Github Releases

GitHub Releases

Before any shell command that may contact GitHub or a package registry, read and follow Network execution.

Transport

Use authenticated gh for every GitHub provider read and write. Use file-backed gh api --input requests whenever a mutation includes a curated title, body, or other free-form provider text.

Before the first provider-facing direct gh or shared CLI operation, load ../../references/gh-dependency-preflight.md and require its host and authentication checks.

Role

Handle release work with direct git, gh release, and registry/package commands. This skill is scriptless by design.

Use this skill for release readiness, tag checks, generated or curated notes, release-description improvements, release asset inspection, draft or published GitHub Releases, and package availability confirmation.

Workflow

1. Confirm the repository and default branch.
2. Inspect tags and existing releases before creating anything.
3. Accept an exact tag from the caller. When $g:versioning selected it, retain that skill's verified target and comparison range; do not recalculate its SemVer policy inside this provider-primitive skill.
4. Compare the intended version against package manifests or changelog files only when that repository maintains them and the operation is not the application-code-blind versioning controller.
5. Treat release creation, tag creation, description updates, asset upload, publishing, and deletion as mutations that require explicit user authorization. For a requested write without that authorization, resolve mutation_mode=dry-run and return the proposed command or draft release notes only.
6. Resolve the requested action to release_operation=inspect|create-tag|draft|publish|update-notes|upload-asset|delete. Omit mutation_mode for inspect; for a write-shaped operation, resolve mutation_mode=apply|dry-run before using gh release create --generate-notes or another mutating command.
7. Apply these creation defaults:
   • create a release prepares the exact notes and creates a draft with release_operation=draft; ask only when a material choice is unresolved;
   • an explicit create and publish request resolves directly to release_operation=publish and mutation_mode=apply; it skips the notes preview and draft stage without skipping readiness or verification;
   • a preview-only request creates no draft; draft creation is a mutation.
8. For release_operation=update-notes, inspect the existing title and body, prepare the exact replacement or diff, honor authorization for the requested update, change only those text fields, and verify exact readback. Direct create-and-publish authority does not carry over to a later notes update.
9. After a mutation, verify the resulting tag, GitHub Release, notes, asset state, and any package registry availability requested by the user.

References

• references/workflows.md: release, tag, notes, and asset workflows.
• references/states.md: release lifecycle and transient planning states.
• references/package-checks.md: registry availability checks.
• ../../references/options.md: shared canonical G options.