Release Notes

Release Notes

Instructions

When this skill is invoked with a version number (e.g., /release-notes UP-V33.5 or /release-notes 33.5), create complete release documentation for that version.

Usage

/release-notes UP-V33.5        # Full version tag format
/release-notes 33.5             # Short format (UP-V prefix added automatically)

Steps

Phase 1: Gather Information

1. Parse Arguments:

   • Extract the version number from the command arguments
   • Accept either UP-V33.5 or 33.5 format
   • Normalize to version number 33.5 for internal use and UP-V33.5 for display
   • The filename format uses dashes: up-v33-5.md (NOT dots)
   • If no version is provided, ask the user to provide one

2. Validate Environment:

   • Check that the following environment variables are set:
     • JIRA_EMAIL - User's Jira email for authentication
     • JIRA_API_TOKEN - API token for Jira authentication
     • JIRA_BASE_URL - Base URL of the Jira instance
   • Verify GitHub CLI is authenticated: gh auth status
   • If any are missing, inform the user which variables need to be configured

3. Find the GitHub Milestone:

   • Look up the milestone by title UP-V{version}:

     gh api "/repos/UCEAP/myeap2/milestones?state=all&per_page=100" --jq '.[] | select(.title == "UP-V{version}")'
     

   • Extract the milestone number and the list of PRs:

     gh api "/repos/UCEAP/myeap2/issues?milestone={milestone_number}&state=closed&per_page=100" --jq '.[] | select(.pull_request != null) | {number, title}'
     

   • If the milestone is not found, inform the user and stop

4. Find the Jira Release:

   • Query Jira for the project versions:

     curl -s -X GET \
       -H "Accept: application/json" \
       -u "${JIRA_EMAIL}:${JIRA_API_TOKEN}" \
       "${JIRA_BASE_URL}/rest/api/3/project/UP/versions"
     

   • Find the version entry matching UP-V{version} and extract its id
   • Construct the Jira release URL: https://uceapit.atlassian.net/projects/UP/versions/{id}/tab/release-report-all-issues
   • If the Jira release is not found, the Jira Release link can be omitted from the release notes

5. Find the Deployment Ticket:

   • Search Jira for the deployment ticket using JQL:

     curl -s -X GET \
       -H "Accept: application/json" \
       -u "${JIRA_EMAIL}:${JIRA_API_TOKEN}" \
       "${JIRA_BASE_URL}/rest/api/3/search?jql=project%20%3D%20UP%20AND%20summary%20~%20%22PRODUCTION%20DEPLOYMENT%20V{version}%22&fields=summary"
     

   • The deployment ticket naming is inconsistent. The summary may match any of these patterns:
     • PRODUCTION DEPLOYMENT V{version} {title}
     • V{version} PRODUCTION DEPLOYMENT {title}
     • PRODUCTION DEPLOYMENT V{version}: {title}
   • Extract the release title — the descriptive text after the version pattern (e.g., "Academics and Finance Requests")
   • If no deployment ticket is found, use the AskUserQuestion tool to ask the user for a descriptive release title

6. Fetch Jira Ticket Titles:

   • For each PR in the milestone whose title contains a Jira ticket reference (UP-XXXX), extract the ticket ID
   • Fetch the Jira ticket summary for each unique ticket:

     curl -s -X GET \
       -H "Accept: application/json" \
       -u "${JIRA_EMAIL}:${JIRA_API_TOKEN}" \
       "${JIRA_BASE_URL}/rest/api/3/issue/UP-{number}?fields=summary"
     

   • Cache the results so each ticket is only fetched once (some PRs reference the same ticket)

7. Categorize PRs:

   • Split PRs into three groups:

   Excluded (do not include in release notes):

   • Version bump PRs: title contains Bump version to
   • Release merge PRs: title matches UP-V{version} exactly, or UP-V{version} part followed by a number

   Features & Fixes (PRs with Jira ticket references):

