Land working-tree changes as logical commits — the work grouped by concern, topped by a release commit (version bump, changelog, regenerated artifacts). Verify, commit. Stops at "committed locally on main" — or, when the project releases through a release PR, at "release branch pushed, PR open". No tag, no push to main, no publish: the release-and-publish skill merges, tags, and ships from here. Distilled from the git_wrapup_instructions protocol.
Land working-tree changes as logical commits — the work grouped by concern, topped by a release commit (version bump, changelog, regenerated artifacts). Verify, commit. Stops at "committed locally on main" — or, when the project releases through a release PR, at "release branch pushed, PR open". No tag, no push to main, no publish: the release-and-publish skill merges, tags, and ships from here. Distilled from the git_wrapup_instructions protocol.
Working-tree or staged changes are ready to ship as a new version. This skill lands them as a stack of logical commits — the work grouped by concern, topped by a release commit (version + changelog + tree). It does NOT tag, push to main, or publish — release-and-publish does all three.
Common triggers:
Feature work, bug fixes, or dependency updates are done and tested
A maintenance or polish pass left changes in the working tree
An orchestrator says "wrapup this project"
Release PR mode
A project can route every release through a pull request — one PR per version, for the audit trail and a stable review target. The mode is declared in the project's CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md or in the caller's brief; when neither says anything, there is no release PR and the stack lands on main directly.
Mode
Wrapup ends at
Then
(none — default)
commit stack on main, tree clean
release-and-publish tags HEAD and ships
gated
commit stack on release/<version>, branch pushed, PR open
a review pass on the PR (release-pr-review skill), then a separate release-and-publish run fast-forwards main, tags, and ships
straight-through
same as gated
the same agent continues straight into release-and-publish
The branch is created at wrapup time, never before: work happens on main until the version is known, then the uncommitted tree moves to release/<version> in one step (step 7). The commit stack, the release commit, and the tag format are identical in every mode — the PR adds an artifact around them, it does not change them.
Pre-wrapup gate checklist
Every item must be true before starting wrapup. Committing means releasing — a commit only happens when the work is ready to ship, not just "the edits are done." Each item is a goal to verify.
Changes exist — uncommitted files or commits since the last tag
Work is complete — no half-finished features, no "I'll add the test later," no TODO placeholders. The diff represents a shippable unit.
Code simplified — if the diff spans more than ~50 changed lines or touches 3+ source files, the code-simplifier skill has been run across the changes
bun run devcheck passes — typecheck + lint clean
bun run rebuild succeeds — full clean build from scratch
All tests pass — bun run test:all (or bun run test), plus bun run test:package where the project defines one: it guards the public-export manifest and is not part of test:all. New tests and regression tests added as needed for the changes being shipped.
Fixes verified — bug fixes validated, generally via bun run rebuild and field-testing. Not just written — confirmed to resolve the described behavior.
No known regressions — the changes don't break existing functionality
GH issues updated — issues addressed by this work commented with what landed and any follow-ups needed. Concise. Backlinked as needed.
Docs updated — surgical updates to existing docs as needed. New docs for new features. No large rewrites for documentation that's still accurate.
If any gate is red, fix it before proceeding. This skill re-verifies build + tests in step 6, but starting wrapup on a broken tree wastes the version number and creates a revert-or-amend situation.
Steps
1. Review the diff
Understand what's about to ship before touching version numbers:
git status
git log v<latest-tag>..HEAD --oneline # commits since last release
git diff --stat# uncommitted changes
git diff # review the actual content
If the working tree is clean AND there are no commits since the last tag, halt — nothing to wrap up.
2. Determine the new version
Read the current version from package.json. Apply the intended bump:
New tools, new features, new env vars, behavioral changes
major
Breaking changes to tool schemas, removed tools, incompatible config
Default to patch unless the diff clearly warrants minor or major.
3. Bump version everywhere
Every file that declares a version must be updated. Skip any file that doesn't exist in the project. For @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core projects:
package.json — version
server.json — top-level version AND every packages[].version entry
manifest.json (if present) — version. Verify name is the bare package name (e.g. bls-mcp-server, not @cyanheads/bls-mcp-server)
.claude-plugin/plugin.json and .codex-plugin/plugin.json (if present) — version. Packaging validation fails on a mismatch; .codex-plugin/mcp.json is connection config and carries none
README.md — version badge
CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md — if they pin a version string
Dockerfile — OCI labels if they pin the version
Catch stragglers (replace the placeholder with the actual current version string, e.g. 0.9.7):
Resolve hits case by case — historical changelog entries are correct as-is; everything else should match the new version.
4. Author the changelog
Create changelog/<major.minor>.x/<version>.md. Use changelog/template.md as the format reference — never edit, rename, or move that file.
