Overview

Releasing a mini program deploys its particular version to a specific target app and environment. This process ensures your mini program reaches the right users, in the right context, and at the right time. Each release goes through several phases, which might vary depending on the release target. This topic explains the core concepts and provides a high-level overview of the release workflow.

Basic concepts

Release target

A release target defines where your mini program will be deployed. It is a combination of:

• Target app: The specific mobile application (e.g., SuperApp A).
• Environment: The isolated instance of the application, each designed for a different purpose in the development lifecycle (e.g., development, production). See Environments for details.

You can release each version of your mini program to a specific release target only once. If you cancel a release, you cannot deploy the same version to that same target again.

Environments

An environment is an isolated instance of the target app, each designed for a different purpose in the development lifecycle. See the following table for the available environments and their respective purpose and typical users:

Note: Not all environments are available for every target app. Each target app must have a production environment and might include various non-production environments.

Release types (for production only)

Release types define the strategy for how your mini program is released to the production environment. Options include:

• Grayscale Release: Roll out your mini program incrementally, starting with a small percentage of users (for example, 1%) and increasing up to 100%. This allows you to validate stability and gather feedback with minimal risk before a full rollout.
• Full Release: Make your mini program available to all users at once.

Release workflow overview

Releasing your mini program involves several phases. The exact process depends on the release target you select. The general workflow might consist of the following phases:

1. Select target and edit configuration: Select the target app and environment for your release, and adjust the release-specific configuration to customize the mini program runtime behavior, such as payment settings or network allowlists. You can skip this phase if the default release target meets your needs and no release-specific configuration is required.
2. Apply for release: Submit your mini program version for release to the selected target app and environment. Releases to the production and sometimes the sandbox (if available) environments require approval from the super app.
3. Conduct pilot testing: Conduct pilot testing with your internal test team to validate the mini program's performance before it goes live. This final check ensures everything works as expected within the target app. Pilot testing is typically available for both sandbox and production environments (if supported by the target app).
4. Go live: Make your mini program available to the target users in the selected environment.

• In non-production environments (e.g., development): The release goes live automatically after completing the previous steps.
• In the production environment: You must initiate this manually. You can perform either a grayscale release to roll out gradually, or a full release for immediate availability.

Note: Pilot testing is a specific type of grayscale release. The key difference is the audience selection:

• Pilot testing: Targets a specific, designated group of users (like your internal test team).
• Standard grayscale release: Targets a specific percentage (e.g., 1% or 50%) of all target app users, who are selected randomly by the system.

Workflow mapping by environment

The following table shows which phases apply to each environment:

Related topics

Select target and edit configuration

Apply for release

Conduction pilot testing

Go live

Release status reference