nightshift-release

name	nightshift-release
description	Release a new version of the nightshift Go project using goreleaser. Use when the user asks to cut a release, push a new version, bump the version, publish a release, or verify a release succeeded. Covers version bumping, git tagging, goreleaser dry-run validation, pushing, and post-release verification via GitHub Actions and `gh`.

Release Nightshift

Cut, publish, and verify releases for the nightshift Go project using goreleaser.

Pre-flight

1. Ensure working tree is clean (git status).
2. Determine the next version by checking git tag --sort=-v:refname | head -1 and asking the user what kind of bump (major/minor/patch) if not specified.
3. Confirm goreleaser is installed locally: goreleaser --version. If missing, prompt user to brew install goreleaser.

Release Workflow

1. Bump version in source

Edit cmd/nightshift/commands/root.go — update the Version variable to the new version (without the v prefix):

Version = "X.Y.Z"

2. Validate goreleaser config

Run a local dry-run to catch config errors before pushing:

goreleaser check
goreleaser release --snapshot --clean

• check validates .goreleaser.yml syntax.
• --snapshot --clean builds all artifacts locally without publishing. Inspect the dist/ directory to confirm binaries were produced for all expected OS/arch combos (darwin/amd64, darwin/arm64, linux/amd64, linux/arm64).

Clean up after: rm -rf dist/.

3. Commit, tag, and push

git add cmd/nightshift/commands/root.go
git commit -m "Bump version to vX.Y.Z"
git tag vX.Y.Z
git push origin main
git push origin vX.Y.Z

The v-prefixed tag triggers the GitHub Actions release workflow (.github/workflows/release.yml).

4. Verify release

After pushing the tag, verify the release pipeline succeeded:

# Watch the Actions run (blocks until complete)
gh run list --workflow=release.yml --limit 1
gh run watch           # watch the most recent run

# Once complete, confirm the release exists
gh release view vX.Y.Z

Check that:

• The GitHub Actions run completed successfully.
• The release on GitHub lists all expected artifacts (tar.gz for each OS/arch + checksums.txt).
• The changelog was auto-generated and excludes docs/test/ci/chore commits.

If the homebrew cask was configured, also verify gh api repos/marcus/homebrew-tap/contents/Casks/nightshift.rb returns the updated cask.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
goreleaser check fails	Fix .goreleaser.yml syntax per error message
Snapshot builds but CI fails	Compare local Go version (go version) with go.mod; ensure CGO_ENABLED=0
Release exists but missing artifacts	Re-run: delete the release (gh release delete vX.Y.Z), delete the tag (git push --delete origin vX.Y.Z && git tag -d vX.Y.Z), re-tag and push
Homebrew tap not updated	Check HOMEBREW_TAP_TOKEN secret is set in repo settings