GitHub Release Skill

This skill automates the full release workflow for a single-package GitHub repository, from analysis through changelog authoring and PR creation. It relies exclusively on gh (GitHub CLI) and git no other tools needed.

Steps 1 - 4 are read-only reconnaissance nothing is written to the repo until Step 5, once the version number is confirmed.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill whenever the user wants to cut a new release, publish a new version, bump a version, create a release branch, generate a changelog, or open a release PR on a GitHub repository. Trigger even if the user says something casual like "let's ship a new version" or "time to release".

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Prerequisites

Examples below include both Bash and PowerShell variants; Windows users should prefer the PowerShell blocks.

Before starting, verify the environment:

gh auth status                        # must be authenticated
gh repo view --json nameWithOwner     # must be inside a GitHub repo
git status                            # working tree should be clean

If any check fails, stop and tell the user what to fix before continuing.

Then ask the user one question:

"Which directory contains your library's public-facing source code? (e.g. src/, lib/, pkg/ - used to focus the diff on what consumers actually see. Press Enter to scan the whole repo.)"

Store the answer as PUBLIC_PATH. If empty, PUBLIC_PATH is . (repo root). Exclude these paths from all diffs regardless: tests/, test/, spec/, __tests__/, docs/, *.lock, *-lock.json, *.sum, generated files (files with a "do not edit" header comment), and build artefacts.

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The 9-Step Release Workflow

Work through every step in order. Show the user what command you're about to run and its output. Pause and ask for confirmation only when explicitly noted.

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Step 1 - Ensure main is up to date

git checkout main
git pull origin main

Stay on main for now. The release branch is created in Step 5, after the version is confirmed.

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Step 2 - Grab the latest version tag

Why not gh release list? GitHub Releases are an optional layer on top of Git tags. Many repos tag releases with git tag without ever creating a GitHub Release, so gh release list can return empty even when version tags exist. Reading tags directly from git is the reliable source of truth.

# Fetch all tags from remote to ensure local view is current
git fetch --tags

# Find the latest version tag, sorted semantically
# --sort=-version:refname handles 1.10.0 > 1.9.0 correctly (unlike alphabetical)
PREV_TAG=$(git tag --sort=-version:refname | grep -E '^v?[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1)
echo "Latest tag: $PREV_TAG"

# Fetch all tags from remote to ensure local view is current
git fetch --tags

# Find the latest version tag, sorted semantically
# --sort=-version:refname handles 1.10.0 > 1.9.0 correctly (unlike alphabetical)
$prevTag = git tag --sort='-version:refname' | `
  Select-String '^[vV]?\d+\.\d+\.\d+' | `
  Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty Line

if ($prevTag) {
  $prevSha = git rev-list -n 1 $prevTag
} else {
  $prevSha = git rev-list --max-parents=0 HEAD
}

Write-Output "Latest tag: $prevTag"

Then verify the tag exists on the remote (not just locally):

git ls-remote --tags origin | grep "refs/tags/$PREV_TAG$"

If the remote check returns nothing, warn the user that the tag appears to be local-only and hasn't been pushed - they may want to push it before continuing.

• PREV_TAG is the tag name exactly as found (e.g. v1.4.2). Strip any leading v when doing arithmetic; preserve it when naming things.
• If no tags exist at all, treat PREV_TAG as (none), set PREV_SHA to the first commit, and default the new version to 1.0.0 (skip Step 4 versioning logic; go straight to Step 5).
• If the tag does not point to a real commit (orphaned tag), fall back to git rev-list --max-parents=0 HEAD and warn the user.

PREV_SHA=$(git rev-list -n 1 "$PREV_TAG" 2>/dev/null || git rev-list --max-parents=0 HEAD)

---

Step 3 - Analyse what changed since the last release

This step uses two complementary signals. The code diff is the primary source of truth; commit messages provide supporting context about intent.

