Build identity and updates
foundry version --json and Admin → Operations separate the running build
from the latest GitHub release and the installation method.
- Tagged release: an exact tag recorded by the release build, or a tagged Go module version. This is build provenance, not signature verification.
- Source snapshot: a revision without an exact release tag. The embedded release version is only a baseline; it does not mean the snapshot is that release.
- Modified build: Go build metadata or the active source checkout records local changes. Release replacement could discard custom behavior.
- Unknown: insufficient provenance, including older binaries containing only the repository's fallback version. Reinstall with current build tooling to record provenance; do not assume the fallback establishes release identity.
Containers are an installation method, independent of these build categories. The image's embedded tag, commit, date and target platform appear in version output; its image tag is separate from the source release tag. A mounted site's Git history is not the history of the running container binary. Foundry does not discover the registry digest from inside the container: inspect it with deployment tooling.
| Installation | Update path |
|---|---|
| Source checkout | Preserve local changes, fetch/select the desired revision or tag, rebuild and restart. |
| Container | Select the runtime or static-builder image and its tag/digest, pull and recreate through deployment tooling. Rebuild locally built images from the desired source. |
| Release binary / Go install | Download and verify the matching release archive, or reinstall the desired Go module version; replace the executable and restart. |
| Standalone managed tagged release | Apply Update is available only for a newer release with a matching platform asset. |
| Custom or unverified standalone build | Rebuild/reinstall using its original method and restart; automatic replacement is disabled. |
Release comparison is enabled only for unmodified tagged builds. A snapshot, modified build or unknown build is not labeled “already on the latest release” just because its baseline matches the latest release. Latest-release information and installation-specific instructions remain available.
For custom builds, use scripts/build-release.go to record version, commit and
build time; it records a release tag only when HEAD has an exact tag. Docker builds
accept FOUNDRY_BUILD_VERSION, FOUNDRY_BUILD_COMMIT, FOUNDRY_BUILD_DATE and
FOUNDRY_BUILD_TAG and FOUNDRY_BUILD_MODIFIED. Set the tag only to the exact
source release tag and modification state to true, false, or unknown after
checking the build context. A container with unknown modification state is not
classified as a verified tagged release, even when a tag is supplied. The image
workflow supplies it from Git, independently of the published image tag.