Nightly Workflow

Overview

The Nightly workflow automatically creates and publishes bleeding-edge builds from the alpha branch on a daily schedule. It includes intelligent change detection to skip builds when no changes have occurred, and features kill switch controls for emergency disabling.

Purpose

Automated Nightly Builds: Provides latest development builds without manual intervention
Change Detection: Only builds when code has changed in the last 24 hours
Bleeding-Edge Testing: Enables early testing of new features and fixes
NuGet Publishing: Automatically publishes packages to nuget.org
Community Notifications: Announces releases via Discord

Trigger Conditions

Scheduled

Cron: 0 0 * * * (midnight UTC every day)
Time Zone: UTC
Frequency: Once per day

Manual

workflow_dispatch: Can be manually triggered from Actions tab
Use Case: Testing workflow changes or forcing a build

Workflow Structure

Job: `nightly`

Runner: windows-latest

Environment: production (requires approval before publishing)

Concurrency:

Group: nightly-alpha
Cancel In-Progress: true
Prevents multiple nightly builds from running simultaneously

Steps Overview

Kill Switch Check - Verifies if workflow is disabled
Security Verification - Validates repository and branch
Checkout - Checks out alpha branch
Change Detection - Checks for commits in last 24 hours
Skip Notification - Notifies if no changes found
Setup .NET - Installs .NET SDKs
Setup .NET 11 - Attempts to install .NET 11 (optional)
Force .NET 10 SDK - Creates global.json
Setup MSBuild - Configures MSBuild
Setup NuGet - Configures NuGet
Cache NuGet - Caches packages
Restore - Restores dependencies
Build Nightly - Builds the solution
Pack Nightly - Creates NuGet packages
Push NuGet Packages - Publishes to nuget.org
Get Version - Extracts version information
Announce on Discord - Sends notification

Detailed Behavior

Kill Switch

Variable: NIGHTLY_DISABLED

Location: Repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Variables

Values:

true - Disables workflow (all steps skipped after check)
false or unset - Enables workflow

Use Cases:

Emergency disabling of automated builds
Maintenance periods
Preventing duplicate releases

Implementation:

$disabled = '${{ vars.NIGHTLY_DISABLED }}'
if ($disabled -eq 'true') {
  echo "enabled=false" >> $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT
}

All subsequent steps check: if: steps.nightly_release_kill_switch.outputs.enabled == 'true'

Security Verification

Repository Check

Validates that workflow only runs on the correct repository:

if ($env:GITHUB_REPOSITORY -ne 'Krypton-Suite/Standard-Toolkit') {
  Write-Error "Security: Invalid repository"
  exit 1
}

Branch Check

Verifies workflow is running from an authorized branch:

$allowedRefs = @('refs/heads/alpha', 'refs/heads/master', 'refs/heads/main')
if ($env:GITHUB_REF -notin $allowedRefs) {
  Write-Error "Security: Unauthorized branch"
  exit 1
}

Note: Workflow checks out alpha branch regardless of trigger source.

Change Detection

Purpose: Skips build if no commits in last 24 hours

Implementation:

$yesterday = (Get-Date).AddDays(-1).ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss")
$commitCount = git rev-list --count --since="$yesterday" alpha

Logic:

Counts commits on alpha branch since 24 hours ago
If count > 0: proceeds with build
If count = 0: skips build and logs notice

Benefits:

Saves CI minutes
Prevents duplicate packages
Reduces noise in notifications

.NET SDK Setup

Versions Installed:

.NET 9.0.x
.NET 10.0.x
.NET 11.0.x

global.json Generation:

Prefers .NET 11 SDK
Falls back to .NET 10 if .NET 11 unavailable
Uses rollForward: latestFeature

Build Process

Project File: Scripts/Build/nightly.proj

Configuration: Nightly

Platform: Any CPU

Targets:

Build - Compiles solution
Pack - Creates NuGet packages

Output Location: Bin/Packages/Nightly/

NuGet Publishing

Process:

Scans for .nupkg files in Bin/Packages/Nightly/
Pushes each package to nuget.org
Uses --skip-duplicate flag to handle existing packages
Tracks if any packages were actually published

Package Detection:

$packages = Get-ChildItem "Bin/Packages/Nightly/*.nupkg"

Publishing Logic:

Checks output for "already exists" or "was not pushed"
Only marks as published if package was new
Continues with remaining packages on individual failures

Required Secret: NUGET_API_KEY

Output Variable: packages_published (true/false)

Version Extraction

Methods (in order of preference):

Assembly Version (Primary)

$dllPath = Get-ChildItem "Bin/Nightly/net48/Krypton.Toolkit.dll"
$assemblyVersion = [System.Reflection.AssemblyName]::GetAssemblyName($dllPath.FullName).Version

Project File (Fallback)

[xml]$projXml = Get-Content "Source/Krypton Components/Krypton.Toolkit/Krypton.Toolkit.csproj"
$versionNode = $projXml.SelectSingleNode("//Version")

Hardcoded Fallback
- Version: 100.25.1.1
- Tag: v100.25.1.1-nightly

Output Variables:

version - Version number (e.g., 100.25.1.1)
tag - Git tag format (e.g., v100.25.1.1-nightly)

Discord Notification

Trigger: Only if packages were published (packages_published == 'True')

Required Secret: DISCORD_WEBHOOK_NIGHTLY

Message Content:

Title: "🚀 Krypton Toolkit Nightly Release"
Version information
NuGet package links
Target frameworks list
Changelog link

