# Release > Cut a release of any published package in this repo — @subsquid/pipes, @subsquid/pipes-cli, or @subsquid/pipes-ui. Bumps the version, tags, pushes, watches the Release workflow, and publishes curated GitHub release notes. Handles stable releases and alpha/beta/rc prereleases (betas ship on the npm `latest` tag until 1.0.0; alpha and rc get their own, all via Trusted Publishing). Use when the user asks to "release", "publish", "cut a version", "ship", "deploy", or "cut an alpha/beta" for any of these packages. - Skill: `subsquid/release` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add subsquid/release` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/subsquid/release/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: DevOps & Infra - Author: subsquid (https://skillmd.com/u/subsquid) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/subsquid/release --- # Release One procedure for all three published packages. Publishing is automated by [release.yml](../../../.github/workflows/release.yml): you bump, tag and push; CI builds, gates, publishes to npm and opens the GitHub release. Then you replace the auto-generated notes with curated ones. | package | tag prefix | directory | what actually ships | |---|---|---|---| | `@subsquid/pipes` | `pipes-v` | `packages/pipes` | the package root | | `@subsquid/pipes-cli` | `pipes-cli-v` | `packages/pipes-cli` | the package root (`prepack` rewrites `workspace:`) | | `@subsquid/pipes-ui` | `pipes-ui-v` | `packages/pipes-ui` | **`dist/`** — a generated, pruned manifest | Publishing runs on **npm Trusted Publishing** (OIDC + provenance, no `NPM_TOKEN`). The tagged commit is the source of truth: CI refuses to publish unless `package.json` already carries the version in the tag. ## Preconditions - `git status` clean on `main`, up to date with `origin/main`. The workflow builds and publishes the tagged commit, so `main` must already contain what you intend to ship. - The user named a package and a target version. If either is missing, ask — do not guess. See [Choosing the next version](#choosing-the-next-version). - A **trusted publisher** exists on npmjs.com for that package pointing at `subsquid-labs/pipes-sdk` → the workflow that will publish it. Without it the `publish` job 404s. See [First-time setup](#first-time-setup-trusted-publishing). - **`@subsquid/pipes-cli` only:** the core version its `package.json` pins must already be on npm. `prepack` rewrites `workspace:*` to whatever `packages/pipes/package.json` says **locally**, so releasing the CLI against an unpublished core ships a dependency nobody can install. CI blocks this, but check first rather than burn a tag — **release core before the CLI.** ## Steps ### 1. Bump the version Set the target version in `packages//package.json` (see the table above). CI compares the exact string — prerelease suffix included — against the tag and refuses to publish on a mismatch. ### 2. Commit and tag ```sh git add packages//package.json git commit -m "chore(release): " git tag -v git push origin main git push origin -v ``` Both pushes are required — the workflow triggers on the tag. ### 3. Watch the workflow ```sh gh run watch --repo subsquid-labs/pipes-sdk --exit-status ``` Or tail the latest run for a specific workflow: ```sh RUN_ID=$(gh run list --repo subsquid-labs/pipes-sdk --workflow=release.yml --limit 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId') gh run watch "$RUN_ID" --repo subsquid-labs/pipes-sdk --exit-status ``` Jobs: `resolve` → `check` → `publish` → `github-release`. If `publish` fails on Trusted Publishing, the npm-side config is probably missing or points elsewhere — surface the error, don't retry blindly. ### 4. Rewrite the release notes Applies to **every** release, prereleases included. `github-release` creates the release with `generate_release_notes: true`, but those auto-notes are unreliable: they diff against the previous tag in the repo, which now interleaves three prefixes, so they mix packages. With no previous tag at all, GitHub dumps the entire history. Replace them with curated highlights from [release-template.md](release-template.md). **Scope notes to the package being released.** A `pipes-ui` redesign does not belong in `@subsquid/pipes` notes, and vice versa. Source highlights from the commits since that package's previous tag; pick user-visible changes rather than restating every commit. ```sh gh release edit -v --repo subsquid-labs/pipes-sdk --notes-file notes.md ``` Prefer `--notes-file` over a heredoc — it avoids escaping problems around code fences. ### 5. Confirm ```sh echo "https://github.com/subsquid-labs/pipes-sdk/releases/tag/-v" npm view dist-tags ``` ## Prereleases (alpha/beta/rc) Cut one exactly like a stable release — just name a prerelease version (`1.0.0-alpha.17`, `1.0.0-beta.5`, `1.0.0-rc.1`). No extra inputs; `resolve` derives the channel from the identifier: | version | npm dist-tag | GitHub | |---|---|---| | `X.Y.Z` | `@latest` | normal release | | `…-beta.N` | `@latest` | normal release | | `…-alpha.N` | `@alpha` | prerelease | | `…-rc.N` | `@rc` | prerelease | | anything else | `@next` | prerelease | **beta is the shipping channel until 1.0.0 lands.