Frontmatter (required):
---summary:"<one-line headline, ≤350 chars, no markdown>"breaking:false# true if consumers must change code to upgradesecurity:false# true ONLY for a security fix in this server's own source — NOT a dependency/transitive CVE bump (those go under ## Dependencies)---
Write summary: LAST, derived from the body you just wrote — never independently. It is the line most readers see, and it propagates unedited to three further surfaces: the CHANGELOG.md rollup, the GitHub Release body, and the annotated tag (which cannot be edited once pushed). Written from recollection rather than from the body, it reliably names a mechanism that was never built or a target that was never fixed, while the body beside it stays correct. After writing it, re-read the body and confirm every claim in the summary appears there. Derived-from-the-body means the facts come from the body — not that every body item appears: the summary is the tag's theme line, and comma-stitching every change into an inventory near the 350-char cap is the failure mode.
security: is a source-code signal — not a dependency-CVE signal. Set security: true only when this release fixes a vulnerability or adds hardening in code this server ships. A dependency or transitive CVE bump — even one that clears an advisory (bun audit going 1 → 0) — is routine maintenance: record it under ## Dependencies with the advisory ID and leave the flag false. The 🛡️ Security badge answers "does the server itself have a vuln"; a dep bump must not trip it.
Body: Section order follows Keep a Changelog — Added / Changed / Deprecated / Removed / Fixed / Security. Include only sections with entries. Delete empty sections.
Tone: Terse, fact-dense. Bullet = symbol + what changed + at most one consumer-facing caveat; one sentence by default, two max — a bullet past ~40 words or three sentences is wrong. The linked issue carries the why and the commit diff the how; the changelog names what changed and what a consumer does about it. Cut: history/justification narration, design-rationale defense, "X unchanged" clauses (short parenthetical only where a misread is likely), edge-case inventories. Verified ≠ included — the diff-is-source-of-truth rule bounds the truth of what you write, never the amount. Model length on changelog/template.md's authoring guide, never on the previous entry (entries modeled on entries compound). agent-notes carries adoption steps only, never a second rendering of the body; a consequence shared by many bullets is stated once, not per bullet. Full conventions: the authoring guide in changelog/template.md.
5. Regenerate derived artifacts
bun run changelog:build # rebuilds CHANGELOG.md rollup from per-version files
bun run tree # regenerates docs/tree.md — run when files were added, removed, or moved in src/
Both scripts are idempotent — safe to run even if nothing changed.
6. Run the verification gate
The tree being committed must pass verification. Both must succeed:
bun run devcheck
bun run test:all # or `bun run test` if no test:all script exists
bun run test:package # only if the script exists — NOT part of test:all
If either fails, halt. Do not bypass verification to land the commit. Fix the issue first, then re-run from step 6.
7. Commit — group by concern, release artifacts on top
Release PR mode only — move to the release branch first, before the first commit:
git branch --show-current # must be main
git switch -c release/<version> # uncommitted work rides along
Commits never land on main in this mode. If a release/* branch already exists locally, a prior release PR was never merged — halt and report it rather than stacking a second release on top.
Do NOT git add -A into one commit. Group the working tree into a handful of logical commits — never one blob:
The work — one commit per concern. A feature spanning multiple layers splits by layer: runtime/logic, linter/tooling, docs/skills. Unrelated changes (two separate fixes, an incidental doc tweak) are their own commits. Work commits do not carry the version.
The release commit — last, on top. Version bumps (package.json, server.json, manifest.json, the plugin manifests, README badge, CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md), the changelog entry, CHANGELOG.md, and docs/tree.md go in a single final commit that sits on top of the work stack — never mixed into a feature commit.
Stage each group explicitly, commit it, then move to the next — the release commit goes last:
git add <paths-for-this-concern>
git commit -m "<subject>"# repeat per concern; version + changelog + tree are the final commit
The file is the atomic boundary: NEVER split a single file's changes across commits. When one file serves two concerns, it ships whole in the commit of its dominant concern.
Subject format: Conventional Commits.
Work commits (no version): feat: hosted server endpoint, fix: handle empty SPARQL result sets, feat(linter): enrichment contract rules, docs: document the enrichment block
Release commit (subject leads with the version): chore(release): 0.2.1 — empty SPARQL result handling
Body: every commit has one, and it is one or two lines. Uniform across the stack — no commit ships subject-only, none ships a paragraph. One sentence stating the why or the load-bearing constraint, a second only if the first genuinely cannot carry it. Two lines is the hard ceiling.
fix: handle empty SPARQL result sets
Upstream returns 200 with an empty bindings array rather than 404.
Never put a closing keyword in a commit body.Fixes #N, Closes #N, Resolves #N and friends close the issue the moment the commit is pushed — before the close-out comment recording what shipped, so the issue closes with no account of the fix. Reference issues as bare (#N) backlinks in the subject or body; closing is a deliberate later step.
A body is too long the moment it:
enumerates the files, subsystems, or symbols touched — that is git show --stat
walks through how the implementation works — that is the code
narrates a fix's mechanism across multiple sentences — that is the changelog entry
runs to a second paragraph, ever
The changelog carries the depth, the tag carries the headline, the commit carries one line of why. When the body wants to grow, that pressure is telling you the content belongs in the changelog entry.
