Atuin CLI Release
You are orchestrating a release of the Atuin CLI. Follow the steps below in order, pausing at each checkpoint for user confirmation. Do not skip steps or combine them.
Current State
- Workspace version: !
sed -n '/^\[workspace\.package\]/,/^\[/s/^version = "\(.*\)"/\1/p' Cargo.toml - Latest tag: !
git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "none" - Suggested next version: !
git-cliff --bumped-version 2>/dev/null | sed 's/^v//' || echo "(unknown)"
Step 1 — Check Dependencies
Verify these tools are installed: git, cargo, gh, git-cliff.
On macOS, also verify gsed. On Linux, sed is already GNU sed.
Use command -v for each. If any are missing, report which ones and stop.
Set the SED variable for later use: if on macOS, SED=gsed; on Linux, SED=sed.
Step 2 — Determine Version
The target version may be provided as $ARGUMENTS. If it's empty, use
AskUserQuestion to ask for the new version (show the current state above
for reference).
After determining the version:
- If it contains a
-(e.g.18.15.0-beta.1), it is a prerelease. Note this — it affects changelog and publish behavior later. - Show the user:
current → newand whether it's a prerelease. - Checkpoint: Ask the user to confirm before proceeding.
Step 2.5 — Survey Release-Labeled PRs
Two labels mark PRs whose merge has to be timed around the release. They are
typically PRs touching docs/ or install.sh — changes that deploy on merge to
main rather than shipping inside the release artifact.
| Label | Merged at | In the tag & artifact? |
|---|---|---|
merge-immediately-before-release |
Step 7.5 — after the prep PR merges, before the tag | Yes |
merge-immediately-after-release |
Step 8.5 — after the release workflow uploads assets | No |
Check both:
gh pr list --repo atuinsh/atuin --state open \
--label merge-immediately-before-release \
--json number,title,url
gh pr list --repo atuinsh/atuin --state open \
--label merge-immediately-after-release \
--json number,title,url
If both come back empty, say so and continue to Step 3. No checkpoint needed.
The two labels are mutually exclusive: they name opposite sides of the tag. If a PR number comes back in both lists, that is a labelling mistake — the two queries are independent, so it would otherwise be approved twice, merged at Step 7.5, then merged again at Step 8.5 against an already-closed PR. Stop and ask the user which single timing applies, then treat it as carrying only that label for the rest of the release. Do not guess, and do not carry it into both steps.
If either is non-empty:
- Show the user every PR found, grouped by label, with its number, title, and the merge point from the table above.
- Checkpoint: Use AskUserQuestion (multiSelect) to ask which of these PRs should in fact be merged at their labeled time.
- Record the approved set — it carries to Step 7.5 and Step 8.5. A PR the user declines is left alone for the remainder of the release: don't merge it, don't raise it again.
Take each label at face value. It records the PR author's decision about timing; it is not a suggestion for you to re-evaluate:
- An
after-releasePR is not in the tag and not in the release artifact. That is the intended outcome, not a problem to solve. The label is for changes that deploy the moment they merge, so artifact inclusion is irrelevant to them. An author who needed the change in the artifact would have labeled itmerge-immediately-before-release. - Never merge an
after-releasePR early to get it into the release, and never reclassify a PR from one label to the other.
Step 3 — Set Up Working Directory
Clone a fresh copy into a temp directory:
WORKDIR=$(mktemp -d)
git clone git@github.com:atuinsh/atuin.git "$WORKDIR"
Print the working directory path so the user can find it if needed.
NOTE:
ALL subsequent Bash commands run from $WORKDIR.
Step 4 — Create Branch & Update Versions
Create a release branch named after the version (no
vprefix):git checkout -b <VERSION>Replace the old version with the new one in all
Cargo.tomlfiles. Escape dots in the old version so sed treats them literally:VERSION_PATTERN="${OLD_VERSION//./\\.}" find . -type f -name 'Cargo.toml' -not -path './.git/*' \ -exec $SED -i "s/$VERSION_PATTERN/$NEW_VERSION/g" {} \;Run
cargo checkto updateCargo.lock.Show
git diff --statand the version-related lines from the diff:git diff --unified=0 -- '*.toml' | grep '^\+.*version' | grep -vF '+++'Remember to use macOS grep arguments on macOS systems.
Verify the workspace version was actually updated by re-reading it from
Cargo.toml.Checkpoint: Show the diff summary and ask the user to confirm the version changes look correct.
Step 5 — Update Changelog
The changelog strategy differs for prereleases vs stable releases:
Prerelease: Maintain a running
## [unreleased]section containing all changes since the last stable release. Use:git-cliff --unreleased --strip all(cliff.toml'signore_tagsalready ignores beta/alpha tags, so--unreleasedspans back to the last stable release automatically.)Stable release: Generate a versioned entry that replaces the
[unreleased]section. Use:git-cliff --unreleased --tag "v<VERSION>" --strip all
Then update CHANGELOG.md:
If an existing
## [unreleased]or## [Unreleased]section exists, remove it entirely (the heading and all content up to the next##heading).Insert the new entry before the first existing
##version heading.Checkpoint: Read and display the new changelog entry to the user. Ask if they want any edits. If so, make the requested changes using the Edit tool. Repeat until they're satisfied.
