Release Skills

Release Skills

Execute a release using Nx Release for independent plugin versioning.

Pre-flight Checks

1. Check working tree is clean:

   git status --porcelain
   

   If not clean, stop and report dirty files.

2. Check we're on main branch:

   git branch --show-current
   

   Must be main.

3. Ensure local is up to date with remote:

   git fetch origin
   git status -sb
   

   If behind, run git pull --rebase.

4. Check for unreleased changes:

   pnpm nx release --dry-run
   

   This will show which plugins have unreleased commits.

Release Process

Option 1: Release All Changed Plugins (Recommended)

# Interactive release - prompts for version bump per plugin
pnpm nx release

This will:

1. Run validation (cached, fast)
2. Prompt for version bump for each changed plugin (major/minor/patch)
3. Update package.json files
4. Generate project-level CHANGELOG.md files
5. Sync marketplace.json (via postChangelogCommand hook)
6. Create commit: chore(release): plugin-name@version
7. Create git tags: plugin-name@version
8. Push to GitHub
9. Create GitHub releases with changelog content
10. Prompt to publish (if needed)

Option 2: Release Specific Version

# Automatically bump to specific version for all changed plugins
pnpm nx release patch   # or minor, major

Option 3: Release Specific Plugins

# Release only specific plugins
pnpm nx release --projects=solana,gh-cli

Option 4: Preview First (Dry Run)

# See what would happen without making changes
pnpm nx release --dry-run

Non-Interactive Mode (Claude Code / CI)

To bypass interactive prompts:

• Version specifier (minor/patch/major) - bypasses version prompt
• --first-release - required for new plugins at version 0.0.0

Publishing is disabled in nx.json ("publish": false), so no publish flags needed.

# Example: patch release
pnpm nx release patch --projects=plugin-name

# Example: first release of a new plugin
pnpm nx release minor --projects=new-plugin --first-release

If pre-commit hooks modify files and the commit fails, stage changes and commit manually, then create tags and GitHub releases.

Post-Release

After the release completes, Nx will:

• ✅ Create version commits
• ✅ Create git tags (pattern: plugin-name@version)
• ✅ Push commits and tags to GitHub
• ✅ Create GitHub releases with changelog content (as drafts initially)

Publish GitHub Releases:

If releases are created as drafts, publish them:

# List draft releases
gh release list --limit 10

# Publish a draft release
gh release edit plugin-name@version --draft=false

Report summary: List all released packages with their versions and links to GitHub releases.

Release Configuration

All release configuration is in nx.json:

• Independent versioning: Each plugin has its own version
• Git tags: {projectName}@{version} pattern
• Changelogs: Generated in each plugin's CHANGELOG.md
• GitHub releases: Automatic with changelog content
• Validation: Runs before versioning (cached)
• Marketplace sync: Automatic via postChangelogCommand

Error Handling

• If any step fails, Nx will stop immediately and report the error
• Do NOT force push or skip any checks
• If validation fails, fix the issues before releasing
• Nx creates one commit per release, with all version changes

Important Notes

• Nx Release uses conventional commits to generate changelogs
• Tags follow the pattern: plugin-name@version (e.g., solana@0.3.0)
• GitHub releases are created automatically from CHANGELOG content
• Local caching makes repeated validation instant
• Affected detection only releases plugins with changes since last tag

Common Commands

# Release workflow (full)
pnpm nx release

# Just version (no publish)
pnpm nx release version

# Just changelog (after versioning)
pnpm nx release changelog

# Just publish (after versioning)
pnpm nx release publish

# Target specific plugins
pnpm nx release --projects=solana

# Preview without changes
pnpm nx release --dry-run