prepare-release

name	prepare-release
description	Prepare a release (phases 1-6). Usage: /prepare-release [version]. If version omitted, infers from conventional commits. Coordinates agents for review, runs prepare-release.sh, then enhances release notes with rich formatting. Use when this capability is needed.

prepare-release

Prepare a new release by running comprehensive pre-release checks and updates.

Usage:

• /prepare-release <version> - Use specified version (e.g., /prepare-release v1.46.0)
• /prepare-release - Infer version from conventional commits

Version Inference

If no version is provided, analyze commits since the last tag:

Step 1: Get Commits Since Last Release

LAST_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)
echo "Last release: $LAST_TAG"
git log "$LAST_TAG"..HEAD --oneline

Step 2: Determine Version Bump

Parse conventional commit prefixes:

• Any BREAKING CHANGE: footer or type with exclamation suffix (e.g., feat!:, fix!:) → MAJOR bump
• Any feat: or feat(scope): → MINOR bump
• Only fix:, chore:, docs:, refactor:, test:, perf: → PATCH bump

Step 3: Propose or Prompt

If clear signal: Propose the version with explanation:

Analyzing commits since v1.45.2...

Found 4 commits:
- feat(parser): add streaming support
- fix(validator): handle empty schemas
- chore: update dependencies
- docs: improve examples

Recommendation: **v1.46.0** (minor bump due to new feature)

Proceed with v1.46.0? [Yes / Different version]

If ambiguous: Prompt user to choose:

Analyzing commits since v1.45.2...

Found 3 commits with unclear versioning signal:
- refactor(core): reorganize internal structure
- perf: optimize memory usage
- chore: update dependencies

What version bump is appropriate?
- v1.45.3 (patch) - Bug fixes and minor improvements
- v1.46.0 (minor) - Notable improvements worth a minor bump
- Other - Specify a different version

---

Process

You are the DevOps Engineer coordinating a release. Execute the following phases:

Phase 1: Launch Background Agents

Launch these agents in background mode (run_in_background: true) to run concurrently:

1. DevOps Engineer - Pre-release validation:

   • Check commits since last release tag
   • Run make bench-quick for quick local regression check (~2 min)
   • Create feature branch chore/<version>-release-prep

2. Architect - Review documentation:

   • Check if CLAUDE.md needs updates for new features
   • Check if README.md needs updates (verify accuracy of stated details)
   • Check if any doc.go files need updates
   • Check if docs/developer-guide.md needs updates

3. Maintainer - Code quality review:

   • Run make check to ensure all tests pass
   • Run govulncheck for security vulnerabilities
   • Verify gopls diagnostics are clean
   • Review new code for consistency and error handling

4. Developer - Check godoc examples:

   • Verify all new features have runnable examples in example_test.go
   • Add any missing examples
   • Ensure examples compile and pass

Phase 2: Monitor Progress & Act Incrementally

IMPORTANT: Do NOT wait for all agents to complete before acting. Instead:

1. Poll agents periodically using TaskOutput with block: false to check status

2. Report progress to the user as each agent completes (use a status table)

3. Act immediately on completed agent results:

   • If Maintainer finds issues → fix them while other agents run
   • If DevOps completes benchmarks → report benchmark deltas
   • If Architect finds doc gaps → start fixing while waiting for others
   • If Developer finds missing examples → add them incrementally

4. Status update format (update after each check):

   | Agent | Status | Key Findings |
   |-------|--------|--------------|
   | DevOps | ✅ Done | Quick benchmarks clean, no regressions |
   | Architect | 🔄 Running | - |
   | Maintainer | ✅ Done | All tests pass, no vulns |
   | Developer | ✅ Done | 2 examples added |
   

5. Quick benchmark check: If make bench-quick shows regressions:

   • Flag prominently ⚠️ and investigate before proceeding

Phase 3: Consolidate & Fix

After all agents complete:

1. Final summary table of all findings
2. List any remaining required changes
3. Apply fixes that couldn't be done incrementally
4. Commit all changes to the pre-release branch

Phases 4-6: Run Preparation Script

⚠️ CRITICAL: Use the prepare script. Do NOT run these commands manually.

