Git Release

Git Release

Turn a set of merged changes into a clean, tagged release: collect what changed, pick the right version, and produce the exact commands to cut it. Pairs well with the gh-cli skill.

What I do

• Draft release notes from the commits/PRs since the last tag.
• Recommend a SemVer bump (major / minor / patch) from the change types.
• Provide copy-pasteable git tag and gh release create commands.

When to use me

Use this when you are preparing a tagged release, drafting a changelog, or the user asks to "cut a release", "bump the version", or "publish a new version".

Step 1: Establish the baseline

git fetch --tags --force
git describe --tags --abbrev=0        # most recent tag, e.g. v1.3.0
git log <last-tag>..HEAD --oneline    # commits since that tag

If there is no prior tag, use the repository's first commit as the baseline (git log --oneline) and start at v0.1.0 (or v1.0.0 for a first stable release).

Step 2: Decide the version (SemVer)

Inspect the Conventional Commit types since the last tag and pick the highest applicable bump:

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH — incrementing major resets minor and patch to 0; incrementing minor resets patch to 0. Pre-1.0 projects may treat feat as patch and BREAKING CHANGE as minor — match the project's existing cadence.

Step 3: Draft the release notes

Group changes by type, newest first, and link PRs/issues:

## v1.4.0 — 2026-01-15

### Features
- add OAuth2 device-code login (#123)

### Fixes
- guard against null user before serializing (#130)

### Docs
- clarify skill auto-discovery paths (#128)

Prefer letting GitHub generate a first draft, then edit it:

gh release create v1.4.0 --generate-notes --draft

--generate-notes builds notes from merged PRs and the configured .github/release.yml categories; --draft lets you review before publishing.

Step 4: Tag and publish

# Annotated tag on the release commit
git tag -a v1.4.0 -m "v1.4.0"

# Push the tag to the remote
git push origin v1.4.0

# Create the GitHub release (the tag is created if it does not exist yet)
gh release create v1.4.0 --title "v1.4.0" --notes-file RELEASE_NOTES.md
# or attach build artifacts:
gh release create v1.4.0 ./dist/*.tar.gz --title "v1.4.0" --generate-notes

Pre-releases

For alpha/beta/rc releases, use --prerelease and SemVer pre-release labels:

gh release create v2.0.0-beta.1 --prerelease --title "v2.0.0-beta.1" --generate-notes

Pre-flight (dry run)

Before publishing, verify the release will look right:

gh release create v1.4.0 --generate-notes --draft   # draft first, review in browser
gh release view v1.4.0 --json tagName,name,body      # inspect before publishing

Note: some sandboxed environments cannot run git push. In that case push the tag/commits via the available PR / report-progress workflow rather than git push --tags directly.

Step 5: Verify

gh release view v1.4.0
gh release list --limit 5

Safety

• Never reuse or move an existing tag — pick the next unused version.
• Treat gh release create / gh release delete as mutating; confirm the target repo (-R OWNER/REPO) and tag before running.
• Keep the tag, the changelog heading, and any manifest version (e.g. package.json) in agreement.