release

name	release
preamble-tier	2
version	1.0.0
description	Cut a raven-mcp release — preflight (npm auth, clean main), CHANGELOG, version bump, .mcpb rebuild, npm + MCP Registry publish, tag/push, and propagate to local instances. (applies to raven-mcp)
triggers	["cut a raven release","release raven-mcp","ship raven through npm","publish raven to npm","bump raven version","new raven-mcp release","ship the new raven tools"]
allowed-tools	["Bash","Read","Edit"]

Release raven-mcp

The end-to-end release runbook for raven-mcp. scripts/release.sh does the mechanical work (version bump, manifest/server sync, .mcpb rebuild, npm publish, mcp-publisher publish, commit, tag, push) — but it has two gaps and one propagation step it does not handle, which is why releasing felt hard. This skill wraps it so a release is one predictable pass.

When to use

Any time merged work on main needs to reach Raven consumers — npm (raven-mcp), the public .mcpb at ravenmcp.ai, and your own machine's instances. Run AFTER the feature PR is merged to main, not before.

How Raven is actually consumed (why "merge to main" is not enough)

1. Your Claude Code (CLI) instances load Raven from a local path, not npm: ~/.claude.json registers raven as node /Users/accunliffe/projects/raven-mcp/dist/index.js (both a global mcpServers.raven entry and a project-scoped one). They read the built dist/, which is gitignored — so a new tool only reaches them after npm run build in this working copy AND the instance reconnects its MCP server (a stdio server is spawned once at session start). New sessions auto-pick-up the rebuilt dist; already-running sessions need /mcp → reconnect raven (or a session restart).
2. npm package raven-mcp (bin: raven-mcp → dist/index.js) — for any consumer wired via npx raven-mcp / a dependency. Only updates on npm publish.
3. MCP Registry record ai.ravenmcp/raven-mcp — the discovery metadata for the npm package and hosted remote. Only updates on mcp-publisher publish.
4. Claude Desktop extension local.mcpb.andrew-cunliffe.raven-mcp — a separate packaged copy under ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/Claude Extensions/. It does NOT read this working copy. It updates only when you rebuild the .mcpb and reinstall the extension in Claude Desktop.

So a full release = publish npm + publish the MCP Registry record + rebuild/redeploy .mcpb + rebuild local dist + reconnect/reinstall.

Procedure

Step 0 — Preflight (the two things that make it fail)

cd /Users/accunliffe/projects/raven-mcp
git fetch origin
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD          # must be: main
git status --porcelain                   # must be EMPTY (release.sh refuses a dirty tree)
git log --oneline -3 origin/main         # confirm the merge you intend to ship is here
npm whoami                               # MUST print your npm user
command -v mcp-publisher                 # MUST print the CLI path
mcp-publisher validate                   # server.json passes registry validation

# The registry JWT is SHORT-LIVED. Do NOT mint one here — release.sh mints it
# itself, immediately before it publishes. A token minted in this preflight is
# the thing that expired mid-run on v2.2.9 and v2.3.0.
test -f ~/.raven-mcp-registry-key        # MUST exist; the script signs with it

# release.sh runs `git pull --ff-only` on main and dies if local main has ANY
# commit origin/main lacks. Local main is stale by construction (auto-save
# commits stay local), so check and realign BEFORE bumping anything:
git rev-list --left-right --count main...origin/main   # want 0<TAB>0
git cherry origin/main main                            # '+' = genuinely unique, preserve on a branch first

• If npm whoami returns E401 (the #1 blocker): the _authToken in ~/.npmrc is expired/revoked. This is interactive and credential-bearing — do not paste a token into the chat. Ask Andrew to run, in the session prompt:

  ! npm login
  

  (or to refresh //registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken= in ~/.npmrc himself). Re-run npm whoami until it prints the user. Do NOT run release.sh until auth succeeds — it bumps the version and rebuilds BEFORE npm publish, so an unauthenticated run leaves a half-done release (version bumped, nothing published).
• If command -v mcp-publisher prints nothing: install the CLI before releasing. release.sh exits non-zero with a clear error after npm publish if the CLI is missing; it never silently skips the registry.
• If the tree is dirty because of the CHANGELOG edit in Step 1, commit that first (Step 1 covers it).