** A beta is what a plain `npm i ` serves, and its GitHub release is not flagged a preview — so cut one only when it is fit to be the default. alpha and rc stay off `latest`; testers opt into those with `npm i @alpha`. This is a temporary policy, and the rule keys off the identifier rather than the version. **When a stable ships, revert the `beta` arm in `release.yml` to `DIST_TAG=beta` / `PRERELEASE=true`** — otherwise a later `2.0.0-beta.1` displaces stable `1.x` for everyone who just types `npm i`. The "Latest release" slot on the repo page is separate, and still reserved for `@subsquid/pipes` — a `pipes-ui` or `pipes-cli` release never claims it. Alpha and rc notes get the same package-scoped curation as a stable cut, but can be leaner (drop the lead paragraph, group only what changed, optionally add a one-line "what to test"). Keep the install line minimal — a bare `npm i @alpha`. **Skip** prose about "published to the `@alpha` dist-tag / `@latest` is unaffected": it's obvious and just noise. A beta ships as the default version, so give it stable-grade notes — including breaking changes. ## Dry runs `release.yml` takes a `dry_run` input. It runs `resolve`, the build, and every gate, then skips the publish and the GitHub release: ```sh gh workflow run release.yml --repo subsquid-labs/pipes-sdk \ -f package=pipes-ui -f version=1.0.0-alpha.8 -f dry_run=true ``` Use it when changing the workflow, or before the first release of a package. **It does not exercise the OIDC exchange** — it proves the build and gates, not that npm will accept the token. The first real publish is the test of that. ## Choosing the next version Numbering is manual — the user names it. Check what's already published first: ```sh npm view dist-tags npm view versions --json | tail -20 ``` Increment within a channel (`1.0.0-alpha.16` → `1.0.0-alpha.17`), or move channels when stabilizing: `…-alpha.N` → `…-beta.1` → `…-rc.1` → `1.0.0`. The three packages version **independently**. Do not sync their numbers just because they happen to be close. ## First-time setup (Trusted Publishing) There is no `NPM_TOKEN`. Once per package, a maintainer with publish rights configures a trusted publisher on npmjs.com: - Package → **Settings** → **Trusted Publishing** → add a GitHub Actions publisher - Repository: **`subsquid/pipes-sdk`** — the canonical name. The org was renamed; `subsquid-labs/pipes-sdk` still works as a redirect (and is what every `repository` field and `gh --repo` invocation in this repo still says), but OIDC claims carry the canonical name, so trusted publishing must match it. - Workflow filename: `release.yml` — for all three packages The workflow requests `id-token: write` and publishes with `--provenance`, so releases carry a verifiable provenance attestation. If the config is missing, the publish step fails with a 404/401 — that's the signal, not a transient error. **This binds to the exact filename.** Renaming or moving `release.yml` breaks publishing for every package until the npm config is updated to match. A mismatch between the OIDC claim and the trusted publisher record surfaces as a `404 Not Found - PUT` on an otherwise green run: the tarball builds, provenance signs, and only the final PUT is rejected. Read it as "no trusted publisher matches this token", and check all three fields — org, repo, workflow filename — before touching anything else. ## Failure modes - **Tag exists** — `git tag` fails. The release was already started, or a previous attempt half-finished. Check `gh release view ` and `gh run list` before doing anything. Don't force-delete tags without confirming. - **`Verify source manifest` fails** — `package.json` doesn't match the tag, or the directory in the workflow's package table doesn't exist (a rename landed without updating the table). Fix, commit, retag. - **`Verify publish manifest` fails on `repository.url`** — `--provenance` refuses to publish without a `repository` field resolving to `subsquid-labs/pipes-sdk`. For `pipes-ui` this comes from the root manifest via `scripts/package.js`, which copies it into the generated `dist/package.json`. - **`Verify packed tarball` finds `workspace:`** — `prepack` didn't rewrite the protocol. **Do not fall back to `npm publish`**: it doesn't rewrite `workspace:` at all, which is exactly how `pipes-cli@1.0.0-alpha.1` shipped broken and gave consumers `EUNSUPPORTEDPROTOCOL`. Fix `scripts/rewrite-workspace-deps.cjs`. - **`@subsquid/pipes@ is not on npm`** — the CLI pins a core version that was never released. Release core first. - **Publish fails on Trusted Publishing** — config missing or pointing at the wrong repo/workflow. Don't fall back to a manual `npm publish` with a token unless the user explicitly asks: that bypasses provenance. - **`Multiple versions of pnpm specified`** — `pnpm/action-setup` must **not** pass a `version:`; the root `package.json` pins pnpm via `packageManager`. If a workflow drifted and re-added it, remove it. - **An alpha or rc served to a plain `npm i`** — shouldn't happen; the dist-tag logic routes those off `latest`. (A beta on `latest` is the intended policy, not this bug.) If it did, inspect `npm view dist-tags` and repoint with `npm dist-tag add @ latest` (needs npm auth — manual, outside the OIDC workflow).