   • PR title contains UP-XXXX
   • Use the Jira ticket summary as the description (not the PR title)
   • Link format: [UP-XXXX](https://uceapit.atlassian.net/browse/UP-XXXX) Jira summary ([#YYYY](https://github.com/UCEAP/myeap2/pull/YYYY))
   • If multiple PRs reference the same Jira ticket, combine them into one entry with multiple PR links

   Infrastructure & Maintenance (everything else):

   • Use the PR title as the description

   • Link format: PR title ([#YYYY](https://github.com/UCEAP/myeap2/pull/YYYY))

   • If the milestone has very few non-excluded PRs (e.g., only meta PRs), inform the user and ask whether to examine the git diff between the previous tag and the new tag commit to find additional changes

8. Cross-Reference Jira Release and GitHub Milestone:

   • If the Jira release was found (step 4), fetch all issues tagged with that fixVersion:

     curl -s -X GET \
       -H "Accept: application/json" \
       -u "${JIRA_EMAIL}:${JIRA_API_TOKEN}" \
       "${JIRA_BASE_URL}/rest/api/3/search?jql=project%20%3D%20UP%20AND%20fixVersion%20%3D%20%22UP-V{version}%22&fields=key,summary&maxResults=100"
     

   • Build two sets:
     • Jira tickets in the release: all ticket keys from the Jira fixVersion query above
     • Jira tickets referenced by PRs: all UP-XXXX ticket IDs extracted from PR titles in the GitHub milestone (from step 3)
   • Exclude the deployment ticket (from step 5) from both sets — it is expected to be in Jira but not have a PR
   • Compare the two sets and report discrepancies:
     • Jira tickets with no corresponding PR: tickets in the Jira release that are not referenced by any PR in the milestone. Use AskUserQuestion to present the list and ask the user how to proceed (e.g., the ticket may need a PR, may be documentation-only, or may have been tagged with the wrong fixVersion)
     • PR tickets not in the Jira release: tickets referenced by milestone PRs that are not in the Jira fixVersion. Use AskUserQuestion to present the list and ask the user how to proceed (e.g., the Jira ticket may need its fixVersion updated, or the PR title may reference the wrong ticket)
   • If there are no discrepancies, report that the Jira release and GitHub milestone are in sync and continue
   • If the Jira release was not found (step 4), skip this step

Phase 2: Generate Documentation (on qa branch, before merge)

9. Create MkDocs Page:

   • Write the release notes file at docs/reference/version-history/up-v{version-with-dashes}.md
   • Version dashes: replace dots with dashes (e.g., 33.5 becomes 33-5, so filename is up-v33-5.md)
   • Use this exact format (H1 and H2 headings for MkDocs):

   # UP-V{version}: {title}
   
   **Milestone:** [UP-V{version}](https://github.com/UCEAP/myeap2/milestone/{number}?closed=1)
   | **Jira Release:** [UP-V{version}](https://uceapit.atlassian.net/projects/UP/versions/{jira_version_id}/tab/release-report-all-issues)
   
   ## Features & Fixes
   
   - [UP-XXXX](https://uceapit.atlassian.net/browse/UP-XXXX) Jira ticket summary ([#YYYY](https://github.com/UCEAP/myeap2/pull/YYYY))
   - ...
   
   ## Infrastructure & Maintenance
   
   - PR title ([#YYYY](https://github.com/UCEAP/myeap2/pull/YYYY))
   - ...
   

   • If one section has no entries, omit that section entirely
   • If Jira Release was not found, omit the Jira Release line (keep only the Milestone line, without the | separator)

10. Update Index and Navigation:

    • Index file (docs/reference/version-history/index.md):

      • Add the new version as the first data row in the table (after the header row)
      • Determine the current month and year for the Date column
      • Format: | [UP-V{version}](up-v{dashed}.md) | [{title}](up-v{dashed}.md) | [{Month Year}](up-v{dashed}.md) |

    • mkdocs.yml:

      • Add the new version entry immediately after the - Overview: line under Version History
      • Format: - UP-V{version}: reference/version-history/up-v{dashed}.md
      • Maintain descending order (newest first, right after Overview)

