paulund/release-github-release

Core Workflow

1. Gather context by running in parallel: git fetch --tags, latest five tags via git tag --sort=-v:refname | head -5, and commits since the last tag via git log <last-tag>..HEAD --oneline. If no tags exist, treat the base version as v0.0.0 and show all commits.
2. Determine the next semver version by inspecting commits since the last tag:
   • Any feat: commit bumps minor.
   • Only fix:, perf:, chore:, etc. bumps patch.
   • A breaking change (BREAKING CHANGE in body or ! suffix) bumps major.
   • Present the proposed version to the user and ask for confirmation before proceeding.
3. Write customer-facing release notes:
   • Audience is end-users, not engineers. Use clear, friendly, benefit-focused language.
   • Structure: brief summary sentence, then optional ## What's new, ## Bug fixes, and ## Improvements sections (omit any that are empty).
   • Skip dependency bumps, CI changes, and internal tooling commits.
   • Show the draft notes to the user and ask for approval before creating the release.
4. Create the release once version and notes are approved:

   git checkout main && git pull origin main
   gh release create <version> \
     --title "<version>" \
     --notes "<approved release notes>" \
     --target main
   

5. Print the URL of the published release so the user can verify it.

Constraints

MUST DO

• Always tag off main.
• Get explicit user approval for both the version number and the release notes before creating the release.
• Use semver for all version tags.

MUST NOT DO

• Release from a feature branch.
• Create the release without user approval of version and notes.
• Include internal IDs, PR numbers, branch names, or technical implementation details in release notes.
• Use --draft or --prerelease unless the user explicitly requests it.