Release

Release process for lading

1. Determine the next version

• Read lading/Cargo.toml and CHANGELOG.md to find the current version and unreleased changes.
• If the user hasn't specified a version, suggest one based on semver:
  • Breaking changes in the unreleased section -> bump minor (we're pre-1.0).
  • Otherwise bump patch.
• Confirm the version with the user before proceeding.

2. Create a release branch

• Create a branch from main: git checkout -b prepare-release-v<version>

3. Update CHANGELOG.md

• Read CHANGELOG.md.
• Insert a new ## Unreleased header (with empty subsections) above the current unreleased content.
• Rename the existing unreleased content block to ## [<version>].
• Ensure there is a blank line between the new empty ## Unreleased and ## [<version>].

4. Bump version in Cargo.toml

• Edit lading/Cargo.toml to set version = "<new_version>".

5. Update Cargo.lock

• Run cargo check to propagate the version change into the lockfile without re-resolving all dependencies.

6. Commit and create PR

• Stage CHANGELOG.md, lading/Cargo.toml, and Cargo.lock.
• Commit with message: release: v<version>
• Push the branch and create a PR targeting main.

7. Tag after merge

• After the PR is merged, remind the user to tag the merge commit on main:
  • git checkout main && git pull
  • git tag -a v<version> -m "v<version>"
  • git push origin v<version>
• NEVER use git push --tags — always push exactly one tag at a time.
• The release.yml GitHub Actions workflow will automatically create a GitHub Release from the tag, pulling notes from CHANGELOG.md.