Release Process

Release Process

This document explains how to create releases for mcpbr, both manually and via automation.

Table of Contents

• Automated Release (Recommended)
• Manual Release
• For AI Agents
• Version Management
• What Happens on Release
• Troubleshooting

Release Process (Recommended)

Workflow Overview

mcpbr uses GitHub's release drafter and automatic version bumping:

1. Release Drafter automatically creates draft releases from merged PRs
2. You manually publish the release in the GitHub UI
3. Post-release workflow automatically bumps the version on main

Step-by-Step

1. Review the Draft Release

As you merge PRs to main, Release Drafter automatically:

• Creates/updates a draft release
• Categorizes changes (features, fixes, breaking changes)
• Generates release notes from PR titles and labels

Navigate to Releases to see the current draft.

2. Prepare the Version (if needed)

For patch releases (bug fixes, minor improvements):

• No preparation needed! The current version in pyproject.toml is already correct.

For minor releases (new features) or major releases (breaking changes):

• Manually update the version in pyproject.toml before publishing:

# For minor bump (0.4.1 → 0.5.0)
sed -i 's/^version = "0.4.1"/version = "0.5.0"/' pyproject.toml
python3 scripts/sync_version.py
git add pyproject.toml package.json .claude-plugin/
git commit -m "chore: Bump version to 0.5.0"
git push origin main

# For major bump (0.5.0 → 1.0.0)
# Same process, update to "1.0.0"

3. Publish the Release

In the Releases page:

1. Click "Edit" on the draft release
2. Set the tag to match the version in pyproject.toml (e.g., v0.4.1)
3. Review the auto-generated release notes
4. Add any additional context or breaking change warnings
5. Click "Publish release"

4. Automatic Version Bump

After you publish the release, the Post-Release Version Bump workflow automatically:

• ✅ Bumps to next patch version (e.g., 0.4.1 → 0.4.2)
• ✅ Syncs version across all files
• ✅ Commits and pushes to main
• ✅ Triggers PyPI and npm publication

Main branch is now ready for the next release!

Version Bump Strategy

• Patch (automatic after release): Bug fixes, minor improvements (0.4.1 → 0.4.2)
• Minor (manual before release): New features, enhancements (0.4.2 → 0.5.0)
• Major (manual before release): Breaking changes (0.5.0 → 1.0.0)

Manual Release

If you need to create a release manually, follow the same pattern as the automated workflow:

1. Tag and release the current version

# Get current version from pyproject.toml
CURRENT_VERSION=$(python -c "import tomllib; f=open('pyproject.toml','rb'); data=tomllib.load(f); print(data['project']['version'])")

# Create and push tag
git tag -a "v${CURRENT_VERSION}" -m "Release v${CURRENT_VERSION}"
git push origin "v${CURRENT_VERSION}"

# Create GitHub release
gh release create "v${CURRENT_VERSION}" \
  --title "v${CURRENT_VERSION}" \
  --generate-notes \
  --latest

2. Bump to next version

After the release is published, bump to the next patch version:

# Calculate next version (assuming CURRENT_VERSION is set from above)
IFS='.' read -r major minor patch <<< "$CURRENT_VERSION"
NEXT_VERSION="${major}.${minor}.$((patch + 1))"

# Update pyproject.toml
sed -i "s/^version = \".*\"/version = \"$NEXT_VERSION\"/" pyproject.toml

# Sync versions across all files
python3 scripts/sync_version.py

# Commit and push
git add pyproject.toml package.json .claude-plugin/
git commit -m "chore: Bump version to ${NEXT_VERSION}"
git push origin main

This keeps the repository ready for the next release. --notes "Release notes here"
--latest

Or use the GitHub UI at:

