Release Manager Skill

Overview

Automate release management: calculate semantic version, generate changelogs, create tags, and draft release notes using conventional commits.

Phase 1: ANALYZE

Examine git history since last tag:

Find Last Release

git describe --tags --abbrev=0
# or: git tag -l | sort -V | tail -1

If no tags exist, start from first commit.

Get Commits Since Last Release

git log <last-tag>..HEAD --oneline --no-decorate
# or from start:
git log --oneline --no-decorate

Extract Conventional Commit Types

Parse commit messages for conventional commit format:

<type>(<scope>): <subject>

<body>

<footer>

Types:

• feat: new feature (MINOR version bump)
• fix: bug fix (PATCH version bump)
• perf: performance improvement (PATCH)
• refactor: code refactoring (PATCH, no version bump unless noted)
• docs: documentation only (no version bump)
• style: formatting only (no version bump)
• test: tests only (no version bump)
• chore: dependency updates, build (no version bump)
• ci: CI/CD changes (no version bump)

Breaking Changes:

• Footer BREAKING CHANGE: ... (MAJOR version bump)
• Exclamation in type: feat!: ... (MAJOR version bump)

Classify Commits

feat commits: count = MINOR_COUNT
fix commits: count = PATCH_COUNT
BREAKING CHANGE: count = BREAKING_COUNT

Phase 2: VERSION

Calculate next semantic version:

Read Current Version

• Python: grep -oP '(?<=version = ")[^"]*' pyproject.toml
• Node: grep version package.json | head -1
• Tags: git tag -l | sort -V | tail -1

Current version format: x.y.z (major.minor.patch)

Calculate Next Version

If BREAKING_COUNT > 0: next = (major+1).0.0

Else if MINOR_COUNT > 0: next = major.(minor+1).0

Else if PATCH_COUNT > 0: next = major.minor.(patch+1)

Else: next = major.minor.patch (no change)

Validate Semver

Check version is valid: ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ (and optional pre-release/build)

Phase 3: CHANGELOG

Generate changelog entry with structured sections:

Structure

## [x.y.z] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
- New feature 1 (commit hash)
- New feature 2 (commit hash)

### Fixed
- Bug fix 1 (commit hash)
- Bug fix 2 (commit hash)

### Changed
- Improvement 1 (commit hash)
- Refactoring 1 (commit hash)

### Breaking Changes
- BREAKING: Old API removed, use new API instead (commit hash)

Generate from Commits

1. Iterate commits since last tag
2. Group by type (Added/Fixed/Changed/Breaking)
3. Extract subject line + commit hash
4. Create readable bullet points
5. Include author if first-time contributor

Append to CHANGELOG.md

• Insert new version at top (after header)
• Keep old versions below
• Validate markdown syntax

Phase 4: EXECUTE (with approval)

Only proceed after user reviews and approves version and changelog.

Update Version Files

• Python: sed -i 's/version = ".*"/version = "x.y.z"/' pyproject.toml
• Node: npm version x.y.z --no-git-tag-version or edit package.json
• Other: update version field in relevant file

Update CHANGELOG.md

Append entry created in Phase 3

Create Git Tag

git add pyproject.toml CHANGELOG.md  # (or equivalent)
git commit -m "chore: release v<x.y.z>"
git tag -a v<x.y.z> -m "Release <x.y.z>

[Insert changelog entry here]"

Draft Release Notes

Create markdown file RELEASE_NOTES_<x.y.z>.md:

• Release title: "Release v<x.y.z> - <date>"
• Changelog excerpt
• Migration guide (if BREAKING changes)
• Contributors list (from shortlog)
• Installation/upgrade instructions
• Known issues (if any)

Example

# Release v2.5.0 - 2026-03-08

## Summary
Added new API endpoints for batch operations. Fixed critical memory leak in cache layer.

## What's New

### Added
- Batch processing API with `/api/v2/batch` endpoint
- Webhook support for async notifications
- Admin dashboard metrics panel

### Fixed
- Memory leak in Redis cache causing 100% heap growth
- Race condition in concurrent write operations
- SQL injection vulnerability in legacy search

### Breaking Changes
- Removed deprecated `/api/v1/users` endpoint (use `/api/v2/users` instead)
- Changed auth header from `X-API-Key` to `Authorization: Bearer token`

## Migration Guide
If using v1 API, update endpoints in your client:
- OLD: `GET /api/v1/users` → NEW: `GET /api/v2/users`
- OLD: Header `X-API-Key: key` → NEW: Header `Authorization: Bearer key`

## Contributors
- Alice Smith (5 commits)
- Bob Johnson (3 commits)
- Carol Davis (1 commit, first-time)

## Install/Upgrade
```bash
pip install myproject==2.5.0
# or
npm install myproject@2.5.0

Known Issues

• Batch API rate limit: 100 requests/minute (will increase in 2.5.1)
• Dashboard slow with >10k metrics (optimization in progress)

## Dry-Run Mode (Default)
Always run in dry-run first:
```bash
release-manager --dry-run --version 2.5.0
# Output: would update pyproject.toml, CHANGELOG.md, create tag v2.5.0
# No actual changes made

Then ask user: "Ready to proceed with release v2.5.0? (y/n)"

List Previous Releases

git tag -l -n5 --sort=-version:refname | head -20

Shows previous versions with tag messages for reference.