make-it-so

name	make-it-so
description	Release pipeline: test, review, version, changelog, commit, PR, CI verify. Use when shipping a feature, releasing code, or user says 'make it so' or 'ship it'.

/make-it-so -- Release Pipeline

End-to-end release pipeline from working code to merged PR. Orchestrates existing skills with quality gates between each stage.

Arguments

• /make-it-so -- auto-detect version bump from conventional commits
• /make-it-so patch|minor|major -- explicit semver bump
• /make-it-so --dry-run -- run pipeline without committing or pushing
• /make-it-so --skip-tests -- skip test stage (use only when tests already passed this session)
• /make-it-so --base <branch> -- target branch for PR (default: main)

Prerequisites

Before invoking, verify:

1. All implementation work is complete (no TODO/FIXME in changed files)
2. Working directory is clean or changes are staged
3. You are on a feature branch (not main/master)
4. gh CLI is authenticated

Pipeline Stages

flowchart TD
    Start([make-it-so]) --> Preflight["Stage 0: Preflight\n- branch check\n- clean tree\n- gh auth"]
    Preflight --> PF{Pass?}
    PF -- No --> Abort0["ABORT: fix prerequisites"]
    PF -- Yes --> Test["Stage 1: Test\n- detect test runner\n- run full suite"]
    Test --> T{Pass?}
    T -- No --> Abort1["ABORT: fix tests first"]
    T -- Yes --> Review["Stage 2: Review\n- /evaluate on changed files\n- quality gate scaling"]
    Review --> R{FAIL count = 0?}
    R -- No --> CycleCheck{"Cycles < 2?"}
    CycleCheck -- Yes --> Fix["Apply fixes\n+ re-run failed checks"]
    Fix --> R
    CycleCheck -- No --> Abort2["ABORT: quality gate\nunresolved after 2 cycles"]
    R -- Yes --> Version["Stage 3: Version\n- detect bump type\n- update version files"]
    Version --> CL["Stage 4: Changelog\n- parse commits since base\n- generate CHANGELOG entry"]
    CL --> Commit["Stage 5: Commit\n- stage all changes\n- conventional commit message"]
    Commit --> PR["Stage 6: PR\n- push branch\n- create PR via gh"]
    PR --> CI["Stage 7: CI Verify\n- poll gh run status\n- report pass/fail"]
    CI --> Done([Done])

Stage Details

Stage 0: Preflight

# Branch safety
BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
if [ "$BRANCH" = "main" ] || [ "$BRANCH" = "master" ]; then
    echo "ABORT: Cannot release from $BRANCH. Create a feature branch first."
    exit 1
fi

# Working tree check
if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
    echo "WARNING: Unstaged changes detected. Stage or stash before proceeding."
fi

# GitHub CLI auth
gh auth status 2>&1 || echo "ABORT: gh not authenticated. Run 'gh auth login'."

# Base branch existence
git rev-parse --verify origin/${BASE_BRANCH:-main} 2>/dev/null || echo "ABORT: base branch not found"

If any check fails, report clearly and stop. Do not proceed with a broken preflight.

Stage 1: Test

Detect test runner from project files:

Signal	Runner	Command
package.json has test script	npm	npm test
pytest.ini or pyproject.toml [tool.pytest]	pytest	pytest or uv run pytest
Cargo.toml	cargo	cargo test
go.mod	go	go test ./...
Makefile has test target	make	make test

Run the detected suite. If tests fail, report the failures and ABORT. Do not proceed to review with failing tests.

If --skip-tests flag is set, log "Tests skipped (user override)" and proceed.

Stage 2: Review

Run /evaluate on all changed files (via git diff --name-only ${BASE_BRANCH}...HEAD).

The evaluate skill auto-scales review intensity based on change scope. Follow its recommendations for quality gate level.

Gate: If any FAIL-severity issues remain after 2 fix cycles, ABORT with the issue list. The user must resolve them manually before re-running /make-it-so.

Stage 3: Version

Auto-detection (when no explicit bump given):

Parse commits since divergence from base branch using conventional commit prefixes:

Prefix	Bump
feat!: or BREAKING CHANGE: in body	major
feat:	minor
fix:, refactor:, perf:, docs:, chore:, test:, style:, ci:	patch

Use the highest bump detected. If no conventional commits found, default to patch.

