release-readiness-check

name	release-readiness-check
description	Use before cutting a release to verify tags, affected crates, gates, binaries, and target remote. Symptoms - you are about to tag a release, create a GitHub release, or automate publishing and want to catch the obvious failures before mutating history.

Release Readiness Check

When to Use

Use this right before a release commit, tag, or automated workflow run. It is a preflight that checks whether the repo is clean, the intended version is valid, the tag is unused, and the validation gates are green.

Commands

# Verify branch, worktree, and remotes
 git status --short --branch
 git remote -v
 git branch -vv

# Check version/tag availability
 git describe --tags --abbrev=0 --match 'v*'
 git rev-parse "v<version>" 2>/dev/null || true
 git ls-remote --tags <remote> "refs/tags/v<version>"

# Run release gates
 cargo fmt --all --check
 cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
 cargo nextest run --workspace

Rules

• Do not cut a release from a dirty worktree unless the release process itself is expected to create the only changes.
• Verify tag availability both locally and on the target remote.
• Confirm the intended target remote before pushing tags.
• Check affected crates before choosing which versions to bump.

Common Failures

Symptom	Fix
Release fails because the tag already exists	Check local and remote tags before committing the bump
Release automation mutates the wrong branch	Verify current branch and remote tracking first
Last-minute clippy failure breaks the release	Run the full release gates before tagging