gleam-lang/gleam

`gleam export otp-release` command

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#4978 opened on Sep 15, 2025

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discussionhelp wanted

Description

I thought we had an issue for this, but I couldn't find one!

Our current "erlang-shipment" is a poor imitation of a proper OTP release. Create a new command that creates these, and then we can deprecate the erlang-release command.

Documentation: https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/release_structure

Distillery has some nice info here: https://hexdocs.pm/distillery/2.0.0-rc.8/understanding_releases.html

Karlsson has some information here on OTP applications: https://github.com/karlsson/glite

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rust
Domain
cli
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
Knowledge of Erlang/OTP releasesFamiliarity with Gleam compiler codebaseRust programming
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
25
Research direction
Start by reviewing the linked Erlang documentation on release structure and the existing `erlang release` command in the Gleam codebase (likely in `src/`). Examine comment discussions for additional requirements. Then design the new `otp release` command, considering how to integrate with the current build system.