release-backport-action

name	release-backport-action
description	How backport-github-action is released. Use when upgrading the backport dependency, cutting a release, or validating the action in the demo repo.

Releasing backport-github-action

Releases are fully automated. Every push to main runs .github/workflows/release.yml, which publishes a new release. There is no manual release script — do not look for npm run release.

Version mapping

The action's version mirrors its bundled backport dependency: when backport is 12.1.0, the action is released as v12.1.0 and the floating v12 tag is moved to it. A release happens only when the bundled backport version isn't tagged yet, so an action-only change (no backport bump) ships with the next backport release rather than getting its own version.

What the release workflow does

On each push to main it:

1. Reads the bundled backport version (from the lockfile). If vX.Y.Z is already tagged, it stops.
2. Checks that package.json's version already equals it (mirrored in the PR, not here — the workflow only pushes tags, so a release-time bump could never reach protected main). Then it rebuilds the bundle (dist/).
3. Commits the rebuilt dist/, tags vX.Y.Z, force-moves the major tag vN, and creates the GitHub Release (--generate-notes --latest). Only tags are pushed (never main), so the built-in GITHUB_TOKEN is sufficient.

Upgrading backport

Dependabot opens a PR whenever a new backport is published (including minor/patch). Just merge it — no manual steps.

Dependabot bumps the dependency but can't bump the action's own version, so the sync-version workflow commits the matching npm version back onto the PR branch automatically. On merge, the release workflow tags that version. The mirror lives in the PR (not the release workflow) because a release can't push to protected main tokenlessly.

To mirror by hand if ever needed (the workflow reads the version from the committed lockfile, so no install is required):

npm run sync-version && git commit -am "chore: mirror backport version"

Manual action-only release

The workflow only releases when the bundled backport version isn't tagged yet, so a fix that touches only the action (no backport bump) won't release on its own. To ship one without waiting for the next backport release, tag a revision of the current backport version by hand — append -1, -2, … Do not bump the patch (e.g. 12.0.2): that would collide with backport's own future 12.0.2, and the workflow would then skip releasing it.

git checkout main && git pull

# Current backport version + the next unused revision suffix.
# 12.0.1 is the released backport version; use -2, -3, … if -1 already exists.
VERSION=12.0.1-1
MAJOR=${VERSION%%.*}

npm version "$VERSION" --no-git-tag-version --allow-same-version
npm run build

git commit -am "chore: release v$VERSION" --no-verify   # local only — main is protected
git tag "v$VERSION"
git tag -f "v$MAJOR"
git push origin "v$VERSION"
git push --force origin "v$MAJOR"
gh release create "v$VERSION" --generate-notes --latest

git reset --hard origin/main   # drop the local release commit; the tag keeps it

This is the same shape as the automated release (mirror version → build → tag-only push), just with a hand-picked -N version. The v12.0.1-1 tag never clashes with the workflow, which checks for the bare v12.0.1.

Smoke test

npm run test:e2e runs the smoke test against backport-org/backport-demo: it updates the demo workflow, opens and merges test PRs (happy path + no-labels), and verifies results. The restore target is derived from package.json, so no manual version edits are needed. Pass a branch/tag explicitly to test a pre-release: npm run test:e2e -- v13-beta.

Pre-releases / betas

The automated flow only releases stable versions from main. A breaking change that spans both repos is still done manually: publish a backport beta (its own repo handles npm), point a feature branch's package.json at the beta, push the branch (do not merge to main), and smoke-test it with npm run test:e2e -- <branch>. Promote by merging to main once stable.