Step 6 — Commit & Push
Stage all changes and commit:
chore(release): prepare for release <VERSION>
Push the branch with --set-upstream origin.
Step 7 — Create PR & Wait for Merge
Create the PR
Extract the changelog entry body (everything between the new ## heading
and the next one) for the PR description.
For prereleases, the heading to match is ## [unreleased].
For stable releases, it's ## <VERSION> (escape dots in the awk pattern).
Create the PR:
gh pr create \
--title "chore(release): prepare for release <VERSION>" \
--body "<body with changelog>" \
--repo atuinsh/atuin \
--draft
Show the PR URL to the user. Tell the user to go review and merge the PR.
When the user reports the PR is merged, proceed to the next step.
Step 7.5 — Merge merge-immediately-before-release PRs
Skip to Step 8 unless Step 2.5 recorded approved PRs with this label.
The prep PR has merged and the tag does not exist yet. This is the only window
in which these PRs land in v<VERSION> and its artifacts.
For each approved PR:
Check it is still mergeable and its checks are green:
gh pr view <N> --repo atuinsh/atuin \ --json mergeable,mergeStateStatus,statusCheckRollupIf it is not mergeable, or checks are red, report that and ask the user how to proceed. Do not force it through.
Checkpoint: Show the PR number and title and ask the user to confirm this specific merge. Step 2.5 approved the timing; this confirms merging now.
Merge:
gh pr merge <N> --repo atuinsh/atuin --squash
These commits land in the tag but are absent from the changelog generated in Step 5, which was cut before they merged. That is expected — do not regenerate the changelog to include them.
Step 8 — Tag Release
Back in the working directory:
git checkout main
git pull
git tag "v<VERSION>"
git push --tags
Tell the user the tag was pushed and the release CI workflow has been triggered.
Step 8.5 — Merge merge-immediately-after-release PRs
Skip to Step 9 unless Step 2.5 recorded approved PRs with this label.
"After the release" means after the release workflow has finished and the assets exist — not merely after the tag was pushed. These PRs deploy the instant they merge, so a docs change announcing the new version must not go live while the release it points at is still building.
Wait for the release workflow the tag just triggered:
gh run list --repo atuinsh/atuin --workflow release.yml \ --branch "v<VERSION>" --limit 1 gh run watch <run-id> --repo atuinsh/atuin --exit-status--exit-statusis what makes a failed run exit non-zero. Without itgh run watchprints the failure but still exits0, and a broken release sails through into the merges below. If it exits non-zero, stop here — do not go on to the release lookup.Confirm the release exists and has assets attached:
gh release view "v<VERSION>" --repo atuinsh/atuin --json assets,isDraftIf the release is missing, is still a draft, or has no assets, stop. Report it and merge nothing — these PRs keep until the release is actually out. A release object alone is not evidence: it may predate this run or have been left half-built by a failed workflow. What clears this gate is a non-draft release with assets attached.
Re-check that each approved PR is still mergeable and its checks are green:
gh pr view <N> --repo atuinsh/atuin \ --json mergeable,mergeStateStatus,statusCheckRollupStep 2.5 surveyed these PRs before the release was even built, so its findings are now many minutes stale — long enough for a PR to pick up a conflict or a red check. If it is not mergeable, or checks are red, report that and ask the user how to proceed. Do not force it through. These PRs deploy the instant they merge, so there is no CI gate downstream to catch a bad one.
Checkpoint: For each approved PR, show its number and title and ask the user to confirm this specific merge. Step 2.5 approved the timing; this confirms merging now.
Merge each PR the user confirms:
gh pr merge <N> --repo atuinsh/atuin --squash
Merging a docs/ change here fires trigger-docs-deploy.yml and the docs go
out immediately. That is the whole point of the label.
Step 9 — Publish to crates.io
If this is a prerelease, skip this step entirely and tell the user.
If this is a stable release, ask the user whether to publish.
If yes, publish every crate in the workspace using --no-verify
(the code already passed CI, and verification fails when crates.io
hasn't indexed a freshly-published dependency yet).
Do not keep a hardcoded list of crates — discover them dynamically so new crates are never missed:
ls crates/
Publish each one from crates/<name>:
cargo publish --no-verify 2>&1
Publish in dependency order: if a publish fails because a dependency isn't on crates.io yet (e.g. "failed to select a version for the requirement"), publish that dependency first, then retry the failed crate.
If it fails with "already uploaded", report it as a skip (not an error) — some crates are versioned independently and may already be published at their current version.
If it fails for any other reason, stop and report the error.
Completion
Summarize what was done:
- Version released
- PR URL
- Tag name
- Which label-timed PRs were merged, and which the user declined (if any)
- Which crates were published (if any)
- Working directory path and how to clean it up (
rm -rf)