github-release-management

name	github-release-management
version	2.0.0
description	Comprehensive GitHub release management using standard Git and GitHub CLI (gh) commands for versioning, testing, and deployment.
category	github
tags	["release","deployment","versioning","automation","ci-cd","gh-cli"]

GitHub Release Management Skill

Manage software releases, changelogs, and version tags using standard Git and the GitHub CLI (gh).

Quick Start

1. Create a Standard Release

# Tag the current commit
git tag v2.0.0
git push origin v2.0.0

# Create a GitHub release with auto-generated release notes
gh release create v2.0.0 --generate-notes --title "Release v2.0.0"

2. Create a Draft Release

gh release create v2.0.1 --draft --title "v2.0.1" --notes "Draft notes here"

Core Capabilities

1. Changelog Generation

Use the GitHub CLI to view merged PRs or commits since the last release.

# Get the latest release tag
LAST_TAG=$(gh release view --json tagName -q .tagName)

# Get PRs merged since the last release
gh pr list --state merged --base main --json number,title,author \
  --search "merged:>$(gh release view $LAST_TAG --json publishedAt -q .publishedAt)"

2. Multi-Platform Build & Upload

Attach build artifacts to a release.

# Upload artifacts to an existing release
gh release upload v2.0.0 dist/app-linux-amd64.tar.gz dist/app-macos-arm64.zip

3. Release Monitoring

# List recent releases
gh release list --limit 5

# View a specific release
gh release view v2.0.0

Best Practices

• Semantic Versioning: Always use vX.Y.Z tags.
• Automated Notes: Prefer --generate-notes to let GitHub pull in PR titles and contributors automatically.
• Drafts First: Always create releases as --draft when orchestrating complex deployments, giving you a chance to review notes and upload all binaries before publishing.