Release

Release

Tag the current main commit as vX.Y.Z and let the project's CI workflow build the artifact(s) and publish a GitHub Release. Supports multiple project stacks via dispatch — same shape as the global deploy skill.

Context

Git state (universal)

• Repo root: !git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd
• Working tree clean?: !git status --porcelain
• Current branch: !git branch --show-current
• Fetch remote: !git fetch origin main 2>/dev/null || true
• Unmerged remote commits: !git rev-list HEAD..origin/main --count 2>/dev/null || echo 0
• Unpushed local commits: !git rev-list origin/main..HEAD --count 2>/dev/null || echo 0
• Latest tag: !git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "(none)"
• Repo: !gh repo view --json nameWithOwner --jq .nameWithOwner 2>/dev/null || echo unknown

Project type probes

• Chrome extension: !R=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd) && test -f "$R/manifest.json" && test -f "$R/package.json" && grep -q '"manifest_version"' "$R/manifest.json" 2>/dev/null && echo yes || echo no
• .NET project: !R=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd) && ls "$R"/src/*.csproj 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo yes || echo no
• Tauri project: !R=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd) && test -f "$R/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json" && echo yes || echo no

Stack-specific data

• Manifest version: !R=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd) && node -p "require('$R/manifest.json').version" 2>/dev/null || echo n/a
• Package version: !R=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd) && node -p "require('$R/package.json').version" 2>/dev/null || echo n/a
• AssemblyName: !R=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd) && sed -n 's/.*<AssemblyName>\([^<]*\)<.*/\1/p' "$R"/src/*.csproj 2>/dev/null | head -1 || echo n/a
• Has signing policy section: !R=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd) && grep -q "Code signing policy" "$R/README.md" 2>/dev/null && echo yes || echo no
• Tauri config version: !R=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd) && node -p "require('$R/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json').version" 2>/dev/null || echo n/a
• Tauri Cargo version: !R=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd) && sed -n 's/^version = "\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p' "$R/src-tauri/Cargo.toml" 2>/dev/null | head -1 || echo n/a

Working directory

All file paths in this skill body (manifest.json, package.json, src-tauri/tauri.conf.json, src-tauri/Cargo.toml, src-tauri/Cargo.lock, README.md, src/*.csproj) are relative to Repo root from Context. The cwd may be a subdirectory — prefix every Read/Edit call with the Repo root value, and pass git add paths from Repo root so the staging path matches. Bare paths are cwd-relative.

1. Detect project type

Pick the matching flow based on the Context flags:

• Chrome extension is yes → use Chrome-extension flow
• else .NET project is yes → use .NET flow
• else Tauri project is yes → use Tauri flow
• else → STOP. Tell the user:

  The release skill recognizes Chrome extensions (manifest.json + package.json), .NET (src/*.csproj), and Tauri (src-tauri/tauri.conf.json) projects. None was found in the current directory. To support a new stack, extend this skill's Context probes and add a stack-specific branch to each step.

If more than one flag is yes (mixed repo), ask the user which stack to release — do not guess.

2. Check preconditions

Run all of these checks (do not skip any) and stop with an error if any fail. Do NOT assume state from earlier in the conversation:

Universal:

• Working tree must be clean (Working tree clean? empty)
• Must be on main (Current branch = main)
• Local main must be in sync with remote (Unmerged remote commits = 0 AND Unpushed local commits = 0)

Stack-specific:

• Chrome extension: Manifest version must equal Package version
• Tauri: Tauri config version must equal Tauri Cargo version (and Package version) — the bundle version comes from tauri.conf.json, so all version files must agree

3. Determine version

1. Read the latest tag (Context) and the current source-of-truth version:
   • Chrome extension: source-of-truth = Manifest version
   • .NET: ask the user — version is injected from the tag into the build (no version file to read), so the tag is the source of truth
   • Tauri: source-of-truth = Tauri config version (tauri.conf.json)
2. List commits since the latest tag: git log <latest-tag>..HEAD --oneline. If no prior tag, list all commits.
3. Recommend patch / minor / major based on commit subjects (feat: → minor, fix:/chore:/refactor: → patch, breaking change → major).
4. Decision:
   • Chrome extension: if Manifest version > latest tag's version, the bump is already committed — use it and skip step 4. Else proceed to step 4 with the recommended version (or user override).
   • .NET: ask user for new version (default = recommended bump). Skip step 4 — version is tag-injected.
   • Tauri: if Tauri config version > latest tag's version, the bump is already committed — use it and skip step 4. Else proceed to step 4 with the recommended version (or user override).

Tag format is always vX.Y.Z, or vX.Y.Z-rcN when the user asks for a prerelease and the project's CI marks hyphenated tags as prereleases (so "Latest release" keeps pointing at the last stable tag). A prerelease gets the same notes treatment as a stable one — only the collapse rules in step 8 differ.

4. Bump version (Chrome extension and Tauri)

Skip this step for .NET.

