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 CLI documentation is here: [./docs/bosun.md](./docs/bosun.md)
 
-A commented example bosun.yaml file is here: [./examples/bosun.yaml](./examples/bosun.yaml)
-
 > The Github Action for bosun is defined in the [./github-action](./github-action) folder.
 
+
+### How-tos
+
+- [Do a release](./docs/manual/release_how_to.md)
+
+
 ## Quick Start
 
 1. Install Go 1.11.9 from https://golang.org/doc/install
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+# How to create, deploy, and commit a release
+
+The release commands will work from any location, but they all operate on the current platform
+and manipulate files under `platform/releases` and `platform/deploys` in devops.
+
+
+## Folders
+
+On release branch:
+`releases/stable` is the current release you're working on, comprising the files from the release branches of 
+the apps you're updating and the files from the previous release for apps you are not updating.
+`releases/unstable` comprises the latest versions of every app, from their develop branches as of when the release 
+was created. 
+
+On non-release branch:
+`/releases/stable` is the most recent release; bosun will not make changes to this unless you're on a release branch
+`/releases/unstable` comprises the latest versions of every app, from their develop branches, updated manually by 
+running bosun release update unstable --all. This exists to support doing a deploy without having all the repos cloned.
+
+> Important:
+> Most `bosun release` commands use `git worktree` (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-worktree) when interacting with
+> repos outside of devops, to avoid interfering with branches you have checked out. This can lead to unexpected
+> results if you have changes in some you want bosun to use. It's a good policy to always commit any changes
+> you want bosun to pick up. 
+
+## Plan
+
+The first step is creating a release plan, which is a document which helps decide what will be in the release.
+To plan a release, check out the branch you want to base the release on (usually `develop`) and run
+`bosun release plan start --name $NAME --version $VERSION`. This will create a release branch like `release/$VERSION`
+and check it out, and will create a plan file in `releases/stable`. It will also update every app in 
+`releases/unstable` by copying files from the `develop` branch of the repo for the app. Finally, it will create
+a `releases/stable/plan.yaml` file which you can use to determine which apps will be upgraded in the release.
+
+Once you have your `plan.yaml` you can open it in code and edit it. For each app which has changes you need to choose
+what provider (stable or unstable) you want to get the files for that app from. If you choose `stable` then
+nothing will be changed, it will use the existing files (the files from the previous release). If you choose 
+`unstable` the files will be copied from the `unstable` release (which was just updated from the `develop` branches).
+If you choose `unstable` you can also specify the `bump` to apply to change the version number. Eventually all
+apps will be auto-bumped during release commit, but right now there are some that are not, so you may want to specify
+the bump manually. You can also specify whether you want an app to be deployed in the release, which you usually do
+if you choose `unstable`.
+
+After you've selected a provider for each app that had changes, you can run `bosun release plan commit`. This will
+update the `manifest.yaml` for the release with all the apps you've chosen. It will also create release branches
+for all the apps you've chosen to upgrade in this release. 
+
+## Test and Refine
+
+You can now create a deploy from the release using `bosun deploy plan release`. This will create a deployment in
+`platform/deployments` with the name `$VERSION`. You can deploy that to uat or preprod to test out the release using
+`bosun deploy execute`. If `docker` requires sudo you can use `bosun deploy execute --sudo` to allow the image 
+validation logic to run, or `bosun deploy execute --skip-validation` to just skip validation if you already know
+the images exist. You can use `bosun deploy execute [apps...]` to deploy specific apps from the release. There is also 
+a `--cluster` flag to limit what clusters get deployed to.
+
+If you make changes to an app that you want to include in the release:
+1. Make sure the changes are *committed* on the release branch. 
+2. Run `bosun release update stable $APP` to update the app manifests in the release
+3. Run `bosun deploy plan release` to update the deployment. 
+4. Run `bosun deploy execute $APP` to re-deploy your app.
+
+If you want to add an app to the release, run `bosun release add stable [apps]` for step 2. There are `--branch` and 
+`--bump` flags to adjust how and from what branch the app is added.
+
+## Commit
+After the release is deployed to production, you need to merge everything back.
+
+1. Run `bosun release commit plan` on the release branch to create a commit plan. This will create a file 
+in `/tmp` and log the name. You can edit the file or run `bosun release commit show` to see what's in it.
+The file contains all the steps which will be taken to commit the release. It tracks progress and errors
+because sometimes you run into merge conflicts which are complicated and it takes a few tries to finish the commit.
+2. Run `bosun release commit execute` to execute the commit. If you run into issues, fix them, then run the command 
+again. It will skip anything already completed. If you want to run a step again, edit the plan file and delete
+the `completedAt` element for the step you want to repeat.  
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