3a - Code diff (primary signal)

# Focused diff on the public source path, excluding noise
git diff "$PREV_SHA"..HEAD -- "$PUBLIC_PATH" \
  ':(exclude)tests/' ':(exclude)test/' ':(exclude)spec/' \
  ':(exclude)__tests__/' ':(exclude)docs/' \
  ':(exclude)*.lock' ':(exclude)*-lock.json' ':(exclude)*.sum'

# Focused diff on the public source path, excluding noise
git diff "$($prevSha)..HEAD" -- $publicPath `
  ':(exclude)tests/' ':(exclude)test/' ':(exclude)spec/' `
  ':(exclude)__tests__/' ':(exclude)docs/' `
  ':(exclude)*.lock' ':(exclude)*-lock.json' ':(exclude)*.sum'

Read the full diff output. For each changed file, identify:

1. Removed symbols - functions, classes, methods, constants, exported names that existed before and are now gone. ? Strong signal for MAJOR.
2. Changed signatures - functions that exist in both versions but with different parameters, return types, or thrown errors. ? Strong signal for MAJOR.
3. New exported symbols - public functions, classes, constants that didn't exist before. ? Signal for MINOR.
4. Internal-only changes - modifications that don't touch any public interface (private helpers, unexported functions, algorithm internals). ? PATCH.
5. Bug fixes - corrections to logic that was provably wrong (e.g. off-by-one, null check, wrong condition), without changing the public API. ? PATCH.

If the diff is very large (thousands of lines), first run the stat summary to prioritise which files to read in full:

git diff "$PREV_SHA"..HEAD --stat -- "$PUBLIC_PATH"

Focus your detailed reading on files with the most changes and files whose names suggest they define public interfaces (e.g. index.*, api.*, exports.*, public.*, mod.*, __init__.*).

3b - Commit log (secondary signal)

git log "$PREV_SHA"..HEAD --oneline --no-merges

Use this to:

• Understand the intent behind code changes that aren't self-explanatory from the diff alone (e.g. a one-line security fix labelled as such).
• Catch changes that may be in paths outside PUBLIC_PATH but are still user-visible (e.g. a CLI flag change in a cmd/ directory).
• Fill in context for changelog entries where the code alone doesn't tell the whole story.

See references/commit-classification.md for mapping message patterns to change types.

3c - Reconcile the two signals

When signals agree ? use that classification with confidence.

When signals conflict ? prefer the code diff. Examples:

• Commit says fix: typo but the diff shows a removed public method ? treat as MAJOR.
• Commit says feat: new API but the diff only touches private internals ? treat as PATCH.
• Commit says chore: refactor but the diff adds new exported symbols ? treat as MINOR.

Document any conflicts you notice - flag them to the user during the changelog review in Step 6.

---

Step 4 - Determine the next SemVer version

Apply these rules to your analysis from Step 3 (full rules in references/semver-rules.md):

Condition	Bump
Any breaking change to public API (removal, signature change, behaviour change)	MAJOR
New exported symbol or feature, no breaking changes	MINOR
Bug fix, perf improvement, security fix, docs, chore only	PATCH

When a release contains a mix, the highest precedence wins: MAJOR > MINOR > PATCH.

Compute NEXT_VERSION:

• Split PREV_TAG into MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH integers.
• Apply the appropriate bump.
• Format as vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.

Present the proposed version to the user with a brief rationale that cites specific code findings, not just commit messages. Example:

"I'm proposing v2.1.0. The diff shows two new exported functions (NewClient and WithTimeout) in src/client.go, and no existing public symbols were removed or changed. Commit messages corroborate this as feature additions."

Ask: "Does this version look right, or would you like to adjust it?" Wait for confirmation before proceeding.

---

Step 5 - Create the release branch

Now that the version is confirmed, create the branch with the correct name from the start:

git checkout -b release/vX.Y.Z
git push -u origin release/vX.Y.Z

---

Step 6 - Update CHANGELOG.md

Read the existing CHANGELOG.md (or create it if absent). Follow the Keep a Changelog format strictly.

Structure to insert at the top (just below the # Changelog header):

## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
- ...

