publish-deep-yellow

name	publish-deep-yellow
description	Publish a new release of Deep Yellow to itch.io and GitHub. Use when Drew says "let's publish", "release this", "push to itch", or wants to do a full release of the deep_yellow project. Handles export, butler push, git tagging, and GitHub release creation.

Publish Deep Yellow

Full publish workflow for the Deep Yellow Godot game. All commands run from the project root.

Prerequisites

• Must be on master branch with all changes merged
• Previous version tag exists (workflow auto-increments)
• Butler installed at /home/drew/.local/bin/butler
• Godot export presets configured (Linux, Windows Desktop, Web)

Workflow

Step 1: Determine version

cd /home/drew/projects/deep_yellow
git tag --sort=-v:refname | head -1

Ask Drew what version to tag (patch, minor, or major bump), or infer from the scope of changes since last tag.

Step 2: Export all platforms (headless)

cd /home/drew/projects/deep_yellow
godot --headless --export-release "Linux"
godot --headless --export-release "Windows Desktop"
godot --headless --export-release "Web"

Step 3: Push to itch.io with butler

VERSION=v0.X.Y  # from step 1
/home/drew/.local/bin/butler push build/linux aebrer/deep-yellow:linux --userversion $VERSION
/home/drew/.local/bin/butler push build/windows aebrer/deep-yellow:windows --userversion $VERSION
/home/drew/.local/bin/butler push build/web aebrer/deep-yellow:html5 --userversion $VERSION

Step 4: Verify uploads

/home/drew/.local/bin/butler status aebrer/deep-yellow

Step 5: Create tar.gz archives for GitHub release

cd /home/drew/projects/deep_yellow/build
tar czf deep_yellow_${VERSION}_linux.tar.gz -C linux .
tar czf deep_yellow_${VERSION}_windows.tar.gz -C windows .
tar czf deep_yellow_${VERSION}_web.tar.gz -C web .

Step 6: Create git tag and push

cd /home/drew/projects/deep_yellow
git tag $VERSION
git push origin $VERSION

Step 7: Create GitHub release

gh release create $VERSION \
  /home/drew/projects/deep_yellow/build/deep_yellow_${VERSION}_linux.tar.gz \
  /home/drew/projects/deep_yellow/build/deep_yellow_${VERSION}_windows.tar.gz \
  /home/drew/projects/deep_yellow/build/deep_yellow_${VERSION}_web.tar.gz \
  --title "$VERSION — Release Title" \
  --notes "Release notes here"

Use a HEREDOC for multi-line release notes. Include a link to the itch.io page: [aebrer.itch.io/deep-yellow](https://aebrer.itch.io/deep-yellow)

Step 8: Generate itch.io devlog post

Butler can't post devlogs — Drew will paste this manually. Generate a devlog markdown file at /tmp/deep-yellow-devlog-${VERSION}.md for copy-pasting into itch.io.

Process:

1. Read the GitHub release notes just created in Step 7
2. Read the commit log since the previous tag: git log --oneline <prev_tag>..<new_tag>
3. Write a devlog post that:
   • Uses the release title as the heading
   • Rewrites the changelog into player-facing language (not commit messages)
   • Groups changes into sections like "New Features", "Improvements", "Bug Fixes" as appropriate
   • Keeps the tone consistent with previous devlogs (conversational, technical but accessible)
   • Omits internal/chore changes that don't affect players (dead code removal, doc updates, CI changes)
   • Ends with a brief "What's Next" sentence or two if there are obvious open issues to mention
4. Save to /tmp/deep-yellow-devlog-${VERSION}.md
5. Suggest tags for the post

Drew will review, edit if needed, and paste into the itch.io devlog form.

Notes

• Export preset names are case-sensitive: "Linux", "Windows Desktop", "Web"
• Butler uses delta compression — subsequent pushes are fast
• Use absolute paths for gh release create asset arguments
• Archives go in build/ alongside the platform directories
• gh pr edit may fail with GraphQL error — use gh api directly if needed (see CLAUDE.md)