Release Workflow

This skill provides a systematic workflow for creating and publishing releases for the linear-cli project. It handles changelog management, version bumping, testing, and tagging.

When to Use

Use this skill when preparing to release a new version of linear-cli. The workflow ensures all changes are documented, tests pass, and versions are properly tagged before publishing.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following tools are available:

• changelog skill for changelog management
• svbump for version bumping (installed)
• jj for version control operations
• just for running the release tasks
• jq for updating the Claude Code plugin versions

Release Workflow

Step 1: Review Commits Since Last Release

Determine the commits that have been made since the last release:

jj log --ignore-working-copy --git -r 'tags()..@' --no-graph

This shows all commits from the most recent tag to the current commit.

Step 2: Add Changelog Entries

For each commit identified above, evaluate whether it warrants a changelog entry. Focus on user-facing changes:

Include in changelog:

• New features
• Bug fixes
• Breaking changes
• Significant improvements
• Deprecations

Exclude from changelog:

• Internal refactoring without user impact
• Documentation-only changes
• Build/CI configuration changes
• Chore commits (unless significant)

Use the changelog CLI to add entries. Use --attribute-pr with the commit SHA to automatically look up the associated PR and add attribution, excluding schpet and schpetbot:

changelog add --type <type> "<description>" --attribute-pr <commit-sha> --exclude-users schpet,schpetbot

Omit --attribute-pr for commits without an associated PR or when attribution isn't relevant.

Types match Keep a Changelog categories:

• added - New features
• changed - Changes in existing functionality
• deprecated - Soon-to-be removed features
• removed - Removed features
• fixed - Bug fixes
• security - Security improvements

Step 3: Verify Changelog with User

After adding all relevant changelog entries, show the unreleased section of CHANGELOG.md to the user and ask them to review it:

1. Read the CHANGELOG.md file
2. Show the [Unreleased] section
3. Ask: "Please review these changelog entries. Are there any changes needed before release?"
4. Make any requested adjustments

Step 4: Determine Semver Bump

Based on the types of changes in the changelog, determine and recommend the appropriate semantic version bump:

Major (X.0.0):

• Breaking changes
• Removed features
• Significant API changes

Minor (0.X.0):

• New features (added)
• Deprecations
• Backward-compatible functionality additions

Patch (0.0.X):

• Bug fixes
• Security fixes
• Minor improvements with no new features

Present the recommendation to the user:

Based on the changelog entries, I recommend a <MAJOR/MINOR/PATCH> version bump because:
- [reason 1]
- [reason 2]

Current version: <current>
Proposed version: <proposed>

Should I proceed with this version bump?

Wait for user confirmation before proceeding.

Step 5: Run Changelog Release

Once the user confirms the version bump, run the changelog release command with the appropriate semver level:

changelog release <major|minor|patch>

This updates CHANGELOG.md, converting the Unreleased section to a versioned release.

Step 6: Execute Tag Process

After the changelog is released, run the tag recipe:

just tag

It does the whole release in order, stopping at the first failure:

1. Quality checks (just check): cargo fmt --all --check, cargo clippy --locked --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings, and cargo test --locked --workspace
2. Version bump: writes the latest changelog version to workspace.package.version in Cargo.toml with svbump, then refreshes Cargo.lock with cargo update --workspace
3. Skill docs (just skill-docs): regenerates skills/linear-cli/SKILL.md and its references from the CLI's help
4. Plugin versions (just plugin-version): sets version in .claude-plugin/plugin.json and both version and plugins[0].version in .claude-plugin/marketplace.json
5. Commit and tag: jj commit -m "chore: Release linear-cli version <version>", then moves the main bookmark and sets the v<version> tag on that commit (@-)
6. Push: jj git push --bookmark main, then git push origin --tags

When it finishes it prints released v<version>.

Error Handling

If any step fails:

• Quality checks fail: Fix the issues before continuing. Do not proceed with release if tests fail or linting errors exist.
• Version bump fails: Verify the version format and files exist.
• Push fails: Check authentication and remote access.

Always stop and report errors clearly. Never continue the release process if a critical step fails.

Important Notes

• The justfile tag recipe runs every step above; there is no need to run them by hand
• Use jj for all version control operations (per the project AGENTS.md)
• Always use --ignore-working-copy for read-only jj operations
• The workflow creates a commit on the parent (@-) and then creates a new working commit
• Both jj git push and git push origin --tags are needed (jj for bookmark, git for tags)

Post-Release

After successful release:

1. Verify the tag appears on GitHub
2. Check that the GitHub Actions release workflow (.github/workflows/release.yml) builds the binaries and publishes the Homebrew formula and npm package
3. Confirm the new version is published

Reference

See the tag and plugin-version recipes in the justfile for the implementation.