For Chrome extension:

• Edit manifest.json "version" field → new version
• Edit package.json "version" field → new version
• Stage and commit (GPG-signed): git add manifest.json package.json && git commit -S -m "chore: bump version to X.Y.Z"
• Push: git push origin main

For Tauri, bump all five version references so they stay in sync (the bundle version comes from tauri.conf.json; the others must match):

• Edit src-tauri/tauri.conf.json "version" field → new version
• Edit package.json "version" field → new version
• Edit src-tauri/Cargo.toml [package] version field → new version
• Edit src-tauri/Cargo.lock — the package's own entry (find the [[package]] block whose name matches the crate, bump its version; leave dependency entries untouched)
• Regenerate package-lock.json with npm install --package-lock-only (run it after editing package.json; it rewrites the root "version" and the mirrored one under packages."", touching nothing else when dependencies are unchanged). Skip only if the project has no package-lock.json. This one is easy to miss because nothing fails without it: npm ci compares dependency specifiers, not the root version, so a stale value survives release after release in silence — one project's lockfile sat five versions behind before anyone noticed.
• Stage and commit (GPG-signed): git add src-tauri/tauri.conf.json package.json package-lock.json src-tauri/Cargo.toml src-tauri/Cargo.lock && git commit -S -m "chore: bump version to X.Y.Z"
• Push: git push origin main

Use the Edit tool — do not regenerate any file. Read Cargo.lock before editing it (Edit requires a prior Read).

5. Compile release notes

What's new (universal)

Build bullets from git log <prev-tag>..HEAD --oneline (or all commits if no prior tag):

• Base each bullet on the actual commit message — do NOT rephrase or reinterpret
• Strip the conventional-commit prefix (feat:, fix:, refactor:, etc.) and capitalize the first letter
• Group closely related commits into a single bullet if obvious
• Skip pure-internal commits with no user-visible effect (CI tweaks, doc-only changes, internal refactors)

Group the bullets under emoji-prefixed ### headings by kind, in this order, omitting any heading with no bullets:

• ### ✨ Features — feat: commits
• ### 🐛 Fixes — fix: commits
• ### ⚠️ Breaking changes — any breaking change

Within each heading, order the bullets by user-facing importance, most important first — not by commit order. Judge importance by how much the change affects what users see or do: a headline feature or a fix for a broken core flow leads; small tweaks and edge-case fixes trail. When two bullets are of comparable importance, keep their relative commit order.

Normal feat:/fix:/breaking bullets always go under their heading, even when the release has only one kind (e.g. a features-only release still uses ### ✨ Features). Bullets that don't fit any of the above (rare) go under the closest-fitting heading — or, only when the entire release consists of such non-fitting items and headings add no clarity, as a plain un-headed list.

Never add a **Full Changelog**: …/compare/… line — GitHub auto-renders a compare link on every release page, so it would just duplicate that. This applies to all stacks.

Stack-specific sections

Chrome extension:

No stack-specific section — the release body is just the generic "What's new" changelog.

.NET:

Put the changelog first (the ### Features/Fixes groups from the generic step above — no ## What's new parent heading, which GitHub would render with an underline rule). Then append a single combined > [!NOTE] callout holding both the SmartScreen first-run note and the download guidance — one colored box, not two separate sections. Do NOT list filenames or sizes (GitHub auto-renders the Assets section below); explain only the build difference so the reader picks the right asset. For the new release the box is expanded (older releases get it collapsed — see step 8). The box is release-independent except {owner}/{repo}:

### ✨ Features
- …

### 🐛 Fixes
- …

<br>

> [!NOTE]
> The executable is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning on first run. Click **More info** → **Run anyway** to proceed. See [Code signing policy](https://github.com/{owner}/{repo}#code-signing-policy) in the README.
>
> **Which download should I pick?** Both builds are the same app and differ only in whether the .NET runtime is bundled:
> - **Framework-dependent** — only a few hundred KB, but needs the [.NET Desktop Runtime 10](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/10.0) preinstalled.
> - **Self-contained** — bundles the .NET runtime; larger, but runs anywhere. Pick this if unsure.

If Has signing policy section is no, drop the SmartScreen sentence and the blank > line after it, keeping just the "Which download" box. Do NOT add a "Building from source" section — build instructions belong in the README, not in every release's notes.

Tauri:

release.yml builds a per-OS matrix via tauri-action and creates a draft release with the installers attached (Windows NSIS .exe, macOS .dmg). GitHub auto-renders an Assets section at the bottom of every release with filenames and sizes, so the notes should NOT include a Downloads table — it would just duplicate that.

End the notes with a code-signing NOTE callout: the installers aren't signed, so the user hits a first-launch warning on each platform the release ships. Give the concrete bypass step per OS (drop the line for any OS this release doesn't build), and link to the project's install guide for full steps. Omit the {install-url} link only if the project has no install-guide page. Do NOT add a Downloads table.

> [!NOTE]
> The installers aren't code-signed. On **Windows**, SmartScreen shows "Windows protected your PC" — click **More info** → **Run anyway**. On **macOS**, first launch is blocked ("damaged"/unidentified developer) — open **System Settings → Privacy & Security** and click **Open Anyway**. Full steps in the [installation guide]({install-url}).

Present the full draft to the user and ask them to confirm or request edits. Do not push the tag until approved.

