Release

Release Skill

Create properly versioned releases with tags and GitHub releases.

Process

1. Pre-flight checks

   git status --short  # Must be clean
   git describe --tags --abbrev=0  # Get current version
   

2. Determine version bump

   • patch (default): Bug fixes, minor changes (1.2.3 → 1.2.4)
   • minor: New features, backwards compatible (1.2.3 → 1.3.0)
   • major: Breaking changes (1.2.3 → 2.0.0)

3. Run tests

   • Python: pytest
   • Rust: cargo test
   • Node: npm test

4. Update version in manifest

   • Python: pyproject.toml version field
   • Rust: Cargo.toml version field
   • Node: package.json version field

5. Commit version bump

   git add pyproject.toml  # or Cargo.toml, package.json
   git commit -m "Bump version to X.Y.Z"
   

6. Create annotated tag

   git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "vX.Y.Z - Brief description"
   

7. Push with tags

   git push && git push origin vX.Y.Z
   

8. Create GitHub release

   gh release create vX.Y.Z --title "vX.Y.Z - Title" --notes "$(cat <<'EOF'
   ## What's New
   - Feature 1
   - Feature 2
   
   ## Bug Fixes
   - Fix 1
   
   ## Full Changelog
   https://github.com/AreteDriver/REPO/compare/vPREV...vX.Y.Z
   EOF
   )"
   

Changelog Generation

Review commits since last tag:

git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline

Group by type:

• Features: feat: commits
• Bug Fixes: fix: commits
• Other: everything else worth mentioning

Version Locations

Rules

• Never release with failing tests
• Never release with uncommitted changes
• Always use annotated tags (-a), not lightweight
• Include changelog in GitHub release notes
• Use semantic versioning strictly