release-manager

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.

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Merge-ready checklist (generic)

1. Scope: change matches the intended branch/feature scope.
2. Green: evals/tests required by the repo are passing (Tier 1 minimum; Tier 2 if behavior demands it).
3. Docs: runbook/README/TEST_PLAN updates are in place if behavior changed.
4. Rollback: a safe revert path exists (single revert commit is ideal).

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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)

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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.

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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.