release-packages

name	release-packages
description	Version and publish @decentralchain/* packages. USE WHEN: user asks about releasing, publishing, versioning, changelogs, or npm publishing. Covers the nx release workflow with independent versioning and conventional commits.

Release Packages

Version and publish @decentralchain/* packages using Nx Release with independent versioning.

How Versioning Works

• Independent versioning — each package has its own version, bumped based on conventional commits that touch it.
• Conventional commits drive versions:
  • fix(crypto): ... → patch bump for @decentralchain/crypto
  • feat(signer): ... → minor bump for @decentralchain/signer
  • feat(types)!: ... or BREAKING CHANGE: → major bump
• Only packages with relevant commits since their last release get bumped.

Release Commands

Dry Run (Preview)

Always dry-run first to see what would change:

pnpm nx release --dry-run

This shows:

• Which packages will be bumped
• What the new versions will be
• Changelog entries that would be generated

Full Release

pnpm nx release

This runs three stages:

1. Version — bumps package.json versions based on conventional commits
2. Changelog — generates per-project CHANGELOG.md + workspace CHANGELOG.md
3. Publish — publishes to npm with provenance signing

Release Specific Packages

pnpm nx release --projects=@decentralchain/crypto,@decentralchain/types

First Release (no previous tags)

pnpm nx release --first-release

Uses fallbackCurrentVersionResolver: "disk" to read current versions from package.json.

Configuration

Release config lives in nx.json under the release key:

{
  "release": {
    "projects": ["packages/sdk/*"],
    "projectsRelationship": "independent",
    "version": {
      "conventionalCommits": true,
      "generatorOptions": {
        "fallbackCurrentVersionResolver": "disk"
      }
    },
    "changelog": {
      "projectChangelogs": true,
      "workspaceChangelog": {
        "createRelease": "github",
        "file": "CHANGELOG.md"
      }
    }
  }
}

Commit Message Format

type(scope): description

# scope = package name without @decentralchain/ prefix
# Examples:
feat(crypto): add ed25519 key derivation
fix(transactions): correct serialization of invoke-script
chore(bignumber): update dependencies
docs(signer): add usage examples to README

Valid types: feat, fix, chore, docs, refactor, perf, test, ci, build, style.

Pre-Release Checklist

Before releasing:

# 1. Ensure clean working tree
git status

# 2. Build all packages
pnpm nx run-many -t build

# 3. Run all tests
pnpm nx run-many -t test

# 4. Lint everything
pnpm nx run-many -t biome-lint

# 5. Type-check
pnpm nx run-many -t typecheck

# 6. Validate module boundaries
node scripts/check-boundaries.mjs

# 7. Dry-run release
pnpm nx release --dry-run

Notes

• workspace:* dependencies are replaced with exact versions at publish time by pnpm.
• GitHub releases are created automatically for workspace-level changelog.
• npm provenance signing is enabled (requires CI with OIDC support or --provenance flag).