release

name	release
description	Cut and publish a release. Does CHANGELOG prep, version bumps, PR creation, CI, tagging, and publishing.

Release

Overview

1. Analyze CHANGELOG and git history to prepare release
2. Suggest missing CHANGELOG entries from git log
3. Determine version bump type (major/minor/patch)
4. Run scripts/release.py with the determined bump type

Step 0: Check out main

git checkout main && git pull

Step 1: Ensure CHANGELOG Has ## next Section

If no ## next section exists, create one at the top of the changelog (after the header):

## next

- [entries go here]

Step 2: Analyze CHANGELOG for Missing Entries

Before releasing, review git history for commits since the last release that aren't in CHANGELOG.

# Show commits since last tag
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline

For each important change not already mentioned in CHANGELOG under ## next:

1. Summarize the change in user-facing terms
2. Ask the user: "Add to CHANGELOG: [summary]? (y/n)"
3. If confirmed, add the entry under ## next in CHANGELOG.md

Step 3: Determine Version Bump Type

Analyze the ## next section of CHANGELOG.md to determine the appropriate bump:

MAJOR (breaking changes):

• "BREAKING" keyword in any entry
• Removed features or APIs
• Changed behavior that breaks existing usage

MINOR (new features):

• "Add" keyword starting an entry
• New commands, flags, or configuration options
• New capabilities that don't break existing usage

PATCH (bug fixes):

• "Fix" keyword starting an entry
• Performance improvements
• Documentation updates
• Internal refactoring without user-facing changes

Apply the highest applicable bump type. Present the suggestion to the user: "Based on CHANGELOG entries, suggesting [type] bump. Proceed? (y/n/major/minor/patch)"

Step 5: Run the Release Script

Execute the release script with the determined bump type:

python3 .claude/skills/release/scripts/release.py [major|minor|patch]

The script handles:

1. Checkout main, pull, create release branch
2. Update version in Cargo.toml
3. Update CHANGELOG.md (replace ## next with version header and link)
4. Run cargo clippy -- --all-targets --deny warnings and cargo test
5. Commit changes with message vX.Y.Z
6. Create PR with title vX.Y.Z
7. Open PR in browser
8. Wait for user to press ENTER
9. Wait for all CI checks to pass
10. Merge PR
11. Checkout main, pull
12. Create and push annotated tag vX.Y.Z
13. Wait for tag CI to complete
14. Publish draft GitHub release

Example Session

User: cut a release

Claude:
1. Checks git log for interesting commits
2. "Add to CHANGELOG: Add support for YAML configs? (y/n)"
3. User: "y"
4. Claude adds entry to CHANGELOG
5. "Based on CHANGELOG (new 'Add' entry), suggesting minor bump. Proceed?"
6. User: "y"
7. Claude runs: python3 .claude/skills/release/scripts/release.py minor