After all agent work is committed, from the repository root run the script in background mode (run_in_background: true):

.claude/scripts/prepare-release.sh <version>

Timing: The script takes ~13-15 minutes total (CI benchmarks ~10.3 min + CI checks ~3 min + overhead). This exceeds the Bash tool's 10-minute max timeout, so it must run in background mode. Use TaskOutput with block: true, timeout: 600000 to wait, and re-check if it times out — the script is idempotent and can be re-run safely.

The script handles:

• Phase 4: Push branch, trigger CI benchmarks, wait for completion, pull results
• Phase 5: Create PR, wait for CI checks (with retry for check registration delay), merge with --squash --admin, switch to main
• Phase 6: Generate release notes, save to temp file, display for review

If the script fails partway through, check the error message. You can re-run safely:

• --skip-benchmarks flag if benchmarks already completed
• The script auto-detects already-merged PRs and skips to checkout
• CI check registration delay is handled with automatic retries (up to 75s)

Phase 6.2: Enhance Release Notes

After the script completes, enhance the auto-generated release notes with richer content:

Step 1: Analyze the Release

1. Read the auto-generated notes at .release/notes-<version>.md

2. Get commits since the previous tag:

   PREV_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 HEAD^)
   git log "$PREV_TAG"..HEAD --oneline
   

3. For each significant commit, understand what changed by reading relevant files

Step 2: Reference Previous Releases

Look at 1-2 previous releases for style consistency:

gh release view --json body | jq -r '.body' | head -100

Step 3: Create Enhanced Notes

Structure the enhanced notes following this format:

## [Emoji] [Theme]: [Headline Summary]

[1-2 sentence overview of what this release accomplishes and its impact]

### [Feature/Change Category 1]

[Context about why this matters]

- **[Benefit 1]**: [Specific detail]
- **[Benefit 2]**: [Specific detail]
- **[Benefit 3]**: [Specific detail]

[Optional: Code example if helpful]

### [Feature/Change Category 2]

[Similar structure...]

### 🔒 [User Impact Section]

- [Breaking changes if any, or "No breaking changes"]
- [API changes if any, or "No public API changes"]
- [Dependency changes if any]
- [Backward compatibility statement]

### 📊 Quality Metrics

- ✅ All tests passing ([count]+ unit tests, [other suites])
- ✅ Zero vulnerabilities (`govulncheck` clean)
- ✅ All benchmarks passing with no regressions
- ✅ Documentation verified accurate

## What's Changed

[Keep the auto-generated PR list from original notes]

**Full Changelog**: [Keep the auto-generated link]

Guidelines for Enhancement

1. Headline emoji + theme: Match the release character (🚀 Features, 🐛 Bug Fixes, 🔧 Infrastructure, ⚡ Performance)
2. User-focused language: Explain benefits, not just what changed
3. Code examples: Include for new features when they clarify usage
4. Honest impact assessment: Clearly state if there are no user-facing changes
5. Preserve auto-generated content: Keep the "What's Changed" PR list and changelog link at the bottom

Step 4: Update the Notes File

Write the enhanced notes back to .release/notes-<version>.md, then display them for user review.

Phase 6.3: Prompt for Publishing

After the enhanced notes are ready, prompt the user:

✅ Release preparation complete!

Version: <version>
Release notes saved to: .release/notes-<version>.md

Ready to publish <version>?
- [Yes, publish now] → Runs publish-release.sh <version>
- [Not yet] → End here (run /publish-release <version> later)

If user chooses "Yes", from the repository root run:

.claude/scripts/publish-release.sh <version>

---

Important Notes

• Orchestration Mode: Delegate agent tasks, don't do the work yourself
• Use --admin flag for PR merge if branch protection blocks
• CI benchmarks run on the pre-release branch and are included in the PR
• Document all new public API in CLAUDE.md
• ALWAYS use scripts for phases 4-6 - never run release commands manually
• ALWAYS run scripts in background mode - the prepare script takes ~13-15 min (exceeds Bash 10-min max timeout)
• ALWAYS enhance release notes (Phase 6.2) - never skip to publishing with auto-generated notes only
• If the script fails at Phase 5.3 (CI checks), it's often a timing issue — re-run the script (it's idempotent) or manually run gh pr checks <PR#> --watch then merge

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