> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.kouch.dev/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.kouch.dev/docs/release.md). # Releasing Kouch How to turn the tree into something Steam can ship. Kouch is pre-alpha and has no Steam app id yet (Steam Direct submitted 2026-09-17); every step that needs the id is marked **(app id)**. ## 1. Build ```powershell scripts\build-release.ps1 # depot only scripts\build-release.ps1 -Installer # + NSIS installer scripts\build-release.ps1 -AppId 1234560 -DepotId 1234561 # real ids in the SteamPipe scripts ``` The script: * builds the UI and the shell in release mode with `--no-default-features`, so the dev-only borrowed-app mode (`dev-borrowed`, `crates/kouch-steam/src/borrowed.rs`) is **compiled out**; * embeds the UI in the exe (no dev server; `tauri build` runs the UI build first); * merges `app/src-tauri/tauri.release.conf.json` (publisher, descriptions, the NSIS target, and the files that sit beside the exe); * lays out `dist\windows\` and writes `dist\steampipe\` (see below); * refuses to put a `steam_appid.txt`, `.pdb` or any user config in the depot; * fails if any DLL the shipped binaries import (`dumpbin /dependents`) is neither part of Windows nor in the depot. A build once left out `SDL3.dll` unnoticed, because the smoke test ran from `target\release`, where the DLL sits. Always run the full local gate from `CLAUDE.md` first. From bash, run it as `powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/build-release.ps1 …` and don't wrap it in a PowerShell 5.1 command that adds `2>&1`: 5.1 turns the tauri CLI's informational stderr lines into errors and the build stops. Send output to a file with `*>` instead, or let it print. ### What ships (`dist\windows\`) | File | Why | | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Kouch.exe` | the app (UI embedded) | | `steam_api64.dll` | Steamworks redistributable; must sit beside the exe | | `SDL3.dll` | SDL3, built from source and linked dynamically on Windows | | `vcruntime140.dll` | the VC++ runtime `SDL3.dll` needs, copied app-local from Visual Studio's redist folder (the VC++ redistributable terms allow that) | | `steam\kouch_actions.vdf` | the Steam Input action manifest (`input.rs` looks beside the exe) | About 32 MB (Kouch.exe is 27 MB); the NSIS installer is about 8.5 MB and installs the same files. The exe is `Kouch.exe` in both, and it's the Steam launch option too (`tauri.release.conf.json` `mainBinaryName` renames cargo's `kouch-app.exe`; dev builds keep the cargo name). Nothing else. WebView2 is part of Windows 10/11 (the installer bootstraps it on the rare machine without it); Steam does not ship it. `steam_appid.txt` is never shipped: when Steam launches Kouch it sets the id itself. Release builds never create one, at build time (`app/src-tauri/build.rs`) or at run time (`input.rs` writes it only with the `dev-borrowed` feature). Started outside Steam, a release build simply runs with OS-only input. ## 2. Smoke test without Steam A release exe with a throwaway identifier, config and data dir, so it can run next to an installed Kouch without single-instance handing off to it: ```powershell scripts\build-release.ps1 -Identifier app.kouch.smoke $tmp = New-Item -ItemType Directory "$env:TEMP\kouch-smoke-$(Get-Random)" $env:KOUCH_NO_STEAM = '1' $env:KOUCH_CONFIG_DIR = "$tmp\config" $env:KOUCH_DATA_DIR = "$tmp\data" $env:WEBVIEW2_ADDITIONAL_BROWSER_ARGUMENTS = '--remote-debugging-port=9231' Copy-Item -Recurse dist\windows "$tmp\depot" # run a copy, never from target\release & "$tmp\depot\Kouch.exe" ``` Then once through the installer, into a temp folder and back out: ```powershell scripts\build-release.ps1 -Installer -Identifier app.kouch.smoke target\release\bundle\nsis\Kouch_0.1.0_x64-setup.exe /S /D=$tmp\installed & "$tmp\installed\Kouch.exe" # walk it, then Power › Exit & "$tmp\installed\uninstall.exe" /S # leaves no folder and no uninstall key ``` Walk it (by pad, keyboard, or the CDP `attach.mjs` driver on port 9231): first-run wizard → Home → Library → a game page → Settings (every category; Theme with a sample theme in `$tmp\config\themes\`) → Power › Exit. Check `$tmp\data\logs\` for warnings, and that no `steam_appid.txt` appeared beside the exe. ## 3. SteamPipe **(app id)** In Steamworks: 1. **App › Installation › General:** launch option `Kouch.exe`, working directory the install folder, OS Windows 64-bit. 2. **App › Steam Input:** enable **Steam Input API** for the app, and set "Steam Input default configuration" to **forced on** for every controller family (Kouch reads every pad through Steam Input; see `docs/EARLY_TESTS.md` Early Test 0). Upload `steam\kouch_actions.vdf` as the action manifest if the partner site asks for it. 3. **SteamPipe › Depots:** one Windows depot (all languages). 4. **SteamPipe › Builds:** create a **private branch** (e.g. `alpha`, password protected) for the first uploads; never set a build live on `default` until the checklist below passes. Upload with the SteamCMD content builder: ```powershell scripts\build-release.ps1 -AppId -DepotId steamcmd +login +run_app_build "$PWD\dist\steampipe\app_build.vdf" +quit ``` `dist\steampipe\app_build.vdf` points `ContentRoot` at `dist\windows\` and excludes `*.pdb` and `steam_appid.txt` again as a second guard. Then set the new build live on the private branch in the partner site. ## 4. When the app id arrives From `CLAUDE.md` ("Running the real app under Steam"): * [ ] Enable "Steam Input API" in Steamworks (step 3.2 above). * [ ] Upload a build to a private branch and install it through Steam. * [ ] Delete `crates/kouch-steam/src/borrowed.rs`, the `dev-borrowed` feature (`crates/kouch-steam`, `app/src-tauri/Cargo.toml` `[features]`) and the `KOUCH_APP_ID` / `KOUCH_MANIFEST*` overrides (`input.rs`, `tools/kouch-lab`, `scripts/kouch-lab-steam.cmd`). * [ ] Rerun Early Tests 0–1 through the installed build (`docs/EARLY_TESTS.md`). * [ ] Set up Steam Cloud as below, then run its checks. * [ ] Verify what else the borrowed id couldn't: Workshop browse/subscribe/publish, lobbies and invites, Remote Play Together, rich presence. * [ ] Run the acceptance run (`docs/PLAN_V2.md`) on the Steam build. ### Steam Cloud: API only, no Auto-Cloud Kouch writes and reads its cloud files itself through `ISteamRemoteStorage` (`app/src-tauri/src/cloud.rs` on top of `cloud_sync.rs`). **Do not configure Auto-Cloud.** Auto-Cloud would copy whole folders by path whenever Kouch starts and quits, with no way for Kouch to: * keep `system` and a profile's `user_data.private` paths off the cloud (Auto-Cloud has include patterns, not Kouch's refusals); * keep both copies when a save changed on two PCs (Kouch names the older one `.conflict-