release

name

release

description

Automates the mthds-python release workflow: bumps the version in pyproject.toml, finalizes the CHANGELOG.md Unreleased section, runs quality checks, regenerates uv.lock, creates a release/vX.Y.Z branch, commits, pushes, and opens a PR to main. Use when user says "release", "cut a release", "bump version", "prepare a release", "make a release", "ship it", "create release branch", or any variation of shipping a new version of the mthds Python package. The user can optionally provide changelog content inline when invoking the skill (e.g. "/release Added a new base runner option"), which will be used as the changelog entry for this version.

mthds-python Release Workflow

This skill handles the full release cycle for the mthds Python package (the mthds-python repo). A release is a release/vX.Y.Z branch that PRs into main; merging to main triggers publish.yml, which builds the wheel, publishes it to PyPI as mthds, and creates the GitHub release from the changelog notes.

Files touched

• pyproject.toml — the version field (line 3)
• CHANGELOG.md — add [vX.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD entry (remove [Unreleased] if present)
• uv.lock — regenerated via make li (lock + install)

Workflow

1. Pre-flight checks

• Read the current version from pyproject.toml.
• Read CHANGELOG.md to understand the current state.
• Run git status and git log origin/main..HEAD to assess the working tree:
  • If there are uncommitted changes (staged or unstaged), warn the user and ask whether to commit them as part of the release, stash them, or abort.
  • If there are unpushed commits on the current branch, list them so the user is aware — these will be included in the release branch.

2. Determine the bump type

Ask the user which kind of version bump they want — patch, minor, or major — unless they already specified it. Show the current version and what the new version would be for each option so the choice is concrete.

While the package is pre-1.0 (0.y.z), treat the 0.MINOR.PATCH segments the way the project has been using them: a breaking change bumps the minor, a backward-compatible feature or fix bumps the patch. If the changelog for this release contains a ### Breaking Changes section, steer the user toward at least a minor bump.

3. Run quality checks

Run make agent-check. This is the gate — if it fails, stop and report the errors so they can be fixed before retrying. Do not proceed past this step on failure.

4. Ensure we're on the right branch

The release branch must be named release/vX.Y.Z where X.Y.Z is the new version — guard-branches.yml rejects any other source branch merging into main, and version-check.yml rejects a mismatch between the branch name and the pyproject.toml version. All file modifications (changelog, version bump, lock) must happen on this branch.

• If already on release/vX.Y.Z matching the new version, stay on it.
• If on dev, main, or any other branch, create and switch to release/vX.Y.Z from the current HEAD.
• If on a release/ branch for a different version, warn the user and ask how to proceed.

5. Finalize the changelog

Add a new version entry at the top of the changelog for the release.

1. If there is an ## [Unreleased] section, remove it (including any blank lines that follow it) and replace it with the new version heading. Any content that was under [Unreleased] becomes the content of the new version.
2. If there is no [Unreleased] section, insert the new version heading directly after the # Changelog title.
3. Never add an [Unreleased] heading. The changelog should only contain concrete version entries.
4. If the user provided changelog content when invoking the skill (e.g. /release Added a new base runner option), merge that content with any existing [Unreleased] content (do not discard either source). Format the combined content properly under the appropriate headings — this repo uses ### Breaking Changes, ### Added, ### Changed, ### Fixed, ### Removed — inferring headings from the content when possible.
5. If the release has no changelog content yet (neither from an [Unreleased] section nor from inline user input), ask the user what to include before proceeding.
6. The result should look like:

# Changelog

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

### Changed
- ...

## [vPREVIOUS] - PREVIOUS-DATE
...

6. Bump the version in pyproject.toml

Edit pyproject.toml line 3 to the new version string. Only change the version field — don't touch anything else.

7. Lock dependencies

Run make li to regenerate uv.lock and reinstall. This ensures the lockfile reflects the new version in pyproject.toml. The package-check.yml CI job runs uv lock --locked and fails the PR if uv.lock is out of sync, so this step is not optional. If it fails, stop and report the error.

8. Commit and push

Stage all release-related changes. This includes at minimum pyproject.toml, CHANGELOG.md, and uv.lock, plus any other files the user chose to include in step 1 (e.g. previously uncommitted work that belongs in this release).

Commit with the message:

Release vX.Y.Z

Push the branch to origin with -u to set up tracking.

9. Open a PR

Create a pull request targeting main with:

• Title: Release vX.Y.Z
• Body: Include:
  • The changelog entries for this version (copied from CHANGELOG.md)
  • A note about the version bump from old to new

Use this format for the PR body:

## Release vX.Y.Z

Bumps version from `A.B.C` to `X.Y.Z`.

### Changelog

<paste the changelog entries for this version here>

Report the PR URL back to the user, and remind them that merging the PR into main is what publishes — publish.yml builds and pushes the package to PyPI and cuts the GitHub release automatically. Nothing publishes until the PR is merged.

Important details

• The version follows semver: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.
• Always confirm the bump type with the user before making changes.
• If make agent-check fails, the release is blocked — help the user fix the issues rather than skipping the checks.
• The CI gates a release/vX.Y.Z → main PR with:
  • version-check.yml — the pyproject.toml version must match the release/vX.Y.Z branch name.
  • changelog-check.yml — CHANGELOG.md must contain a ## [vX.Y.Z] - entry for the new version.
  • package-check.yml — uv.lock must be in sync with pyproject.toml (uv lock --locked).
  • tests-check.yml — the test matrix must pass on every supported Python version (3.10 through 3.14).
  • lint-check.yml — formatting, lint, and type checks (the same gates as make agent-check).
  • guard-branches.yml — only release/vX.Y.Z branches may target main.
• All checks must pass for the PR to be mergeable, so getting the changelog, version, and lockfile right is critical.
• Pre-release versions are supported: a PEP 440 suffix (a, b, or rc followed by a number, e.g. 0.6.0rc1) makes publish.yml mark the GitHub release as a pre-release. Use the branch name release/v0.6.0rc1 to match.
• Today's date for the changelog entry: use the current date in YYYY-MM-DD format.