Step 1 — Update CHANGELOG.md (release.sh does NOT touch it)

scripts/release.sh never edits CHANGELOG.md. Do it by hand:

1. Add a bullet for every new tool/param/file under the ## [Unreleased] section, matching the existing Keep-a-Changelog voice (one line per change, note backwards-compat, append the (#PR) number). Phrase as routine product changes — never reference IP / employer / license cleanup in this public artifact.
2. Decide the bump (patch default; minor for new tools/params — Raven has historically shipped new tools under patch, follow the maintainer's call). Rename ## [Unreleased] → ## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD (the version release.sh will produce — preview it with the dry run in Step 2), and leave a fresh empty ## [Unreleased] above it.
3. Stage + commit the CHANGELOG to main so the tree is clean for release.sh:

   git add CHANGELOG.md && git commit -m "Changelog: vX.Y.Z"
   git push origin main
   

Step 1b — Mirror the entry into the public changelog — MANDATORY (edit the JSON, never the HTML)

The public changelog at https://ravenmcp.ai/changelog is rendered by the Next web/ app from the single source of truth web/data/changelog.json; the static site/changelog.html is generated from the same JSON by scripts/gen-changelog-html.mjs. Nothing in release.sh or Step 1 touches either. Skipping this is exactly how the site stalled at v1.6.1 while npm/.mcpb/CHANGELOG.md shipped v1.6.2–v1.10.0 (caught 2026-06-19). Hand-editing site/changelog.html is the v1.13.0 failure mode (caught 2026-07-01): the apex never sees it because ravenmcp.ai is served by the web project, not site.

1. Add a new release object at the top of releases in web/data/changelog.json, matching the existing shape: version ("vX.Y.Z"), date (ISO), category (audits/knowledge/tooling), kind (new/feature/improvement/fix), title (restrained, not salesy), changes (short human-readable bullets covering the same changes as CHANGELOG.md).
2. Regenerate the static page: node scripts/gen-changelog-html.mjs (writes site/changelog.html — never edit it by hand).
3. Commit both files (can ride the same Changelog: vX.Y.Z commit, or its own) and push to main.
4. Deploy the apex — the web project has NO git integration; a push alone only updates the site project's deployment, not ravenmcp.ai. From web/: vercel deploy --prod (the alias moves automatically).
5. Verify the live apex URL (cache-bust; note .html paths 308-redirect since the apex cutover — use /changelog):

   curl -sL "https://ravenmcp.ai/changelog?cb=$RANDOM" | grep -o 'cl-version">v[0-9.]*' | head -1   # must show vX.Y.Z
   

Step 2 — Dry run

DRY_RUN=1 scripts/release.sh            # patch (default) | minor | major

Confirm the "would bump to X.Y.Z" matches the version you wrote into the CHANGELOG header.

Step 3 — Release

scripts/release.sh                      # or: scripts/release.sh minor

This bumps package.json, syncs manifest.json + server.json, rebuilds site/raven.mcpb, publishes to npm, publishes ai.ravenmcp/raven-mcp with mcp-publisher publish, commits, tags vX.Y.Z, and pushes (incl. tags). The MCP Registry publish runs only after npm publish succeeds.

2FA gate (EOTP) — this account uses a passkey/WebAuthn, NOT a TOTP code: --otp= does not apply. release.sh runs npm publish non-interactively, which fails EOTP after the script has already bumped + rebuilt. The script stops there — no commit, no tag, no push. This is a HALF-DONE release; recover with Step 3a (do NOT re-run release.sh — it would npm version again and double-bump).

Step 3a — Recover a half-done release (publish failed at EOTP, version already bumped)

State after an EOTP failure: package.json/manifest.json/server.json/site/raven.mcpb are modified to the new version but uncommitted; npm still shows the OLD version; no tag exists. Finish it manually:

1. Publish via the passkey web flow — Andrew runs, from the repo:

   ! npm publish
   

   npm prints Open this URL in your browser to authenticate: https://www.npmjs.com/auth/cli/…. Open that URL, approve with the passkey; npm then completes the publish in the same command. (No code to type. If it times out waiting for browser auth, just run npm publish again and re-approve.) Confirm with npm view raven-mcp version.
2. Publish the MCP Registry record:

   mcp-publisher publish
   

3. Then do the commit/tag/push release.sh would have done (the bumped files are already on disk):

   git add package.json package-lock.json manifest.json server.json site/raven.mcpb
   git commit -m "Release vX.Y.Z"
   git tag "vX.Y.Z"
   git push origin main && git push --tags
   

To avoid the interactive passkey gate on future releases, use an npm automation token (//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken= of type "Automation", which bypasses 2FA for publish) in ~/.npmrc — Andrew sets this himself; never paste the token into chat.

Step 4 — Verify the publish (eyes-on the real registry)

npm view raven-mcp version              # must equal X.Y.Z
git tag --list "vX.Y.Z"                 # tag exists
git log --oneline -2 origin/main        # Release commit pushed

The .mcpb at https://ravenmcp.ai/raven.mcpb auto-deploys via Vercel from the pushed site/raven.mcpb — confirm the changelog page / deploy if the public bundle matters this release.

Step 4b — Marketing preview (automatic, approval-gated)

release.sh ends by running node scripts/prepare-marketing-preview.mjs --version $NEW (best-effort — a preview failure never fails a published release; skip with RAVEN_SKIP_MARKETING_PREVIEW=1 or CI=true).

