| name | release |
| description | Cut an elfctl release. Use when the user runs /release with a bump level (patch, minor, or major). Computes the next version from the latest git tag, drags the ELFCTL_VERSION macro in elfctl.c along, pushes master, and creates the v-prefixed GitHub release with an oldest-first changelog. |
| argument-hint | patch | minor | major |
/release — cut an elfctl release
Invoked as /release <level>, where <level> is exactly patch, minor, or major.
If the argument is missing or anything else, stop and ask which level.
elfctl release conventions (don't deviate)
- The git tag is the source of truth for the release number, and tags/titles are
v-prefixed (v0.1.0).
- The next version is computed by bumping the latest tag, NOT the source macro —
ELFCTL_VERSION in elfctl.c may already be bumped ahead of the latest tag, so trusting it would skip a number.
- The version lives in
elfctl.c as #define ELFCTL_VERSION "0.1.0" — the bare number (no v), surfaced by elfctl --version. It is dragged along to match the tag.
gh release create makes a lightweight tag; no binary/artifact is attached (the tool is make-built from source).gh release create creates the tag on the remote only — fetch it back afterward so the local tree has it, otherwise git describe keeps reporting the previous tag plus a commit count.- Changelog =
git log --reverse subjects (oldest first) over <latestTag>..HEAD, with the Bump version to ... bump commit filtered out.
Steps
1. Pre-flight. Stop and report if any fails:
- On
master: git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
- Clean tree:
git status --porcelain is empty
- Sync tags from the remote:
git fetch --tags origin — the latest tag is the source of truth, so a stale local tag list would otherwise compute a version that already exists on the remote.
- Builds clean:
make clean && make exits 0 with no warnings.
2. Compute the next version from the latest tag:
level="$1"
latest=$(git tag --list 'v*' --sort=-v:refname | head -1)
if [ -z "$latest" ]; then
next="0.1.0"; tag="v0.1.0"
echo "(no existing tags) -> $tag"
else
IFS=. read -r MA MI PA <<< "${latest#v}"
case "$level" in
major) MA=$((MA+1)); MI=0; PA=0 ;;
minor) MI=$((MI+1)); PA=0 ;;
patch) PA=$((PA+1)) ;;
*) echo "bad level: $level"; exit 1 ;;
esac
next="$MA.$MI.$PA"
tag="v$next"
echo "$latest -> $tag"
fi
Sanity-check the computed tag is free (it should be, after the pre-flight fetch). If it already exists, stop — the local list was stale or $latest is wrong:
git rev-parse -q --verify "refs/tags/$tag" >/dev/null && { echo "tag $tag already exists"; exit 1; }
3. Drag the version macro along. Read the current value:
cur=$(sed -n 's/.*ELFCTL_VERSION "\(.*\)".*/\1/p' elfctl.c)
If $cur does NOT already equal $next, update the macro in elfctl.c to $next, rebuild to confirm elfctl --version prints $next, then commit exactly:
git commit -am "Bump version to $next"
If it already equals $next (it may be pre-bumped), skip this commit — don't create an empty one.
4. Preview & confirm — this step is outward-facing, so pause here. Show the user $latest -> $tag and the changelog preview:
git log --reverse --pretty='- %s' "$latest"..HEAD | grep -v '^- Bump version to '
(For the first release, with no $latest, preview the whole history: git log --reverse --pretty='- %s'.)
Wait for the user's go-ahead before pushing/releasing.
5. Push & create the release:
git push origin master
notes=$(git log --reverse --pretty='- %s' "$latest"..HEAD | grep -v '^- Bump version to ')
gh release create "$tag" --target master --title "$tag" --notes "$notes"
6. Fetch the new tag back. gh release create made the tag on the remote only, so pull it down so git describe resolves to the just-cut tag (not the previous one + commit count):
git fetch --tags origin
git describe --tags
7. Report the release URL that gh prints.
