacks target previously validated release units, not reconstructed environments.