---

name: release-automation-builder description: Automates releases and package publishing with changesets or semantic-release. Handles versioning, changelog generation, git tags, and release notes. Use for "release automation", "semantic versioning", "package publishing", or "changelog generation".

Release Automation Builder

Automate releases with versioning, changelogs, and publishing.

Using Changesets

Setup

npm install -D @changesets/cli
npx changeset init

Workflow

# .github/workflows/release.yml
name: Release

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

concurrency: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}

jobs:
  release:
    name: Release
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"
          cache: "npm"

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Create Release Pull Request or Publish
        uses: changesets/action@v1
        with:
          publish: npm run release
          commit: "chore: release packages"
          title: "chore: release packages"
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

Package Scripts

{
  "scripts": {
    "changeset": "changeset",
    "version": "changeset version",
    "release": "changeset publish"
  }
}

Using Semantic Release

Configuration

// .releaserc.js
module.exports = {
  branches: ["main"],
  plugins: [
    "@semantic-release/commit-analyzer",
    "@semantic-release/release-notes-generator",
    "@semantic-release/changelog",
    "@semantic-release/npm",
    "@semantic-release/github",
    [
      "@semantic-release/git",
      {
        assets: ["CHANGELOG.md", "package.json"],
        message:
          "chore(release): ${nextRelease.version} [skip ci]\n\n${nextRelease.notes}",
      },
    ],
  ],
};

Workflow

# .github/workflows/release.yml
name: Release

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          persist-credentials: false

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"

      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build

      - name: Release
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
        run: npx semantic-release

Versioning Strategy

Semantic Versioning (SemVer)

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

1.0.0 → 1.0.1  (patch - bug fix)
1.0.1 → 1.1.0  (minor - new feature)
1.1.0 → 2.0.0  (major - breaking change)

Conventional Commits

feat: add new feature (minor bump)
fix: fix bug (patch bump)
perf: performance improvement (patch bump)
docs: update docs (no bump)
chore: maintenance (no bump)

feat!: breaking change (major bump)
fix!: breaking bug fix (major bump)

Changelog Generation

# Changelog

## [2.1.0] - 2024-01-15

### Added

- New dashboard widget (#123)
- Export to PDF feature (#125)

### Fixed

- Memory leak in data processing (#124)
- Typo in error message (#126)

### Changed

- Updated dependencies

## [2.0.0] - 2024-01-01

### Breaking Changes

- Removed deprecated API endpoints
- Changed authentication method

### Migration Guide

See MIGRATION.md for upgrade instructions

Docker Image Publishing

docker-release:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  needs: test
  if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Get version
      id: version
      run: echo "version=$(cat package.json | jq -r '.version')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

    - name: Login to Docker Hub
      uses: docker/login-action@v3
      with:
        username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
        password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}

    - name: Build and push
      uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
      with:
        context: .
        push: true
        tags: |
          mycompany/myapp:latest
          mycompany/myapp:${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}

NPM Publishing

publish:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  needs: test
  if: github.event_name == 'release'
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: "20"
        registry-url: "https://registry.npmjs.org"

    - run: npm ci
    - run: npm run build

    - name: Publish to npm
      run: npm publish
      env:
        NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

GitHub Release Notes

- name: Create GitHub Release
  uses: actions/create-release@v1
  env:
    GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
  with:
    tag_name: v${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
    release_name: Release ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
    body: |
      ## What's Changed
      ${{ steps.changelog.outputs.content }}

      ## Installation
      ```bash
      npm install mypackage@${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
      ```
    draft: false
    prerelease: false

Best Practices

1. Conventional commits: Standardize commit format
2. Protected branches: Prevent direct pushes to main
3. Automated versioning: Let tools determine versions
4. Changelogs: Auto-generate from commits
5. Git tags: Tag every release
6. Release notes: Include migration guides
7. Dry run: Test releases in staging

Output Checklist

• Changesets or semantic-release configured
• Versioning strategy documented
• Changelog generation automated
• Git tagging automated
• Release notes template
• NPM publishing (if package)
• Docker publishing (if applicable)
• Protected branch rules