release

name	release
description	Use when the user wants to cut a release of media_preview_generator — merges dev into main, drafts plain-English release notes from the commits since the last tag, suggests the next semver tag, and publishes a GitHub release after explicit confirmation.

Release

Cuts a release: fast-forwards main to dev, then publishes a GitHub release (which creates the version tag atomically). The git tag drives the package version — pyproject.toml uses setuptools-scm with write_to = _version.py — so the tag must be bare semver with no v prefix (4.1.0, not v4.1.0).

Run only when the user explicitly asks to release. Per project policy, "finish" or "do it all" does NOT authorize a release on its own.

Guardrails

• Never force-push. Never delete tags or releases.
• Never touch /data (read-only Plex media).
• The plugin-v* tags belong to a separate component — ignore them entirely when finding the last release or computing the next version.
• Stop and report if any preflight check fails. Do not "fix" a dirty tree or divergence automatically.

Procedure

1. Preflight

git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD          # must be "dev"
git status --porcelain                   # must be empty (clean tree)
git fetch origin --quiet
git rev-list --left-right --count origin/main...dev   # left count must be 0

• Branch is not dev → stop, tell the user to switch to dev.
• Tree is dirty → stop, list the uncommitted files.
• Left count > 0 (main is ahead of local dev) → stop. main has diverged; a fast-forward is unsafe. Report and let the user resolve it.

Compare against local dev, not origin/dev — local dev is the source of truth and may have unpushed commits. Everything downstream (notes, tag, push) must describe the same local dev state.

2. Find the last release and draft notes

LAST_TAG=$(git tag --list --sort=-v:refname | grep -E '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | head -1)
git log "$LAST_TAG"..dev --pretty='%s'   # commit subjects since last release
git diff "$LAST_TAG"..dev --stat         # files touched, for context

If $LAST_TAG is empty (no semver tag found) → stop and report. Do not run the git log/git diff with an empty left side; ..dev would dump the entire history and silently mis-scope the notes.

Write release notes for end users, not commit-speak:

• Title: short, plain English, names the headline change (e.g. "Stale-mount diagnostics & job-log polish"). No version number.
• Description: tight bullets grouped as New (from feat:) and Fixes (from fix:). Translate each into what a user notices. Drop pure-internal commits (test:, chore:, refactors) unless user-visible.

3. Suggest the next version

Parse the commit subjects from step 2 against $LAST_TAG (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH):

• Any feat: since the last tag → bump MINOR, reset PATCH (4.0.1 → 4.1.0).
• Otherwise → bump PATCH (4.0.1 → 4.0.2).
• Breaking changes (feat!:, BREAKING CHANGE) → confirm a MAJOR bump with the user.

Propose the computed version and ask the user to confirm or type a different tag. Always wait for their answer — the tag is theirs to decide.

4. Confirmation gate

Show the user one block: final tag, title, and description. State plainly that approving runs push dev → advance main → publish release, and that advancing main is the point of no return (it triggers any CI/release pipeline). Wait for an explicit OK. Do not proceed on silence or ambiguity.

5. Publish (only after OK)

COMMIT=$(git rev-parse dev)               # pin the reviewed commit
git push origin dev                       # publish local dev
git push origin dev:main                  # fast-forward main to dev
gh release create "<TAG>" --target "$COMMIT" --title "<TITLE>" --notes "<NOTES>"

Pass the captured $COMMIT SHA as --target, not main — this tags the exact commit the notes were drafted from, even if main advances concurrently. gh release create creates the tag and publishes the release in one step. Report the release URL it prints.

Failure handling

• git push origin dev:main rejected (non-fast-forward) → main moved since preflight. Re-fetch, re-check divergence, do not force.
• gh release create fails because the tag already exists → stop and report; do not overwrite. The user picks a new tag or deletes the bad one themselves.