| name | lcm-release |
| description | Use when the user says 'cut a release', 'release vX.Y.Z', 'publish a new version', or 'bump the version'. Covers the full release flow: version bump → PR to main → CI → merge → publish → develop sync. |
lcm-release
Cut a versioned release of lossless-claude/lcm. This is a public npm package — never delete or overwrite existing git tags.
Note on release flow: This script is the canonical release process for this repo. It replaces any earlier Changesets-based or version-pr.yml automation. WORKFLOW.md and RELEASING.md reflect the old flow and have not yet been updated.
Normal flow — use the script
Run .claude/skills/lcm-release/scripts/release.sh from the repo root:
bash .claude/skills/lcm-release/scripts/release.sh <version>
bash .claude/skills/lcm-release/scripts/release.sh 0.4.2
Resuming after a failure — pass --from-step N to skip already-completed steps:
bash .claude/skills/lcm-release/scripts/release.sh 0.4.2 --from-step 8
bash .claude/skills/lcm-release/scripts/release.sh 0.4.2 --from-step 9
Sync develop standalone — when Step 9 needs to run independently:
bash .claude/skills/lcm-release/scripts/sync-develop.sh 0.4.2
The script handles everything end-to-end:
| Step | What it does |
|---|
| 0 | Checkout develop, pull, verify clean, sync develop←main (via PR if needed) |
| 1 | Guard: abort if tag or npm version already exists |
| 2 | Create release/vX.Y.Z branch from develop |
| 3 | Bump all 3 version files, verify they all match |
| 4 | Commit and push |
| 5 | Open PR targeting main |
| 6 | Wait for CI (skips gracefully if no CI configured) |
| 7 | Merge with --merge (preserves commit SHA on main) |
| 8 | Wait for publish.yml to complete |
| 9 | Open sync PR to bring the release commit back into develop; merge with --merge (preserves merge commit SHA) |
Prerequisites
- All feature PRs for this release are merged into
develop
gh CLI is authenticated- You have a version number that is higher than any existing tag/npm release
Key invariants
- Never delete tags on a public package — if a version is taken, pick a higher one
- Release PRs target
main — the only exception to "PRs target develop"
- Use
--merge (not squash) so the version bump SHA is preserved on main
- All 3 version files must match:
package.json, .claude-plugin/plugin.json, .claude-plugin/marketplace.json
- Note: marketplace.json stores version at
.plugins[0].version, not root
Failure modes
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|
| Guard fails: tag exists | Version already tagged | Pick a higher version |
| Guard fails: npm version exists | Already published | Pick a higher version |
publish.yml conclusion is skipped | Tag or npm version exists (race) | Pick a higher version; start over |
| develop diverged from main (cannot fast-forward) | Branches were manually changed or cherry-picked | Manually reconcile develop and main until fast-forwardable, then rerun |
publish.yml conclusion is not success | Build/test/publish failed | Check the run URL printed by the script |
Scripts
.claude/skills/lcm-release/scripts/release.sh ← full end-to-end, supports --from-step N
.claude/skills/lcm-release/scripts/sync-develop.sh ← standalone Step 9 (develop sync)
