Post Release Status

post-release-status

Post or update a top-level Slack message that tracks the status of all cherry-picked PRs for a release branch.

Configuration

This skill reads environment-specific values from environment variables (see the repo README.md):

• SLACK_BOT_TOKEN — Slack bot token with channels:history, channels:read, chat:write, and chat:update OAuth scopes.
• INTERNAL_REPO — owner/repo that holds your release branches and cherry-pick PRs.
• REPO_DIR — absolute path to your local checkout of INTERNAL_REPO.
• RELEASE_SLACK_CHANNEL — Slack channel name (or ID) to post the status in.
• RELEASE_CHANNELS — space-separated release channels used to derive the channel label from a branch (default preview stable).
• STATUS_EMOJI_IN_REVIEW / STATUS_EMOJI_MERGED / STATUS_EMOJI_VERIFIED — Slack emoji for each PR status (defaults :large_yellow_square: / :merged: / :verified:).

All git/gh operations run inside INTERNAL_REPO. Run cd "$REPO_DIR" before executing any git or gh commands.

Step 1: Clarify inputs

Before proceeding, ensure you have:

• Release branch: The full release branch name (e.g. stable_release/v0.YYYY.MM.DD.HH.MM.stable_NN). This can be provided in one of three ways:
  1. The user gives it directly.
  2. The user gives a cherry-pick PR URL — deduce the branch from the PR's base branch:

     gh pr view <PR_NUMBER> --repo "$INTERNAL_REPO" --json baseRefName --jq '.baseRefName'
     

  3. If neither is provided, ask the user for the release branch or a PR URL.
• Slack channel ID: The Slack channel to post in (defaults to $RELEASE_SLACK_CHANNEL; a channel ID looks like C0123456789). If you only have a channel name, resolve it:

  curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
    "https://slack.com/api/conversations.list?types=public_channel,private_channel&limit=200" | \
    jq -r --arg name "$RELEASE_SLACK_CHANNEL" '.channels[] | select(.name == $name) | .id'
  

Derive the channel (one of $RELEASE_CHANNELS) and version string from the branch name for display.

If $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN is not set, ask the user for it before proceeding.

Step 2: Find cherry-pick PRs

List all PRs targeting the release branch:

gh pr list --repo "$INTERNAL_REPO" --base $BRANCH_NAME --state all --json number,title,url,state --limit 100

Each PR will have:

• state: OPEN or MERGED
• number, title, url: for display

Step 3: Look for an existing status message

Search the Slack channel for the most recent message matching this release:

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.history?channel=<SLACK_CHANNEL_ID>&limit=50" | \
  jq '[.messages[] | select(.text | test("<VERSION_OR_BRANCH_PATTERN>"))] | first | {ts, text}'

Use a pattern that matches the release version or branch name in the message text (e.g. the version string from Step 1).

If a matching message is found:

• Save its ts for updating later.
• Parse the message to find previously tracked PRs and their statuses. Look for these emoji patterns:
  • $STATUS_EMOJI_IN_REVIEW (default :large_yellow_square:) → in review
  • $STATUS_EMOJI_MERGED (default :merged:) → merged
  • $STATUS_EMOJI_VERIFIED (default :verified:) → verified
• Preserve $STATUS_EMOJI_VERIFIED status — do not downgrade a verified PR back to merged.

If no matching message is found: proceed with current GitHub state only.

Step 4: Determine final PR statuses

For each cherry-pick PR, determine the display status:

1. If the PR was $STATUS_EMOJI_VERIFIED in the previous message → keep as $STATUS_EMOJI_VERIFIED
2. Else if the PR state is MERGED on GitHub → $STATUS_EMOJI_MERGED
3. Else if the PR state is OPEN on GitHub → $STATUS_EMOJI_IN_REVIEW

Step 5: Format the message

Use Slack Block Kit so the release name renders as a true header (larger text). Build a blocks JSON array and a plain-text text fallback (used for notifications and for searching in Step 3):

[
  {
    "type": "header",
    "text": {
      "type": "plain_text",
      "text": "<version> <channel> release"
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "section",
    "text": {
      "type": "mrkdwn",
      "text": "• :large_yellow_square: <https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/pull/123|PR #123> — <title>\n• :merged: <https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/pull/456|PR #456> — <title>\n• :verified: <https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/pull/789|PR #789> — <title>"
    }
  }
]

Also set TEXT_FALLBACK to the plain version of the title (e.g. "v0.YYYY.MM.DD stable release") — this is used for notifications and for the search pattern in Step 3.

Use Slack mrkdwn hyperlink format in the section block: <URL|display text>.

Step 6: Post or update the message

If updating an existing message (message ts found in Step 3):

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data "$(jq -n \
    --arg channel "<SLACK_CHANNEL_ID>" \
    --arg ts "<EXISTING_MESSAGE_TS>" \
    --arg text "$TEXT_FALLBACK" \
    --argjson blocks "$BLOCKS_JSON" \
    '{channel: $channel, ts: $ts, text: $text, blocks: $blocks}')" \
  "https://slack.com/api/chat.update" | jq '{ok, ts, error}'

If posting a new message:

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data "$(jq -n \
    --arg channel "<SLACK_CHANNEL_ID>" \
    --arg text "$TEXT_FALLBACK" \
    --argjson blocks "$BLOCKS_JSON" \
    '{channel: $channel, text: $text, blocks: $blocks}')" \
  "https://slack.com/api/chat.postMessage" | jq '{ok, ts, error}'

Step 7: Confirm

Share the permalink with the user:

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/chat.getPermalink?channel=<SLACK_CHANNEL_ID>&message_ts=<MESSAGE_TS>" | \
  jq -r '.permalink'

Notes

• The message is always a top-level message, not a thread reply.
• When updating, PR statuses are refreshed from GitHub, but $STATUS_EMOJI_VERIFIED statuses are preserved from the previous message.
• If the API returns ok: false, check the error field. Common errors: not_in_channel, missing_scope, message_not_found.
• To manually mark a PR as verified, the user can ask to update a specific PR's status.