# Developer Release Rebase

> Prepare a new minor alpha release of Earth2Studio by rebasing the release candidate branch onto main, bumping the version, updating the changelog, updating the README latest-news highlights, stripping example version tags, and pushing for PR. Use when releasing, cutting a release, preparing a release branch, rebasing a release, or bumping the version for a new development cycle.

- Skill: `nvidia/developer-release-rebase` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add nvidia/developer-release-rebase`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/nvidia/developer-release-rebase/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector CAUTION)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- License: Apache-2.0
- Author: NVIDIA (https://skillmd.com/u/nvidia)
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/nvidia/developer-release-rebase

---


# Release Rebase — Prepare New Minor Alpha Release

Prepare a new minor alpha release of Earth2Studio by rebasing the release
candidate branch onto main, bumping the version, updating the changelog,
updating the README latest-news highlights, stripping pinned version tags
from examples, and pushing a PR branch.

Follow every step below **in order**. Each step that requires user input is
marked with a confirmation gate — wait for explicit approval before proceeding.

---

## Step 1 — Determine the Next Version

1. Read `earth2studio/__init__.py` to get the current `__version__` string.
2. Compute the **next minor alpha**: if current is `X.Y.*-rc*` (or `X.Y.0rcN`),
   the next version is `X.(Y+1).0a0`.
3. If the branch has already been rebased in a prior session, the version may
   already reflect the new alpha — note this.

### **[CONFIRM — Version]**

Print both versions (current and target) and ask the user to confirm before
proceeding.

---

## Step 2 — Verify Remotes and Rebase

### 2a — Check remotes

Confirm:

- `origin` points to the user's **fork** of Earth2Studio.
- `upstream` points to `https://github.com/NVIDIA/earth2studio.git` (or the SSH equivalent).

If either is wrong, stop and ask the user to fix it.

### 2b — Create or verify the rebase branch

If the repo is already on a branch named `X.Y.0-rebase`, confirm with the user
that it was created from the `X.Y.*-rc` branch and skip the checkout commands.

Otherwise, create the rebase branch:

```bash
git fetch upstream X.Y.*-rc
git checkout X.Y.*-rc
git checkout -b X.Y.0-rebase
```

(Replace `X.Y.*-rc` with the actual tag/branch name matching the current
release candidate.)

### 2c — Rebase onto main (if needed)

Check whether the rebase branch already has `main` as an ancestor:

```bash
git merge-base --is-ancestor main HEAD && echo "Already rebased" || echo "Needs rebase"
```

If a rebase is needed:

```bash
git checkout main
git pull upstream main
git checkout X.Y.0-rebase
git rebase main
```

If the branch is already rebased, skip this and proceed.

---

## Step 3 — Update CHANGELOG.md

Read `CHANGELOG.md` and insert a new blank section **above** the most recent
version entry. Use `YYYY-MM-xx` as the date placeholder where `YYYY-MM` is the
month after the released version's date (e.g., if releasing `0.17.0` on
`2026-07-30`, the next dev section gets `2026-08-xx`).

The new section must look exactly like this (substituting the version number):

```markdown
## [X.(Y+1).0a0] - YYYY-MM-xx

### Added

### Changed

### Deprecated

### Removed

### Fixed

### Security

### Dependencies

```

Also ensure the **released** version section (the one just below):

1. Has unused (empty) subsections removed.
2. Does **not** have the alpha/rc extension in its version (e.g., `[0.14.0]` not
   `[0.14.0a0]`).
3. Has a release date set in `YYYY-MM-DD` format.

### **[CONFIRM — Release Date]**

If the released section does not already have a date set, ask the user what date
to use before proceeding.

---

## Step 4 — Bump the Package Version

Run these two commands in sequence:

```bash
uv run hatch version minor
uv run hatch version alpha
```

After running, read `earth2studio/__init__.py` and confirm it now contains
`X.(Y+1).0a0`.

If the pre-commit hook `pyupgrade` fails due to a Python version incompatibility
(a known issue with Python 3.14), it is safe to skip with
`SKIP=pyupgrade` on the subsequent commit step — note this to the user.

---

## Step 5 — Strip Version Tags from Examples

Remove pinned `@X.Y.Z` git tags from all example install blocks:

```bash
find examples/ -type f -exec sed -i 's/@[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+[a-z0-9]*//g' {} \;
```

Show a `git diff --stat examples/` summary so the user can verify the changes
look correct.

---

## Step 6 — Update Install Guide Version Tag

Update the install documentation to reference the new released version tag.

1. Open `docs/userguide/about/install_options.yml` and update the `release_ref`
   field under `package:` from the **previous** release version to the **new**
   released version (e.g., `release_ref: 0.15.0`). This field drives the
   install selector widget that generates install commands on the docs site.
2. Open `docs/userguide/about/install.md` and replace all occurrences of the
   **previous** release tag (e.g., `@0.14.0`) with the **new** release tag
   (e.g., `@0.15.0`) in the hardcoded install examples (uv project, Docker,
   extras note).
3. Update the Docker container tag (e.g., `nvcr.io/nvidia/pytorch:XX.YY-py3`) to
   the latest recommended container version if it has changed.
4. Show a `git diff docs/userguide/about/` summary so the user can verify the
   changes look correct.

---

## Step 7 — Update README Latest News

Update the "Latest News" section in `README.md` with highlights from the
**released** version's CHANGELOG entry (the section just below the new blank
development section added in Step 3).

1. Read `CHANGELOG.md` and identify the 3–5 most notable items from the
   released version's `### Added` subsection. Prefer items that introduce new
   model classes, new data sources, or significant new capabilities.
2. Read the current `## Latest News` section in `README.md`.
3. Replace the existing bullet points (between the `> [!NOTE]` block and the
   "For a complete list…" line) with new bullets summarising the highlights.
   Follow the existing style:
   - Each bullet starts with a bold linked feature name (where a docs link
     exists) followed by a comma and a short description.
   - Keep the `> [!NOTE]` version callout and update it to reference the new
     released version number if it changed.
4. Show the diff to the user for review.

### **[CONFIRM — README]**

Print the updated Latest News section and ask the user to confirm before
proceeding.

---

## Step 8 — Update Skill Versions

**Skip this step.** Skill versions are managed separately and should NOT
be updated during the release rebase process.

---

## Step 9 — Update GitHub Issue Templates

Update the suggested version placeholder in the bug report template to
reference the new released version.

1. Open `.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml`.
2. Replace the `placeholder:` value (e.g., `"example: 0.14.0"`) with
   `"example: X.Y.0"` (the new released version).
3. Show the diff to the user for review.

---

## Step 10 — Commit and Push

Stage only the expected files and commit:

```bash
git add CHANGELOG.md
git add earth2studio/__init__.py
git add examples/
git add README.md
git add docs/userguide/about/install.md
git add docs/userguide/about/install_options.yml
git add skills/
git add .github/
git commit -m "Update version to X.(Y+1).0a0"
```

If pre-commit hooks fail due to a tool incompatibility (not a code issue), use
`SKIP=<hook-id>` to bypass the broken hook and retry.

Push the branch to origin:

```bash
git push origin X.Y.0-rebase
```

### **[REMIND — Merge Strategy]**

After pushing, remind the user:

> **Use Rebase merge, not Squash**, when merging the PR.