6. Create and push tag

Only after the user confirms:

git tag vX.Y.Z
git push origin vX.Y.Z

The tag push triggers the project's CI workflow (.github/workflows/build.yml or equivalent), which builds the artifact(s) and creates the GitHub Release.

7. Monitor CI

Poll the workflow run until it completes:

gh run list --branch vX.Y.Z --limit 1 --json databaseId,status,conclusion
gh run watch <run-id>

If the run fails, show the failed logs and stop:

gh run view <run-id> --log-failed

8. Verify release and finalize notes

Once CI succeeds:

1. Confirm the release exists with the expected assets attached:

   gh release view vX.Y.Z --json tagName,assets
   

2. Stack-specific finalization:

   Release title = the tag, for every stack. Fold --title "vX.Y.Z" into the notes-replacement edit below. CI (or tauri-action) often names the release with the product name (e.g. Foo App vX.Y.Z) — redundant on the repo's own releases page, and in the narrow release sidebar the product-name prefix truncates off the version, the one part that distinguishes releases. The tag alone (vX.Y.Z) is GitHub's own default for an unset name and keeps the list scannable. (Fixing a project's CI to leave the name unset / use the tag is a nice-to-have; forcing --title here makes every release the skill publishes correct regardless.)

   Chrome extension: replace the auto-generated notes with the drafted notes — no asset-size filling needed.

   gh release edit vX.Y.Z --title "vX.Y.Z" --notes "..."
   

   .NET: replace the auto-generated notes with the drafted notes — no asset-size filling needed (the [!NOTE] box explains the build difference rather than listing sizes; the Assets section auto-renders exact filenames and sizes).

   gh release edit vX.Y.Z --title "vX.Y.Z" --notes "..."
   

   Then collapse the superseded note boxes — see Collapsing superseded NOTE boxes below, using First-run & download info as the summary text.

   Tauri: tauri-action creates the release as a draft with auto-generated notes. Replace those notes with the drafted "What's new" content from step 5 — the Assets section is auto-rendered, no filename/size filling needed:

   gh release edit vX.Y.Z --title "vX.Y.Z" --notes "..."
   

   Then collapse the superseded note boxes — see Collapsing superseded NOTE boxes below, using First-run info as the summary text. Then publish the draft (confirm with the user first if they want to review the draft before it goes public):

   gh release edit vX.Y.Z --draft=false --latest
   

3. Print the release URL:

   gh release view vX.Y.Z --json url --jq .url
   

4. Chrome extension only — the GitHub release is done, but the extension isn't live in the store yet. Point the user at the /publish-chrome-extension skill, which downloads this release's zip and submits it to the Chrome Web Store.

Collapsing superseded NOTE boxes (.NET and Tauri)

The > [!NOTE] box is byte-for-byte identical on every release, so leaving them all expanded clutters the releases list. Only what GitHub puts at the top of the page keeps it expanded: the current Latest (newest stable), plus the newest prerelease if one has been published since that stable. What you just published decides which boxes it supersedes:

• Stable vX.Y.Z → collapse the previous stable release and the newest prerelease (the rc series leading up to this release is superseded by it).
• Prerelease vX.Y.Z-rcN → collapse the previous prerelease only. Leave the newest stable expanded — it is still GitHub's "Latest release" and the download most users take.

Resolve those tags from two separate lists. A single git tag --sort=-v:refname is wrong here: git's versionsort ignores semver prerelease precedence unless versionsort.suffix is configured, so v1.6.0-rc2 sorts above v1.6.0 and the second line is not the previous release.

git tag --sort=-v:refname | grep -v -- '-'   # stable tags, newest first
git tag --sort=-v:refname | grep -- '-'      # prerelease tags, newest first

The tag just published is line 1 of its own list. So after a stable release, collapse line 2 of the stable list plus line 1 of the prerelease list; after a prerelease, collapse line 2 of the prerelease list.

For each tag to collapse, fetch its body (gh release view <tag> --json body --jq .body) and wrap the > [!NOTE] box's inner content in a collapsed <details> — turn:

> [!NOTE]
> <inner lines…>

into:

> [!NOTE]
> <details>
> <summary>{summary}</summary>
>
> <br>
>
> <inner lines…>
> </details>

Take {summary} from the stack branch above. Leave the "What's new" section untouched, then write it back with gh release edit <tag> --notes "...". Skip a tag whose release has no [!NOTE] box (predates this format) or is already collapsed.

Checklist

Before tagging:

• Working tree clean, on main, in sync
• Project type detected unambiguously
• Stack-specific preconditions met (Chrome ext: manifest version == package version; Tauri: all version files in sync)
• Release notes drafted and reviewed

After tagging:

• CI workflow green
• GitHub Release created with expected asset(s) attached
• Release notes replaced and title set to the tag (--title "vX.Y.Z") via gh release edit
• (Chrome ext) User pointed to /publish-chrome-extension for the store submission
• (.NET / Tauri) Superseded NOTE boxes collapsed into <details> — a stable release supersedes the previous stable and the newest rc; an rc supersedes only the previous rc
• (Tauri) Draft release published via gh release edit --draft=false