It gates on npm run check:site: if the site is already in sync and web/data/changelog.json has the entry, it prints "site in sync" and stops. Otherwise it creates a worktree at /tmp/raven-marketing-v<version> on branch marketing-preview/v<version>, has a model leg propose web/-only edits grounded in the release's commit range, builds, and serves the result with the Grab overlay attached. It never commits, pushes, or deploys, and refuses to serve if any changed path escapes web/.

Review the two bridge URLs it prints, then merge (or discard) marketing-preview/v<version> yourself. The process blocks while serving — Ctrl-C shuts the server down and removes the worktree. Rerun any time with npm run marketing:preview -- --version X.Y.Z.

Copy judgment stays yours: the leg reliably catches drift (a missing tool, a blurb the release invalidated, a spelled-out tool count) and is not trusted on voice.

Step 5 — Propagate to your machine's instances (the step release.sh can't do)

git -C /Users/accunliffe/projects/raven-mcp pull --ff-only   # get the Release commit
npm --prefix /Users/accunliffe/projects/raven-mcp run build  # refresh the LOCAL dist CLI instances load

• Claude Code: new sessions get the new tools automatically; tell already-running instances to /mcp → reconnect raven (or restart the session).
• Claude Desktop (only if used): npm run build:mcpb, then reinstall site/raven.mcpb as the extension in Claude Desktop — it will not auto-update.

Done / gate

A release is done only when ALL hold:

1. npm view raven-mcp version returns the new version.
2. MCP Registry record ai.ravenmcp/raven-mcp shows the new version and remote metadata from server.json.
3. Tag vX.Y.Z is pushed and the Release commit is on origin/main.
4. CHANGELOG.md has a dated [X.Y.Z] section covering every shipped change.
5. web/data/changelog.json has the vX.Y.Z entry, site/changelog.html was regenerated from it, the web project was deployed (vercel deploy --prod from web/), and the live page at https://ravenmcp.ai/changelog shows it (Step 1b verify).
6. The local dist/ is rebuilt (CLI instances) — and the Desktop .mcpb reinstalled if that surface is in use.
7. You stated the npm URL https://www.npmjs.com/package/raven-mcp/v/X.Y.Z as the verification link.

Gotchas (learned 2026-06-18)

• npm whoami E401 is the usual blocker — expired ~/.npmrc token. Interactive npm login, never a pasted token in chat. Pre-check it BEFORE bumping anything.
• release.sh refuses a dirty tree and non-main branch — commit the CHANGELOG first.
• release.sh does not update CHANGELOG.md — Step 1 is manual and mandatory.
• A main merge alone changes nothing for consumers — npm needs publish; the local CLI needs a dist rebuild + MCP reconnect; the Desktop extension needs a manual reinstall.
• The MCP Registry is a separate publish surface — npm publish does not update ai.ravenmcp/raven-mcp; mcp-publisher publish is mandatory.
• dist/ is gitignored — never assume a fresh clone has it; npm run build first.
• The release.sh commit footer currently hardcodes an older Co-Author line; that is cosmetic and does not affect the release.
• The apex serves web/public/raven.mcpb, not site/raven.mcpb (learned 2026-07-25). build-mcpb.sh wrote only site/, so every release left ravenmcp.ai/raven.mcpb serving the PREVIOUS release's bundle until someone hand-copied it — that is what the "Ship the v2.2.6 bundle from the apex" commit was. The build now copies into both, and since 2026-07-27 the release commit stages both (c8dc811) — first confirmed clean at v2.2.9. Verify with curl -sL https://ravenmcp.ai/raven.mcpb -o /tmp/r.mcpb && unzip -p /tmp/r.mcpb manifest.json | grep version, never by file size alone.
• The MCP Registry JWT expires in MINUTES — release.sh now mints it itself (learned 2026-07-27, recurred and fixed 2026-07-28). v2.2.9 and then v2.3.0 both published to npm and died on 401 token is expired, each leaving a half-done release: npm shipped, registry stale, nothing committed or tagged. Telling the operator to mint a token in Step 0 did not work, because Step 0 runs minutes before the script reaches the registry. The script now runs mcp-publisher login immediately before mcp-publisher publish, and checks both the CLI and the signing key ($RAVEN_REGISTRY_KEY_FILE, default ~/.raven-mcp-registry-key) up in the guardrails anything is bumped or published. — it is redundant, and its expiry is exactly the trap. does NOT need auth, so a passing validate still says nothing about the token. Namespace comes from HTTP auth against ravenmcp.ai (the pubkey is served at ) — grants and will NOT work here. Recovery if a release still half-completes is Step 3a minus the npm publish: re-login, , then commit/tag/push.