### Changed
- ...

### Deprecated
- ...

### Removed
- ...

### Fixed
- ...

### Security
- ...

Rules:

• Use today's date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
• Omit sections that have no entries - don't leave empty headings.
• Write entries in plain English from a user's perspective, derived primarily from what the code diff shows, supplemented by commit message context. Good: "Added WithTimeout option to HTTP client constructor." Bad: "feat: add timeout cfg param"
• Map findings to sections:
  • New exported symbol ? Added
  • Breaking removal ? Removed
  • Breaking change to existing API ? Changed (flag it as breaking)
  • Bug/logic fix, perf ? Fixed
  • Security fix ? Security
  • Internal refactor, docs, chore, test ? omit unless user-visible
• If a commit message revealed intent that the code diff alone wouldn't convey (e.g. a security fix disguised as a one-line change), include that context in the changelog entry.
• Also update the diff link at the bottom of the file:

  [X.Y.Z]: https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/compare/vPREV...vNEXT
  

Show the user the proposed changelog section before writing it to disk. If any signal conflicts were found in Step 3c, flag them here so the user can verify. Ask: "Does this changelog look accurate? Any entries to add, remove, or reword?" Incorporate feedback, then write to disk.

---

Step 7 - Commit and push

git add CHANGELOG.md
git commit -m "chore: release vX.Y.Z"
git push origin release/vX.Y.Z

Confirm the push succeeded before moving on.

---

Step 8 - Open a Pull Request

?? IMPORTANT: Always use --body-file to pass PR body text, never --body with inline text. Inline escape sequences like \n are not interpreted as newlines by PowerShell and will appear as literal text in the PR. Using a file ensures proper markdown formatting.

gh pr create \
  --base main \
  --head release/vX.Y.Z \
  --title "Release vX.Y.Z" \
  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Release vX.Y.Z

This PR prepares the **vX.Y.Z** release.

### What's included
<!-- paste the changelog section here -->

### Checklist
- [ ] Changelog reviewed
- [ ] Version bump verified
- [ ] CI passing

After merging, create the tag on the merge commit:
\`\`\`
git tag vX.Y.Z <merge-commit-sha>
git push origin vX.Y.Z
\`\`\`
EOF
)"

# Create PR body using here-string (preserves actual newlines, not escape sequences)
$prBody = @"
## Release vX.Y.Z

This PR prepares the **vX.Y.Z** release.

### What's included
<paste changelog here>

### Checklist
- [ ] Changelog reviewed
- [ ] Version bump verified
- [ ] CI passing

After merging, create the tag on the merge commit:
```
git tag vX.Y.Z <merge-commit-sha>
git push origin vX.Y.Z
```
"@

# Write to file and use --body-file (do NOT use inline --body with escape sequences)
$prBody | Out-File -FilePath release_pr_body.md -Encoding utf8 -NoNewline
gh pr create --base main --head release/vX.Y.Z --title "Release vX.Y.Z" --body-file release_pr_body.md

Paste the changelog section into the PR body's "What's included" block (or leave placeholder for manual review).

---

Step 9 - Hand off to the user

Tell the user:

Release PR is open! ??

New version: vX.Y.Z

Once the PR is reviewed and merged, you'll need to create the tag yourself on the merge commit:

git tag vX.Y.Z <merge-commit-sha>
git push origin vX.Y.Z

Then go to GitHub Releases and publish the release from that tag. You can copy the changelog section directly into the release notes.

---

Error handling

Situation	What to do
gh auth status fails	Stop; tell user to run gh auth login
Not inside a git repo	Stop; tell user to cd into their repo
Working tree is dirty	Warn; ask if they want to stash or abort
No commits since last tag	Tell user there's nothing to release
Tag exists but points to no commit	Use first commit as diff base; warn user
Latest tag exists locally but not on remote	Warn user; ask if they want to push the tag first or continue anyway
Diff is empty for PUBLIC_PATH but commits exist	Warn; all changes may be internal; ask if they still want to proceed
git push fails (e.g. protected branch rules)	Report the error verbatim; suggest they check branch protection settings

---

Troubleshooting in PowerShell

• If a command that works locally prints gh usage or treats a subcommand as separate token, ensure you're invoking the gh.exe on PATH (Get-Command gh) and avoid passing unexpanded nested substitutions; use the PowerShell patterns above.
• Recommend tests: gh --version; git fetch --tags; run the PowerShell snippet to set $prevTag and run git diff --name-only $prevSha..HEAD -- src/

---

Limitations

• Requires the gh CLI to be installed and authenticated.
• Requires git tags to determine current version.

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Reference files

• references/semver-rules.md - Extended SemVer decision rules and edge cases
• references/commit-classification.md - Heuristics for classifying commit messages into change types