| name | release-round |
| description | Runs a coordinated EthereumJS npm release round in six human-gated phases — intent and readiness, CHANGELOG, version bump, publish (human executes), post-publish verification, and announcements. Use when the user asks to prepare or ship a release, bump all @ethereumjs packages, write release notes, or publish to npm and GitHub. |
Release round
Human versioning policy: DEVELOPER.md § Releases. Invariants (do-nots, same version, include/omit): releases.mdc.
Out of scope: major (breaking) rounds, nightlies, fork --scope publishes (see release-npm.ts header).
Workflow gates (mandatory)
This is a multi-phase workflow with hard stops. After each phase, stop completely — do not start the next phase in the same turn, even if the user said “let’s go” at the outset. “Let’s go” means begin the current phase; it does not waive later gates.
| Phase | Agent does | Then STOP until human |
|---|
| 1 — Intent and readiness | Assess goal fit, tree, tooling, security | Explicit GO for phase 2 |
| 2 — CHANGELOG | Draft all active package notes | Explicit GO for phase 3 |
| 3 — Bump and pre-publish | --bump-version only, light checks | Human commits to master, then GO for phase 4 |
| 4 — Publish | Give npm + GitHub commands; human runs them | Human confirms success, then GO for phase 5 |
| 5 — Post-publish verify | npm + GitHub + smoke checks | Explicit GO for phase 6 |
| 6 — Announce | Paste-ready Twitter / Discord kit | Done (human posts) |
Commits and publish: by default the human commits CHANGELOG + version bump and runs publish scripts. The agent must not commit, push, or publish unless explicitly asked. Never force-push.
Phase 4 requires CHANGELOG + bump on master. Phase 4 publish is npm first, then GitHub.
Phase 1 — Intent and readiness
Human must provide first (do not assess without this):
- Target version (e.g.
10.1.3) and bump type: patch or minor
- Emphasis in a few sentences (e.g. security fixes, bugfix round, try Amsterdam preview)
- Optional: PRs that must land, blockers, “do not wait for X”
Agent checks (concise):
- Last release tag (e.g.
@ethereumjs/vm@10.1.2) and commits/PRs on master since then (tags)
- Open GitHub PRs that look intended for this emphasis
- Tooling: latest
master CI green, npm audit --omit=dev if relevant, version drift
- Security glance (security.mdc): flag S0/S1 changes (tx/util signing, evm/vm) — do not invent a disclosure process
- Goal fit: can the current tree deliver the stated emphasis?
- At most three “good occasion to also…” suggestions — do not expand scope unless the human picks one
Output template — then STOP:
## Phase 1 summary — Intent and readiness
**Readiness:** green | yellow | red
**Goal fit:** …
**In tree:** …
**Missing:** …
**Tooling:** …
**Security:** …
**Occasion to also:** … (max 3)
**Verdict:** GO for phase 2 | wait for X
Phase 2 — CHANGELOG / release notes
Read changelog.md before editing.
- [ ] Confirm version and date (default: today unless human said otherwise)
- [ ] List squash commits / PRs since last release tag
- [ ] Update every active package CHANGELOG.md (use ACTIVE_PACKAGES in scripts/release-npm.ts)
- [ ] Scale prose to phase-1 emphasis (quiet patch vs fork preview)
- [ ] npm run spellcheck on touched CHANGELOGs
- [ ] Summarize: packages touched, headline themes, anything omitted (internal PRs)
- [ ] **STOP** — wait for human GO for phase 3
Include/omit rules live in releases.mdc.
Phase 3 — Version bump and pre-publish checks
Bump only — do not pass --publish:
tsx scripts/release-npm.ts --bump-version=<version>
Then:
- [ ] Every active package.json version = <version>
- [ ] Internal @ethereumjs/* refs match (including deps-only packages)
- [ ] npm run tsc --workspaces
- [ ] npm run build --workspaces
- [ ] cd packages/vm && npm run test:API # vm "npm test" is a stub; use test:API
- [ ] Spellcheck on touched files
Do not combine bump + publish in one command.
Output: list of changed files, check results — then STOP. Human reviews and commits to master, then GO for phase 4.
Phase 4 — Publish (human executes)
Ask first: npm token / OTP ready? gh auth status or GITHUB_TOKEN ready?
Give these commands; do not run them unless the human explicitly asks the agent to:
tsx scripts/release-npm.ts --publish=latest --otp=<code>
tsx scripts/release-github.ts --version=<version>
Notes for the human:
prepublishOnly runs clean, build, and npm test per package — publish can take a while.- npm before GitHub.
- Resume interrupted GitHub releases:
tsx scripts/release-github.ts --version=<version> --start-with=<package>
STOP until the human confirms both npm and GitHub succeeded.
Phase 5 — Post-publish verification
Automate where possible:
- [ ] npm view @ethereumjs/<pkg> version for each ACTIVE_PACKAGES entry
- [ ] gh release list / tags for @ethereumjs/<pkg>@<version>
- [ ] Temp-dir smoke: npm install @ethereumjs/vm@<version> and import createVM (or npm pack)
- [ ] Spot-check one GitHub release body vs CHANGELOG extract
Report mismatches; do not “fix” the registry. Summarize — then STOP until GO for phase 6.
Phase 6 — Announce
Read announce.md before drafting.
Analyze phase-1 emphasis + what actually shipped. Ask back if Twitter handle or Discord channel is unclear.
Deliver a paste-ready kit (human posts — no Twitter/Discord MCP):
- Twitter/X — tweet or thread
- Discord — slightly longer post
- Optional third channel only if emphasis warrants it
Visuals (v1): text first. Optional simple release card via image generation if helpful. Code-snippet images are a follow-up.
If this procedure diverges from practice, update DEVELOPER.md § Releases first, then this skill.