Version file detection (check in order, update first match):

File	Pattern
package.json	"version": "X.Y.Z"
pyproject.toml	version = "X.Y.Z"
Cargo.toml	version = "X.Y.Z"
VERSION	plain X.Y.Z

If no version file exists, skip version bump (some projects don't use semver). Log "No version file found, skipping version bump."

Present the proposed bump to the user: "Version bump: 1.2.3 -> 1.3.0 (minor, detected from feat: commits). Proceed? [Y/n]"

Stage 4: Changelog

Generate a changelog entry from commits since base branch:

## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
- feat: descriptions...

### Fixed
- fix: descriptions...

### Changed
- refactor/perf: descriptions...

If CHANGELOG.md exists, prepend the new entry after the first # Changelog header. If it does not exist, create it.

If no version file was found in Stage 3, use the current date as the section header instead of a version number.

Stage 5: Commit

Stage all modified files (version bump + changelog). Create a commit with conventional format:

• If version bumped: release: vX.Y.Z
• If no version: chore: prepare release YYYY-MM-DD

Include Co-Authored-By trailer per repository conventions.

Confirm with user before committing.

Stage 6: PR

Push the branch and create a PR:

git push -u origin HEAD

Create PR with gh pr create:

• Title: release: vX.Y.Z or branch-derived title
• Body: Changelog entry + test results summary + review score
• Labels: add release label if available
• Base: --base ${BASE_BRANCH:-main}

Present the PR URL to the user.

Stage 7: CI Verify

Poll CI status for up to 5 minutes:

gh run list --branch $(git branch --show-current) --limit 1 --json status,conclusion

Report:

• All green: "CI passed. PR is ready for merge."
• Failures: "CI failed: {details}. Review the failures before merging."
• Timeout: "CI still running after 5 minutes. Check status manually: {url}"
• No CI: "No CI workflow detected. Consider adding one."

Dry Run Mode

When --dry-run is set:

• Stages 0-2 run normally (preflight, test, review)
• Stage 3 shows proposed version bump but does not modify files
• Stage 4 shows proposed changelog but does not write
• Stages 5-7 are skipped entirely
• Output: "Dry run complete. Pipeline would: bump to vX.Y.Z, add N changelog entries, create PR to {base}."

Abort and Recovery

If the pipeline aborts at any stage:

1. No partial commits are created (changes remain uncommitted)
2. Report which stage failed and why
3. Suggest specific fix actions
4. User can re-run /make-it-so after fixing

If the pipeline fails after commit (Stage 6-7):

1. The commit exists locally
2. Report: "Commit created but PR/CI failed. Fix the issue and run /make-it-so again (it will detect the existing commit)."

Worked Example

User: /make-it-so

1. Preflight: Branch feat/auth-improvements, clean tree, gh authenticated
2. Test: Detected npm test, 47 tests pass
3. Review: /evaluate on 4 changed files, Level 3 review, 0 FAILs, 2 suggestions accepted
4. Version: 3 feat: commits detected, bump minor: 2.1.0 -> 2.2.0. User confirms.
5. Changelog: Added 3 entries under ## [2.2.0] - 2026-03-23
6. Commit: release: v2.2.0 with Co-Authored-By
7. PR: Created PR #42, CI running...
8. CI: All checks passed in 2m14s

Output: "PR #42 is green and ready for merge. Make it so, Number One."

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
"Cannot release from main"	On main/master branch	Create feature branch: git checkout -b feat/your-feature
Tests fail but code works	Test runner not detected	Check test runner detection table; add explicit --skip-tests if tests ran earlier
"gh not authenticated"	GitHub CLI needs login	Run gh auth login
Version bump wrong type	Commit prefixes ambiguous	Use explicit: /make-it-so minor
CI timeout	Slow CI pipeline	Check manually via PR URL; CI may still pass
No version file found	Project doesn't use semver	Expected; pipeline skips version bump gracefully
PR creation fails	Branch not pushed or permissions	Check git push permissions and repo write access