https://github.com/greynewell/mcpbr/releases/new

## For AI Agents

**AI agents should use the automated workflow whenever possible.** Here's the recommended workflow:

### Quick Release Workflow

```bash
# 1. Trigger the release workflow (choose patch/minor/major)
gh workflow run release.yml -f version_bump=patch

# 2. Wait for the workflow to complete (~2 minutes)
sleep 120

# 3. Verify the release was created
gh release view --json tagName,publishedAt,assets

# 4. Confirm publication to PyPI and npm
# PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/mcpbr/
# npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@greynewell/mcpbr

Determining Version Bump Type

Choose the bump type based on the changes:

• patch: Bug fixes, documentation updates, dependency updates

  • Example: Fix Docker TypeError (#290)
  • Example: Update README with new examples

• minor: New features, enhancements (backward compatible)

  • Example: Add new benchmark support
  • Example: Add CSV export functionality

• major: Breaking changes, API changes

  • Example: Redesign CLI interface
  • Example: Remove deprecated features

Checking Current Version

# From pyproject.toml
grep '^version' pyproject.toml

# From git tags
git describe --tags --abbrev=0

# From latest release
gh release view --json tagName -q '.tagName'

Version Management

Version Sync Script

The scripts/sync_version.py script ensures all package files have the same version:

• Source of truth: pyproject.toml
• Synced files:
  • package.json (npm CLI package)
  • .claude-plugin/plugin.json
  • .claude-plugin/package.json (Claude plugin)
  • .claude-plugin/marketplace.json

Pre-commit Hook

The version sync runs automatically on commit via .pre-commit-config.yaml:

- id: sync-version
  name: Sync version across project files
  entry: python3 scripts/sync_version.py
  language: system
  pass_filenames: false
  files: pyproject.toml
  stages: [pre-commit]

What Happens on Release

When a release is published (tag pushed or GitHub release created):

1. PyPI Publication (publish.yml)

• Builds Python package
• Publishes to https://pypi.org/project/mcpbr/

2. npm Publication (publish-npm.yml)

Publishes 4 packages:

• @greynewell/mcpbr - Scoped CLI package
• mcpbr-cli - Unscoped CLI package
• @greynewell/mcpbr-claude-plugin - Scoped Claude plugin
• mcpbr-claude-plugin - Unscoped Claude plugin

3. Release Drafter

• Automatically generates release notes based on merged PRs
• Groups changes by type (features, fixes, docs, etc.)
• Credits contributors

GitHub Actions Limitation

Important: When the release workflow creates a release using GITHUB_TOKEN, it doesn't automatically trigger the PyPI and npm publish workflows. This is a GitHub Actions security feature to prevent recursive workflow triggers.

Workaround: After running the release workflow, manually trigger the publish workflows:

# After release workflow completes
gh workflow run publish.yml -f tag=v0.3.25
gh workflow run publish-npm.yml -f tag=v0.3.25

Alternative: Use a Personal Access Token (PAT) in the release workflow instead of GITHUB_TOKEN (not implemented yet, but possible future enhancement).

Troubleshooting

Version Mismatch Error

If you see "version does not match release tag" during npm publish:

# Sync versions
python3 scripts/sync_version.py

# Verify all versions match
grep '"version"' package.json .claude-plugin/package.json
grep '^version' pyproject.toml

Failed PyPI Upload

If PyPI upload fails:

1. Check if the version already exists on PyPI
2. Bump to the next version
3. Delete the failed release and tag
4. Retry with new version

# Delete failed release
gh release delete v0.3.25 --yes

# Delete tag locally and remotely
git tag -d v0.3.25
git push origin :refs/tags/v0.3.25

# Bump version and retry

Failed npm Upload

If npm upload fails:

1. Check npm token is valid
2. Verify package names are available
3. Check package.json structure

# Test npm package locally
cd /tmp
npm pack /path/to/mcpbr
tar -tzf greynewell-mcpbr-*.tgz

Release Draft Not Found

The automated workflow looks for a draft release created by Release Drafter. If none exists:

• The workflow will create a release with basic notes
• You can add custom notes via the release_notes input

Git Push Permission Denied

If the workflow fails to push:

• Ensure GITHUB_TOKEN has contents: write permission
• Check branch protection rules allow the bot to push

Best Practices

1. Always use semantic versioning: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
2. Use automated workflow to avoid manual errors
3. Test releases on TestPyPI/npm dry-run first (if critical)
4. Update CHANGELOG.md if maintained separately
5. Verify publications after release completes
6. Never delete published releases unless absolutely necessary

Examples

Example 1: Bug Fix Release

# PR #290 fixed a Docker TypeError - this is a patch
gh workflow run release.yml -f version_bump=patch
# Result: 0.3.24 → 0.3.25

Example 2: New Feature Release

# Added SWE-Bench Lite support - this is a minor feature
gh workflow run release.yml -f version_bump=minor
# Result: 0.3.24 → 0.4.0

Example 3: Breaking Change Release

# Redesigned CLI interface - breaking change
gh workflow run release.yml \
  -f version_bump=major \
  -f release_notes="⚠️ Breaking: CLI commands have been reorganized. See migration guide."
# Result: 0.3.24 → 1.0.0

Quick Reference

For questions or issues, please open an issue on GitHub.