Color: 10181046 (purple/blue)

Packages Listed:

Krypton.Toolkit.Nightly
Krypton.Ribbon.Nightly
Krypton.Navigator.Nightly
Krypton.Workspace.Nightly
Krypton.Docking.Nightly
Krypton.Standard.Toolkit.Nightly

Configuration

Required Secrets

NUGET_API_KEY: API key for nuget.org publishing
- Get from: https://www.nuget.org/account/apikeys
- Requires "Push" permission
DISCORD_WEBHOOK_NIGHTLY: Discord webhook URL for notifications
- Create in Discord server settings
- Optional (workflow continues if not set)

Required Variables

NIGHTLY_DISABLED: Kill switch variable
- Set to true to disable workflow
- Set to false or leave unset to enable

Required Environments

production: Protected environment
- Requires approval before publishing
- Prevents accidental releases
- Configure in repository settings

Troubleshooting

Workflow Not Running

Possible Causes:

Kill switch enabled (NIGHTLY_DISABLED=true)
No changes in last 24 hours (expected behavior)
Schedule not configured correctly
Workflow file syntax errors

Solutions:

Check variable NIGHTLY_DISABLED in repository settings
Verify commits exist on alpha branch
Review workflow schedule syntax
Check Actions tab for errors

Build Skipped Due to No Changes

Expected Behavior: This is intentional

Reason: Saves resources when no new code exists

Solution: Make a commit to alpha branch or manually trigger workflow

NuGet Publishing Failed

Possible Causes:

Missing or invalid NUGET_API_KEY
Package version already exists
Network issues
Invalid package format

Solutions:

Verify API key is set and valid
Check if package version already exists (this is handled gracefully)
Review NuGet push logs
Verify package files are valid

Discord Notification Not Sent

Possible Causes:

No packages were published (expected if duplicates)
Missing DISCORD_WEBHOOK_NIGHTLY secret
Webhook URL invalid
Discord API issues

Solutions:

Check packages_published output in logs
Verify webhook secret is set
Test webhook URL manually
Check Discord server settings

Version Extraction Failed

Behavior: Uses fallback version 100.25.1.1

Solutions:

Verify build completed successfully
Check if DLL exists at expected path
Review version extraction logs
Ensure project file has <Version> element

.NET 11 Setup Failed

Expected Behavior: This is normal if .NET 11 is not yet available

Solution: Workflow continues with .NET 10 (this is intentional)

Build Workflow: Similar build process for CI
Release Workflow: Similar publishing process for stable releases

Code Reference

File: .github/workflows/nightly.yml

Key Components:

Event: schedule and workflow_dispatch
Environment: production
Concurrency: nightly-alpha group
Kill Switch: NIGHTLY_DISABLED variable

Maintenance Notes

Updating Schedule

To change the build schedule:

schedule:
  - cron: '0 0 * * *'  # Change cron expression

Common Schedules:

0 0 * * * - Daily at midnight UTC
0 */6 * * * - Every 6 hours
0 0 * * 1 - Weekly on Monday

Modifying Change Detection Window

To change the 24-hour window:

$yesterday = (Get-Date).AddHours(-24).AddDays(-1)  # Change hours

Adding New Packages

If new NuGet packages are added:

Update Discord notification message
Verify package paths in publishing step
Test package creation in build step

Kill Switch Management

To Disable:

Go to Repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
Add/Edit variable: NIGHTLY_DISABLED = true
Save

To Re-enable:

Set NIGHTLY_DISABLED = false
Or delete the variable

Best Practices

Monitor Builds: Check Actions tab regularly for failures
Version Management: Ensure version numbers increment correctly
Change Detection: Let the workflow skip when appropriate
Kill Switch: Use for maintenance or emergency stops
Notifications: Keep Discord webhook updated
Security: Never commit secrets or API keys

Workflow Flow Diagram

Schedule Trigger (00:00 UTC)
    │
    ├─> Kill Switch Check
    │   └─> If disabled: Exit
    │
    ├─> Security Verification
    │   ├─> Repository Check
    │   └─> Branch Check
    │
    ├─> Checkout alpha Branch
    │
    ├─> Change Detection (24h)
    │   └─> If no changes: Skip & Exit
    │
    ├─> Setup .NET SDKs (9, 10, 11)
    │
    ├─> Setup Build Tools (MSBuild, NuGet)
    │
    ├─> Restore & Build
    │
    ├─> Pack NuGet Packages
    │
    ├─> Publish to nuget.org
    │   └─> If published: Continue
    │   └─> If skipped: Exit (no notification)
    │
    ├─> Extract Version
    │
    └─> Discord Notification (if published)

Nightly Workflow

Overview

Purpose

Trigger Conditions

Scheduled

Manual

Workflow Structure

Job: nightly

Steps Overview

Detailed Behavior

Kill Switch

Security Verification

Repository Check

Branch Check

Change Detection

.NET SDK Setup

Build Process

NuGet Publishing

Version Extraction

Discord Notification

Configuration

Required Secrets

Required Variables

Required Environments

Troubleshooting

Workflow Not Running

Build Skipped Due to No Changes

NuGet Publishing Failed

Discord Notification Not Sent

Version Extraction Failed

.NET 11 Setup Failed

Related Workflows

Code Reference

Maintenance Notes

Updating Schedule

Modifying Change Detection Window

Adding New Packages

Kill Switch Management

Best Practices

Workflow Flow Diagram

Job: `nightly`