11. Build Docs:

    • Run the documentation compiler to verify the new page works:

      composer compile-docs
      

    • If the build fails, diagnose and fix the issue before proceeding

12. Commit Release Notes to qa:

    • Ensure you are on the qa branch
    • Stage the new/modified files:

      git add docs/reference/version-history/up-v{dashed}.md docs/reference/version-history/index.md mkdocs.yml
      

    • Commit:

      git commit -m "UP-V{version} release notes"
      

    • Push to remote:

      git push origin qa
      

13. Create Release PR:

    • Create a pull request to merge qa into master:

      gh pr create --base master --head qa \
        --title "UP-V{version}" \
        --body "Release UP-V{version}: {title}"
      

    • Tell the user to review, approve, and merge this PR before continuing
    • STOP HERE and wait for the user to confirm the PR has been merged before proceeding to Phase 3. Use the AskUserQuestion tool to ask the user to confirm when the merge is complete.

Phase 3: Tag & Release (after merge to master)

14. Identify the Tag Commit:

    • First, check if the tag already exists:

      git tag -l "UP-V{version}"
      

    • If the tag already exists, skip tag creation (step 15) and use the existing tag
    • If the tag does not exist, fetch the latest master and find the merge commit:

      git fetch origin master
      git log origin/master --merges --first-parent --format="%H %s" | head -5
      

    • The most recent merge commit should be the release PR just merged
    • Present the candidate commit to the user for confirmation using AskUserQuestion
    • The commit message typically looks like: Merge pull request #XXXX from UCEAP/qa

15. Create Annotated Git Tag:

    • Skip this step if the tag already exists (detected in step 14)
    • Create the tag at the confirmed commit:

      git tag -a UP-V{version} {sha} -m "Release UP-V{version}"
      

    • Push the tag to the remote:

      git push origin UP-V{version}
      

16. Create GitHub Release:

    • Check if a GitHub Release already exists for this tag:

      gh release view UP-V{version} 2>/dev/null
      

    • If it already exists, ask the user whether to overwrite it or skip
    • Create the release (note: GitHub Releases use ## and ### headings, not # and ##):

      gh release create UP-V{version} \
        --title "UP-V{version}: {title}" \
        --latest \
        --notes "$(cat <<'EOF'
      ## Features & Fixes
      
      - [UP-XXXX](https://uceapit.atlassian.net/browse/UP-XXXX) Jira ticket summary ([#YYYY](https://github.com/UCEAP/myeap2/pull/YYYY))
      
      ## Infrastructure & Maintenance
      
      - PR title ([#YYYY](https://github.com/UCEAP/myeap2/pull/YYYY))
      EOF
      )"
      

    • Note the heading level difference: GitHub Release notes use ## and ###, while MkDocs pages use # and ##

17. Report:

    • Display a summary of everything that was created:
      • Git tag: UP-V{version} at {sha}
      • MkDocs page: docs/reference/version-history/up-v{dashed}.md
      • GitHub Release: link to the release
      • Index updated: docs/reference/version-history/index.md
      • Nav updated: mkdocs.yml

Error Handling

• If the GitHub milestone is not found, stop and inform the user
• If Jira API calls fail, display the error and continue with available data (use PR titles as fallback)
• If gh auth status fails, inform the user to authenticate with gh auth login
• If composer compile-docs fails, show the error output and ask the user how to proceed

Notes

• Jira API v3 must be used (not v2) — all Jira endpoints use /rest/api/3/
• The deployment ticket naming is inconsistent across releases; the skill handles multiple patterns
• Version filenames always use dashes: up-v33-5.md (never up-v33.5.md)
• GitHub Release notes use ## headings; MkDocs pages use # headings — do not mix these up
• If a milestone has very few substantive PRs, the release may have been deployed without a full milestone — check the git diff for the actual changes
• Multiple PRs may reference the same Jira ticket; combine them into a single entry with multiple PR links