Release Cut

Release Cut

Bump the version, generate a changelog, tag, and publish a GitHub release for shipctl.

Inputs

• Target version (semver, e.g. 1.2.0 or patch/minor/major)
• Release channel (defaults to stable; pre for release candidates)
• Skip binary attach? (boolean, defaults to false)

Steps

1. Verify the working tree is clean

   git status --porcelain
   

   If dirty, commit or stash before proceeding.

2. Run the full test suite

   cargo test --workspace
   

   Abort if any test fails.

3. Run the breaking-change audit (invoke the breaking-change-audit skill) Confirms no accidental public-interface regressions before tagging.

4. Bump the version

   # For Rust:
   cargo set-version {version}   # or edit Cargo.toml manually
   # For Go:
   # Update version constant in cmd/root.go
   

   Commit the version bump:

   git commit -am "chore(release): bump version to {version}"
   

5. Generate the changelog

   scripts/release-cut.sh --changelog-only {version}
   

   Review CHANGELOG.md — edit entries if the generated text is unclear. Commit: git commit -am "docs(changelog): {version} release notes"

6. Create and push the tag

   git tag -a "v{version}" -m "Release v{version}"
   git push origin "v{version}"
   

7. Trigger cross-compile and attach binaries The CI matrix builds all registered target triples (see cross-compile-matrix skill). Wait for the release workflow to complete:

   gh run watch --exit-status
   

8. Draft the GitHub release

   gh release create "v{version}" \
     --title "v{version}" \
     --notes-file CHANGELOG.md \
     --draft
   

   Review the draft, then publish:

   gh release edit "v{version}" --draft=false
   

9. Announce (if applicable) Post in the team channel: title, key changes, install command:

   cargo install shipctl --version {version}
   

Conventions

• Version tags always use the v prefix: v1.2.0, not 1.2.0
• Changelog entries follow the Keep a Changelog format (Added / Changed / Deprecated / Removed / Fixed / Security)
• Release candidates are tagged v1.2.0-rc.1
• Binary naming: shipctl-{version}-{target}.tar.gz
• Dry-run: scripts/release-cut.sh --dry-run {version} prints the plan without side effects

Edge Cases

• Tag already exists: Delete the local tag, investigate what was released, never force-push a tag that CI has already processed.
• Changelog is empty: Check that commits follow conventional format (feat:, fix:, etc.); if the log is legitimately empty, write a manual entry.
• Binary attach fails: Re-run gh release upload "v{version}" dist/*.tar.gz; check that the CI artifact paths match what the release workflow uploads.
• Yanked release: Use gh release delete "v{version}" + git push origin --delete "v{version}"; never publish a replacement under the same tag.