Release Management Skill

Automated releases via semantic-release with unified "v" prefix versioning.

How It Works

1. Commits pushed to main trigger .github/workflows/release.yml
2. Checks run first (test + lint matrix)
3. semantic-release analyses commits since last tag
4. Version bumped based on commit types (see conventional-commits skill)
5. CHANGELOG.md updated automatically
6. All package.json files updated across the monorepo (pnpm -r exec -- npm version)
7. Git tag created with v prefix (e.g., v4.46.0)
8. GitHub Release created with auto-generated notes
9. Release commit created: chore(release): v{version} [skip ci]
10. Vercel auto-deploys the new version

Version Scheme

• Format: v{major}.{minor}.{patch} (e.g., v4.46.0)
• Unified version across the entire monorepo
• Tag format configured in .releaserc.json: "tagFormat": "v${version}"

Configuration

.releaserc.json plugins:

1. @semantic-release/commit-analyzer — conventionalcommits preset
2. @semantic-release/release-notes-generator — conventionalcommits preset
3. @semantic-release/changelog — writes CHANGELOG.md
4. @semantic-release/exec — bumps all package.json versions
5. @semantic-release/git — commits changelog + package.json changes
6. @semantic-release/github — creates GitHub Release, adds "released" label

Checking Release Status

# View recent releases
gh release list --limit 5

# View specific release
gh release view v4.46.0

# Check release workflow status
gh run list --workflow=release.yml --limit 5

# View release workflow logs
gh run view <run-id> --log

Debugging Release Failures

Release Not Triggered

• Verify commit type is feat or fix (not chore, docs, etc.)
• Check workflow ran: gh run list --workflow=release.yml
• Verify branch is main

Version Not Bumped

• Check commit message format matches conventional commits
• Look for [skip ci] in commit message (release commits include this)

Workflow Failed

• Check GitHub Actions logs: gh run view <run-id> --log
• Common causes: test failures, lint errors, npm publish issues

Manual Release (Emergency Only)

# Create tag manually
git tag -a v4.47.0 -m "v4.47.0"
git push origin v4.47.0

# Create GitHub release from tag
gh release create v4.47.0 --generate-notes

Related

• See conventional-commits skill for commit message format
• See changelog skill for changelog details
• See deployment-rollback skill for rolling back releases
• Workflow: .github/workflows/release.yml
• Config: .releaserc.json