name: release-manager
description: Establish lightweight release discipline: definition of merge-ready, versioning/changelog habits, and safe rollout/rollback practices.
Release Manager — Ship Without Chaos
Use this skill when:
- You’re preparing to merge a feature branch
- You want to declare work “merge-ready” or “release-ready”
- You need consistent changelogs / release notes
Goal: make shipping predictable with minimal ceremony.
Merge-ready checklist (generic)
- Scope: change matches the intended branch/feature scope.
- Green: evals/tests required by the repo are passing (Tier 1 minimum; Tier 2 if behavior demands it).
- Docs: runbook/README/TEST_PLAN updates are in place if behavior changed.
- Rollback: a safe revert path exists (single revert commit is ideal).
Release notes template (short)
- Summary: 1–3 bullets of what changed and why
- Risk: 0–2 bullets (what could go wrong, how to detect)
- Rollback: how to undo (revert commit / restore previous version)
Versioning (choose one and stick to it)
- SemVer (recommended for libraries/tools): MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
- Date-based (recommended for internal ops scripts): YYYY.MM.DD[.N]
Document the chosen convention in a tracked release doc (e.g. RELEASE.md) and keep it consistent.
GitHub operations (optional): GitHub CLI (gh) playbook
Use this section when you need boring, repeatable GitHub mechanics. Prefer gh over ad-hoc UI steps when it’s available.
Safety / hygiene (always)
- Treat
gh/git output as sensitive if it includes tokens or private URLs.
- Before publishing anything, run a quick security-reviewer pass if the change touched credentials, generated files, logs, or remote access.
- If a push fails with “too large” / HTTP 500 / unexpected disconnect, assume history contains large blobs until proven otherwise (
.gitignore does not fix history).
Common flows (examples — adjust names)
Confirm auth
gh auth status
Create a new repo + push an existing local repo
gh repo create OWNER/REPO --private --source . --remote origin --push
If you already have commits locally, this should set origin and push your current branch. If origin already exists, use git remote -v and push normally.
Push all branches (after a clean history rewrite)
git push -u origin --all
Open a PR from the current branch
gh pr create --fill
Create a GitHub Release from a tag (optional)
gh release create v1.2.3 --notes-file RELEASE_NOTES.md
History rewrite note (high risk / high leverage)
If you removed large files from history (e.g., ISOs), remember:
- Commit hashes change; anyone with old clones must re-clone or hard-reset.
- Coordinate
main/release branches and CI expectations after rewrite.
