Official installers are available from the download page, but sometimes you need to roll your own: you changed the code, you want to embed your own plugins, or you simply want to verify a pull request. Here is the full packaging story for all three platforms.

Prerequisites

DependencyNotes
CMake ≥ 3.18All platforms
C++20 compilerXcode / MSVC 2022 / gcc 11+
Qt6brew install qt (macOS); aqt or the online installer on Windows
OpenCVOptional (TASK_GRAPH_ENABLE_OPENCV, REQUIRED when ON — the default)
Packaging toolsmacOS: brew install dylibbundler create-dmg; Linux: linuxdeployqt + appimagetool (auto-downloaded); Windows: Windows SDK (makeappx etc.)

macOS: .dmg

python scripts/package_macos.py --version 0.1.0 --out-dir dist/dmg
# Output: dist/dmg/graph_studio-0.1.0-macos.dmg

Pipeline: CMake build → macdeployqt collects Qt dependencies → dylibbundler folds OpenCV and other third-party libs into Contents/Frameworks/ → create-dmg produces the image with an Applications symlink.

Linux: .AppImage

python scripts/package_linux.py --version 0.1.0 --out-dir dist/appimage
# Output: dist/appimage/graph_studio-0.1.0-x86_64.AppImage

Pipeline: AppDir + .desktop + icon → linuxdeployqt → appimagetool (which falls back to extraction mode automatically on FUSE-less CI).

Windows: .msix

scripts\build_msix.ps1 -Version 0.1.0 -Config RelWithDebInfo -SkipSign
# Output: dist\msix\graph_studio-0.1.0_x64.msix

Pipeline: windeployqt → makepri resource index → makeappx. -SkipSign produces a Store-style unsigned package; Partner Center re-signs it when you publish to the Microsoft Store.

The CI release pipeline

.github/workflows/release.yml orchestrates all of the above into a manually-triggered pipeline (workflow_dispatch):

  1. Version: the base version is parsed from project(task_graph VERSION x.y.z) in the root CMakeLists.txt;
  2. Channel: dispatch chooses alpha / beta / hotfix / stable, which becomes the tag suffix plus the run number — e.g. v0.1.0-stable.42; only stable releases are not flagged as pre-releases;
  3. The three platforms package in parallel, then converge into a single GitHub Release with all three installers attached and release notes auto-generated;
  4. The release event rebuilds the website automatically — the download page and the changelog pick up the new version right after.

Signing and distribution notes

  • macOS: local artifacts are unsigned and un-notarized; users need right-click → Open on first launch (see the download page). For distribution, set up Apple Developer ID signing + notarization;
  • Windows: unsigned .msix requires Developer mode; for distribution use a code-signing certificate or the Microsoft Store;
  • The installers do not bundle the Vulkan runtime loader: libtask_graph.dll delay-loads vulkan-1.dll with a failure hook, so on machines without drivers the GPU backend degrades gracefully and the app still starts.