6 Artifact & Distribution Infrastructure ⚪¶

Infrastructure managing released deliverables, versioning, publication, and consumer access across S-CORE.

⚠️ This chapter is written by ChatGPT and was not yet reviewed

S-CORE

GitHub Releases is the primary mechanism for publishing S-CORE deliverables.
S-CORE delivery can include source releases, prebuilt artifacts, container images, and associated release metadata.
Artifact versioning follows semantic versioning aligned with git tagging.
SBOM and provenance data should accompany released deliverables for compliance and traceability.
Biggest gap: artifact and delivery infrastructure is largely unstructured; there is no shared model for deliverable types, publication channels, retention, or consumer access across S-CORE.

6.1 Deliverable Types ⚪¶

Infrastructure defining which kinds of release deliverables S-CORE can publish and support.

S-CORE

S-CORE repositories may need to publish different deliverable types depending on consumer needs, including source archives, prebuilt packages, and container images.
The infrastructure should support describing, versioning, and publishing these deliverables consistently across repositories.
Biggest gap: no shared capability model defines which deliverable types exist in S-CORE, how they differ, or what infrastructure each type requires.

6.1.1 Source Deliverables¶

Delivery of source-based release artifacts intended for downstream build or inspection.

S-CORE

Source delivery can include tagged source archives and related release metadata published from version control.
GitHub Releases can act as a distribution point for source-based deliverables.
Biggest gap: no shared definition exists for which source deliverables are expected, how complete they must be, or which metadata must always accompany them.

6.1.2 Prebuilt Deliverables¶

Delivery of compiled or otherwise pre-generated artifacts for direct downstream consumption.

S-CORE

Prebuilt deliverables can include binaries, archives, packages, generated SDK assets, or other installable outputs attached to a release.
GitHub Releases currently provides the most obvious publication mechanism for such assets.
Biggest gap: no common publication pattern defines which prebuilt deliverables should be release-grade, how they are structured, or how consumers discover them.

6.1.3 Image Deliverables¶

Delivery of container or VM-style images intended for execution or integration environments.

S-CORE

Some S-CORE use cases may require deliverables in image form, such as container images for tooling, CI, or runtime integration.
Image-based delivery differs from archive-style release assets and usually requires registry-oriented publication and lifecycle handling.
Biggest gap: no image delivery channel, registry strategy, or publication standard is currently defined for S-CORE.

6.2 Distribution Channels ⚪¶

Infrastructure publishing release deliverables to downstream consumers through appropriate channels.

S-CORE

GitHub Releases is currently the primary public distribution channel for S-CORE deliverables.
Different deliverable types may require different channels, such as release assets, registries, or mirrored repositories.
Biggest gap: no shared distribution model maps deliverable types to supported publication channels and consumer access patterns.

6.2.1 Release Publishing¶

Publishing release deliverables through release-oriented channels such as GitHub Releases.

S-CORE

Release pipelines can publish deliverables as GitHub Releases and attach binaries, source bundles, checksums, SBOMs, and related files.
This channel is suitable for archive-style release deliverables and public release notes.
Biggest gap: release publication is not yet standardized across repositories, and release composition is not consistently defined.

6.2.2 Registry-Based Distribution¶

Publishing deliverables through registries such as package repositories or OCI registries.

S-CORE

Registry-based distribution would be the natural channel for package-oriented or image-oriented deliverables.
No shared package repository or OCI registry strategy is currently documented for S-CORE.
Biggest gap: there is no common registry-backed distribution capability for deliverables that are not well served by GitHub Releases alone.

6.3 Release Metadata ⚪¶

Infrastructure attaching the metadata required to identify, verify, and consume released deliverables.

S-CORE

Released deliverables should be accompanied by metadata such as version identifiers, checksums, SBOMs, provenance, and release notes.
Metadata is part of the delivery capability because downstream consumers need it to verify, integrate, and audit releases.
Biggest gap: no common release metadata baseline defines what every S-CORE release must publish.

6.3.1 Versioning & Tagging¶

Identifying deliverables consistently across repositories and releases.

S-CORE

Semantic versioning aligned with git tags is the expected standard across S-CORE repositories.
Versioning and tagging identify release deliverables and connect them back to source history.
Biggest gap: versioning conventions are not uniformly enforced or validated across repositories.

6.3.2 Compliance & Traceability Metadata¶

Publishing supporting metadata needed for compliance, verification, and supply-chain traceability.

S-CORE

SBOMs, provenance data, signatures, and checksums should accompany released deliverables where applicable.
This metadata supports compliance, traceability, and trust in downstream usage.
Biggest gap: no standardized process ensures that compliance and traceability metadata is generated and published with each release.

6.4 Consumer Access ⚪¶

Infrastructure making released deliverables discoverable, retrievable, and usable by downstream consumers.

S-CORE

Consumers need a clear path to discover available deliverables, understand their intended use, and retrieve the correct format.
Consumer access includes naming, discoverability, documentation, and availability of public download or pull mechanisms.
Biggest gap: no shared consumer-facing model explains where deliverables live, which consumers each format serves, or how access should work across S-CORE.

6.4.1 Discoverability¶

Making available deliverables and their purpose visible to downstream users.

S-CORE

GitHub Releases offers basic discoverability for release assets and notes.
Deliverable discoverability should also include documentation that explains what is published and how it is meant to be consumed.
Biggest gap: no consistent discoverability pattern helps consumers understand which release assets exist and which are relevant for their use case.

6.4.2 Retention & Availability¶

Keeping released deliverables accessible over time according to a defined lifecycle.

S-CORE

GitHub retains release artifacts indefinitely, while GitHub Actions artifacts are ephemeral and CI-scoped only.
Long-term consumer access depends on persistent publication channels rather than temporary pipeline storage.
Biggest gap: no explicit retention, mirroring, or availability policy is defined for S-CORE deliverables.