Getting started

This walkthrough creates a small release and verifies it locally. It uses an unlogged key signature so you can try the format without a CI identity or a connection to the signing services. For publishing, use GitHub Actions or a logged key signature.

Install packslip

We recommend mise to install packslip and manage its version. You can also download a binary or build from source.

mise use -g github:jdx/packslip
packslip version

packslip version

git clone https://github.com/jdx/packslip.git
cd packslip
cargo install --path . --locked
packslip version

Create a sample release

The following commands use a POSIX shell and tar. Run them in an empty directory. The sample is a portable shell script, so it needs no platform-specific compiler.

mkdir -p staging/bin dist
printf '#!/bin/sh\nprintf "hello from mytool\\n"\n' > staging/bin/mytool
chmod +x staging/bin/mytool
tar -czf dist/mytool-1.2.3.tar.gz -C staging bin
packslip keygen --out release.key

keygen writes the private key to release.key and the public key to release.pub. Keep the private key out of source control. Consumers need only the public key.

Sign the manifest

packslip create \
  --project mytool.example.com \
  --version 1.2.3 \
  --key release.key --no-log \
  --out dist \
  --url-base https://mytool.example.com/releases/1.2.3 \
  --bin mytool \
  dist/mytool-1.2.3.tar.gz:any

The command writes dist/packslip.sigstore.json. It hashes the archive, finds bin/mytool inside it, and records the download URL. The :any suffix explicitly marks the artifact as platform-independent. The example URL is metadata; create neither contacts it nor uploads files to it.

Read the manifest

The bundle contains a signed statement. Its release metadata looks like this excerpt (the digest is abbreviated):

{
  "subject": [{
    "name": "mytool-1.2.3.tar.gz",
    "digest": { "sha256": "..." }
  }],
  "predicateType": "https://packslip.dev/release/v1",
  "predicate": {
    "project": "mytool.example.com",
    "version": "1.2.3",
    "artifacts": [{
      "name": "mytool-1.2.3.tar.gz",
      "url": "https://mytool.example.com/releases/1.2.3/mytool-1.2.3.tar.gz",
      "format": "tar.gz",
      "bin": ["bin/mytool"]
    }]
  }
}

This sample omits os, arch, and libc because :any declared no platform restriction. The complete statement also includes the artifact’s size, publication time, signing identity, and other generated fields. The surrounding bundle carries the signature and verification material.

The excerpt explains the structure; it is not a complete signed bundle. Use the generated file in the verification step below.

Verify the archive

packslip verify dist/packslip.sigstore.json \
  --pubkey release.pub --allow-unlogged \
  --artifact dist/mytool-1.2.3.tar.gz

A successful exit means the bundle passed verification against your key and the supplied archive matched its signed digest and size. --allow-unlogged is necessary because this example used --no-log. Without --artifact, the command checks the bundle but not the archive.

To inspect the signed metadata:

packslip show dist/packslip.sigstore.json

show only decodes the statement; it does not verify it.

Publish a real release

For a key-signed release, omit --no-log when creating the bundle and --allow-unlogged when verifying it. Signing then contacts Rekor to log the signature. Reuse your signing key and distribute the public key through a channel consumers trust.

Upload the artifact and bundle to their declared URLs. For a project on your own domain, also publish a signed release list . For GitHub, use the action to sign with the workflow’s identity instead. See Artifact configuration to adapt the example to your release layout.