repo-release-tools

name	repo-release-tools
description	Guide release workflows with the installed rrt CLI. Use when: checking branch naming rules, setting up pre-commit or lefthook hooks, configuring GitHub Action policy checks, running rrt doctor/config, planning changelog workflow, or previewing version bumps in a repo where rrt is already installed.
argument-hint	What repo-release-tools task do you need help with? (branch naming, hooks, doctor/config, GitHub Action, changelog workflow, or release bump)

repo-release-tools — installed CLI workflow skill

Use this skill when the machine already has the rrt command available.

Prefer this skill over the repo-release-tools-uvx skill when you want advice and commands that assume a persistent local install such as:

• rrt branch ...
• rrt bump ...
• rrt doctor
• rrt config
• rrt init
• rrt skill install
• rrt-hooks ...

Quick command map

rrt init
rrt config
rrt doctor
rrt branch new feat "add parser"
rrt branch rename --type fix --scope api
rrt bump patch --dry-run
rrt bump minor
rrt skill install --target copilot-local

Branch naming guidance

Use conventional prefixes such as:

• feat/add-parser
• fix/api-timeout
• docs/release-playbook
• chore/update-hooks

Helpful commands:

rrt branch new feat "add parser"
rrt branch rename --type fix
rrt branch rename --scope cli
rrt branch rename fix "repair config loader" --scope cli

If the repo uses extra branch prefixes, check or add them in config:

[tool.rrt]
extra_branch_types = ["greenkeeper", "snyk"]

Changelog workflow guidance

repo-release-tools supports two changelog workflows:

• incremental (default) — maintain [Unreleased] during development
• squash — skip per-commit changelog enforcement and generate/correct at release time

Minimal config:

[tool.rrt]
release_branch = "release/v{version}"
changelog_file = "CHANGELOG.md"
changelog_workflow = "incremental"  # or "squash"

[[tool.rrt.version_targets]]
path = "pyproject.toml"
kind = "pep621"

Helpful checks:

rrt config
rrt doctor

Hook setup

pre-commit

For the default incremental workflow, use the auto-write setup:

default_install_hook_types: [pre-commit, commit-msg]

repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/Anselmoo/repo-release-tools
    rev: v1.2.0
    hooks:
      - id: rrt-branch-name
      - id: rrt-update-unreleased
      - id: rrt-commit-subject

Install:

pre-commit install --hook-type pre-commit --hook-type commit-msg

If the repo prefers manual changelog edits, replace rrt-update-unreleased with rrt-changelog instead of enabling both.

lefthook

Requires rrt-hooks on PATH, which comes from the installed package.

pre-commit:
  commands:
    rrt-branch-name:
      run: rrt-hooks pre-commit

commit-msg:
  commands:
    rrt-update-unreleased:
      run: rrt-hooks update-unreleased --message-file {1}
    rrt-commit-subject:
      run: rrt-hooks commit-msg {1}

GitHub Action usage

Use the action when the user wants CI policy checks instead of local workflow automation:

- uses: actions/checkout@v6

- uses: Anselmoo/repo-release-tools@v1.2.0
  with:
    check-branch-name: "true"
    check-commit-subject: "true"
    check-changelog: "true"
    changelog-strategy: "auto"
    check-doctor: "true"

Release bump workflow

Always suggest rrt doctor before a release bump.

rrt doctor
rrt bump patch --dry-run
rrt bump patch

Useful flags:

• --dry-run to preview
• --no-changelog to skip changelog generation/update
• --no-commit to stage without committing
• --force to recreate an existing release branch
• --no-pin-sync to skip pin_targets

Skill installation

This repository also ships an installed-CLI skill for Copilot, Claude, and Codex. Install it into an agent skills directory with:

rrt skill install --target copilot-local
rrt skill install --target claude-local --target codex-local
rrt skill install --target copilot-global --dry-run
rrt skill install --target codex-global --force

Supported targets:

• copilot-local → .copilot/skills
• claude-local → .claude/skills
• codex-local → .codex/skills
• copilot-global → ~/.copilot/skills
• claude-global → ~/.claude/skills
• codex-global → ~/.codex/skills

Repo-owned source skills for this repository live under .github/skills/. Directories such as .claude/skills/ are installation targets produced by rrt skill install, not the canonical source files to edit in this repository.

Troubleshooting

"rrt doctor" fails

Run:

rrt doctor
rrt config

Look for:

• missing version_targets files
• missing changelog file
• invalid pin_targets regexes
• version files that disagree in zero-config mode

"Missing configuration"

Generate a starter config:

rrt init
rrt init --target pyproject
rrt init --target node
rrt init --target cargo
rrt init --target go

"Which skill should I use?"

• Use repo-release-tools when rrt is already installed and you want local CLI commands.
• Use repo-release-tools-uvx when you want zero-install uvx repo-release-tools ... guidance.