Release

Plugin Releases

Every plugin version bump that lands on master ships with a GitHub release. The release notes are the plugin's changelog — there are no CHANGELOG.md files (see docs/adr/0005). A pushed version bump without a release is an incomplete ship.

When to Release

• After every push to master, check the pushed range for plugin version bumps; create one release per plugin whose version changed.
• The user's authorization to push covers release creation — do not ask a second time.
• Repo-level changes that bump no plugin version (ADRs, root docs, .dev/ tooling, this skill) get no release.
• Several plugins bumped in one push → one release each.

Identify What to Release

1. Find bumped plugins in the pushed range: git diff <old-origin-head>..origin/master -- '*/plugin.json'. When the old head is unknown, compare each plugin's plugin.json version against its latest <plugin>-v* tag from gh release list.
2. For each bumped plugin, resolve:
   • the pushed commit that changed its plugin.json version — the release target
   • the previous release tag <plugin>-v*, if any — the notes range and compare-link anchor
3. Collect source material: git log <prev-tag>..<target> -- plugins/<name>/ plus the diff of that range. For a first release, use the commits of the bump itself.

Tag and Title Scheme

• Tag — <plugin>-v<X.Y.Z>, e.g. the-coder-v1.5.0
• Title — <plugin> v<X.Y.Z>, e.g. the-coder v1.5.0
• Target — the pushed commit that landed the version bump, as its full 40-character SHA. GitHub rejects an abbreviated SHA with HTTP 422 Validation Failed and the misleading trio tag_name is not a valid tag, Release.target_commitish is invalid, Published releases must have a valid tag. Resolve it with git rev-parse <short-sha>; a branch name also works.
• Never run git tag — gh release create creates the tag on the remote at publish time.

Release Notes

Written for people who install the plugin, not for repo contributors.

Invoke the-writer:humanize before drafting. All release prose — the lead sentence and every bullet — is written in its writing mode and passes its self-audit before gh release create. If the skill is unavailable, ask the user to install the the-writer plugin before proceeding.

• Lead with one sentence stating what the release is about.
• Segment by changed component, one ### section per component: ### `<name>` skill, ### `<name>` output style — same pattern for hooks, commands, and agents. A plugin bumps its version even when a single component moved; the segments tell the installer exactly which parts did.
• Plugin-wide changes that belong to no component (README, packaging, licensing) go under a final ### Plugin section.
• Within a segment, prefix each bullet with its change type in bold — **Added:**, **Changed:**, **Fixed:**, **Removed:** — ordered Added → Changed → Fixed → Removed.
• Each bullet states the change and, where not obvious, why it matters to a plugin user.
• Distill from commit messages and the diff. Never paste a commit list, shortlog, or auto-generated notes.
• No session artifacts (test counts, CI status) and no repo-internal jargon that means nothing to an installer.
• End with a compare link when a previous tag exists: **Full diff:** https://github.com/xobotyi/cc-foundry/compare/<prev-tag>...<new-tag>
• First release of a plugin: no compare link; notes cover this version's changes only, not the plugin's history.

Example

Sharpens commit-message validation and adds trailer support.

### `commit-message` skill

- **Added:** `Task:` and `Refs:` trailer validation — malformed trailers now fail validation instead of landing
  silently.
- **Changed:** subject-length limit aligned with git conventions: 50 soft / 72 hard (was a flat 72).

### `commit` skill

- **Fixed:** validator crashed on commit messages containing unescaped backticks.

**Full diff:** https://github.com/xobotyi/cc-foundry/compare/git-commit-v1.1.3...git-commit-v1.1.4

Create the Release

Write the notes to a scratchpad file first — --notes-file avoids shell-quoting damage:

gh release create <plugin>-v<X.Y.Z> \
  --target <bump-commit-sha> \
  --title "<plugin> v<X.Y.Z>" \
  --notes-file <path-to-notes.md>

• To stage a release for user review, add --draft (visible to collaborators only; the tag is created at publish, not at draft creation). Publish with gh release edit <tag> --draft=false — re-set --target to the bump commit first if the draft was created before the push.

Verify

• gh release view <tag> — confirm title, target, and notes.
• Cross-check: every plugin bumped in the pushed range has a release; plugin.json version equals the latest tag.