create-release

name	create-release
description	Create a GitHub release for hyAway by updating the changelog and tagging commits. Use when user wants to "release", "publish", "tag a version", or "create a release". Handles changelog updates and git tagging with date format (v2026.01.28).

Create Release

Create releases with changelog entry and git tag.

Tag Format

vYYYY.MM.DD (e.g., v2026.01.28)

Process

1. Update changelog for today's date in docs/changelog.md
2. Commit if there are uncommitted changes
3. Push branch first: git push (important: push before tagging!)
4. Tag: git tag -m "Release v2026.01.28" v2026.01.28
5. Push tag: git push origin v2026.01.28

Why push before tagging? git push --follow-tags only pushes tags pointing to commits in the push range. If HEAD is already on remote, the tag won't be included. Pushing branch first, then tagging and pushing the tag separately avoids this issue.

Once the tag reaches the remote, it triggers:

• GitHub release with changelog content extracted
• Docker image tagged ghcr.io/hyaway/hyaway:v2026.01.28

Commands

# Verify changelog date matches release tag
rg "^## 2026-01-28$" docs/changelog.md

# Check whether the tag already exists locally or remotely
git tag --list v2026.01.28
git ls-remote --tags origin refs/tags/v2026.01.28

# Push branch first
git push

# Create release tag with a message
git tag -m "Release v2026.01.28" v2026.01.28

# Push the tag
git push origin v2026.01.28

# Tag specific commit
git tag -m "Release v2026.01.28" v2026.01.28 <commit-hash>

# Verify remote tag
git ls-remote --tags origin refs/tags/v2026.01.28

# Delete tag (if needed to redo)
git tag -d v2026.01.28
git push origin :refs/tags/v2026.01.28

Important

• Changelog entry date must match tag: v2026.01.28 expects ## 2026-01-28
• Tag must point to commit containing the changelog entry
• This repo may have tag.gpgSign=true; plain git tag vYYYY.MM.DD can fail with fatal: no tag message?. Use git tag -m "Release vYYYY.MM.DD" vYYYY.MM.DD so signed or annotated tag configuration has an explicit message.
• Check both local and remote tags before creating a release tag, because the local tag may be absent even if the release already exists on origin.
• Old commits (before workflow existed) need manual dispatch via GitHub Actions UI