Rules:
Plain -m flag only — no heredoc, no command substitution
No Co-authored-by or Generated with trailers
No marketing adjectives ("comprehensive", "robust", "enhanced", "seamless", "improved")
Each commit message stands alone for someone reading git log — no chat context, option numbers, or "as discussed"
Right-size it. "Group by concern" is not "always split." A genuinely single-concern change — one fix, a dependency bump, a small doc edit — is one work commit plus the release commit; when the change and its version bump are inseparable for a tiny patch, a single commit whose subject leads with the version is fine. The failure mode to prevent is the inverse: a large, multi-layer feature crammed into one commit alongside the release artifacts.
8. Open the release PR (release PR mode only)
Skip this step entirely when the project has no release PR mode — go to step 9.
Body — always via --body-file, never an inline --body string (backticks inside a double-quoted argument are command substitution and silently vanish). Write the file to a scratch location, not into the repo.
The body is the release digest — the same headline digest the annotated tag will carry, plus a gates record. It is written here, reviewed on the PR, and copied into the tag at release time, so it is the one place the release notes get reviewed before they become permanent. Format:
<theme — the changelog entry's summary: line, plain prose, one line>
## Changes
- <notable user-facing change> (#N)
- <notable user-facing change> (#N)
- <ONE compact grouped line for the minor/internal changes — build config, repo hygiene, metadata>
- deps: `@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core` ^0.10.6 → ^0.10.14 (+ dev-dep bumps)
## Gates
- `bun run devcheck` — clean
- `bun run rebuild` — ok
- `bun run test:all` — <N> passed
- `bun run test:package` — <N> passed (only where the project defines it)
[CHANGELOG v<version>](https://github.com/<OWNER>/<REPO>/blob/main/changelog/<major.minor>.x/<version>.md)
Rules:
## Changes follows the tag rules exactly (release-and-publish step 4): flat bullets, never Keep-a-Changelog section headers; complete at headline granularity — notable changes get their own bullet, minor/internal items share ONE grouped bullet; deps one line max, naming only what earns it; no narrative, no marketing adjectives. Depth lives in the changelog entry, which is in this PR's diff and linked on the last line.
Every claim traces to the diff and to the changelog entry. The body is derived from the entry you authored in step 4, never written independently of it.
## Gates is the one release surface that carries gate results — the exact commands from step 6 with their outcomes. It never enters the tag.
Issue references are bare (#N) backlinks — never a closing keyword (Closes #N, Fixes #N); the merge would close the issue before its close-out comment lands.
Changelog link is the final line, same form as the tag, blank line above it.
Length is earned — a theme, two bullets, gates, and the link is a complete body for a small patch.
If the review pass changes what ships, release-pr-review updates ## Changes and ## Gates to match; release-and-publish then lifts ## Changes plus the final link into the tag verbatim.
Gated mode: halt here. Report the PR URL, the branch, and the commit stack. Do not tag, do not merge, do not touch main. The review pass and release-and-publish run as separate steps after this one.
Straight-through mode: continue directly into release-and-publish.
9. Verify end state
git log --oneline -8 # confirm the commit stack: work commits + release commit on top
git status # must be clean
git tag --points-at HEAD # must print nothing — tagging is release-and-publish's job
git branch --show-current # main, or release/<version> in release PR mode
gh pr view --json number,url,state # release PR mode: OPEN, head = the branch above
If the working tree isn't clean or the release commit isn't at HEAD, something went wrong — investigate before proceeding.
Do NOT tag, push main, or publish. This skill stops here. release-and-publish merges the release branch when there is one, creates the tag, pushes, and publishes.
Constraints
No push to main, no tag, no publish. The only remote writes this skill makes are the release-branch push and the PR create in release PR mode
Never stash. Not for quick checks, not for testing, not for any reason
Never destructive. No git reset --hard, git restore ., git clean -f, git checkout -- ., no force-push
Bash git only. Drive every git operation through the shell
If v<version> already exists as a tag, halt and report the conflict — include the version string, existing tag SHA, and current HEAD SHA so the caller can resolve it. Do not delete or move tags without explicit authorization
Checklist
Diff reviewed end-to-end before version bump
Version bumped in every declaring file (package.json, server.json, manifest.json, .claude-plugin/plugin.json, .codex-plugin/plugin.json, README badge, CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md if they pin a version)
GH issues addressed by this work commented with what landed (if working from GH issues)
Docs updated for any new or changed features
Changelog authored at changelog/<major.minor>.x/<version>.md
CHANGELOG.md rollup regenerated (bun run changelog:build)
docs/tree.md regenerated if structure changed (bun run tree)
bun run devcheck passes
bun run test:all (or test) passes
bun run test:package passes, when the project defines it — it guards the public-export manifest and test:all does not run it
Release PR mode: stack committed on release/<version>, never on main
Work grouped into logical commits (large features split by layer); release artifacts (version + changelog + tree) committed separately on top, subject leading with the version
Every commit carries a body, and every body is one or two lines — none subject-only, none a paragraph
Release PR mode: branch pushed, PR open — title = release commit subject; body = theme line, ## Changes in tag rules, ## Gates, changelog link last (via --body-file, no closing keywords)
Working tree clean
No tag at HEAD, nothing pushed to main — release-and-publish owns both
