Promote

Create a release branch from dev and open a PR to main (GitFlow release process).

Mode: AIX-local preferred. Interactive version selection is most useful for humans. Can work in automated pipelines with --yes for non-interactive releases.

Purpose

Use this skill when:

• Ready to release from dev to main
• Want to freeze a snapshot for release
• Need to trigger the release pipeline

How It Works

dev ──────●──────●──────●──────> (keeps moving)
           \
            └── release/v1.2.3 ──PR──> main
                     │
                     ├── CI gate verifies
                     ├── Auto-merge when checks pass
                     └── On merge: tag created, release notes generated

The release branch is a frozen snapshot. Once created, it doesn't change even if dev continues receiving commits.

Version Suggestion

The script analyzes commits since the last release tag to suggest a semantic version bump:

Execution

Manual Steps (if no script provided)

# 1. Ensure on dev and up to date
git checkout dev
git pull origin dev

# 2. Determine version
git tag --sort=-version:refname | head -5  # See recent tags
# Analyze commits: git log --oneline $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD

# 3. Create release branch
VERSION="1.3.0"
git checkout -b release/v${VERSION}
git push -u origin release/v${VERSION}

# 4. Create PR to main
gh pr create --base main --title "Release v${VERSION}" --body "Release v${VERSION}"

With Promote Script

# Analyze commits and suggest version (interactive)
./scripts/promote.sh

# Specify version explicitly
./scripts/promote.sh --version 2.0.0

# Auto-confirm (for CI/automation)
./scripts/promote.sh --yes

# Dry run - preview without changes
./scripts/promote.sh --dry-run

Example Output

Preflight checks...
Fetching latest from origin...
Last release: v1.2.2

Analyzing commits since v1.2.2...

  Commits: 15 total
    Features: 3
    Fixes: 8
    Other: 4

Recent commits:
  abc1234 feat(cards): add comment support
  def5678 fix(drag): prevent duplication
  ...

Suggested version: v1.3.0 (minor: 3 new feature(s))

Accept suggested version? [Y/n/custom]:

Creating release branch: release/v1.3.0
  Source: origin/dev (abc1234)
Pushing to origin...
Creating PR to main...

Release branch created!
  Branch: release/v1.3.0
  PR: https://github.com/your-org/your-repo/pull/123

Next steps:
  1. Wait for CI checks to pass
  2. PR merges when checks pass (or manual merge)
  3. On merge: tag created, release notes generated

What Happens After

1. PR Created: release/v1.3.0 → main
2. CI Gate: Workflow verifies tests pass
3. Merge: PR merges (auto or manual depending on setup)
4. Version Tag: v1.3.0 tag created automatically
5. Release Notes: Changelog generated from commits

Troubleshooting

Branch Already Exists

# Delete and retry
git push origin --delete release/vX.Y.Z
./scripts/promote.sh

PR Already Open

Close or merge the existing release PR first. Only one release should be in flight at a time.

CI Not Passing

The release gate will fail if CI hasn't passed for the release commit. Wait for tests to complete on dev, then retry.

Implementation Notes

Projects implementing this skill should:

1. Create a promote script at ./scripts/promote.sh (or similar)
2. Configure CI workflows to:
   • Run verification on release PRs
   • Create tags on merge to main
   • Generate release notes

See your project's CI configuration for specific workflow files.