bump-release

SKILL.md

Bump Release

Support for both regular and beta releases.

Parameters

version: Optional explicit version to use (e.g., 2.0.0). When provided, skips automatic version inference

--beta: Create a beta release with -beta.X suffix

--dry-run: Preview the release without making any changes (no file modifications, commits, or tags)

Steps

Locate the package - The user may be in a monorepo where the package to release lives in a subdirectory. Look for package.json in the current working directory first; if not found, ask which package to release. All file paths (CHANGELOG.md, package.json, justfile) are relative to the package directory.

Update the CHANGELOG.md file with all changes since the last version release (skip this step for beta releases).

Bump the version in package.json:

Regular release: Follow semantic versioning (e.g., 1.2.3)

Beta release: Add -beta.X suffix (e.g., 1.2.3-beta.1)

Format files - If a justfile exists in the repository, run just full-write to ensure CHANGELOG.md and package.json are properly formatted

Commit the changes with a message like "docs: release "

Create a new git tag by running git tag -a v<version> -m "<version>"

Note: When --dry-run flag is provided, display what would be done without making any actual changes to files, creating commits, or tags.

Process

Check for arguments - Determine if version was provided, if this is a beta release (--beta), and/or dry-run (--dry-run)

Check for clean working tree - Run git status --porcelain to verify there are no uncommitted changes unrelated to this release. If there are, run the commit skill to commit them before proceeding

Write Changelog - Examine diffs between the current branch and the previous tag to write Changelog. Then find
relevant PRs by looking at the commit history and add them to each changelog (when available). If package.json contains
a files field, only include changes within those specified files/directories. If no files field exists, include all
changes except test changes, CI/CD workflows, and development tooling

Follow format - Consult references/common-changelog.md for the Common Changelog specification

Check version - Get current version from package.json

Bump version - If version argument provided, use it directly. Otherwise, if unchanged since last release, increment per Semantic Versioning rules:

For regular releases:

PATCH (x.x.X) - Bug fixes, documentation updates

MINOR (x.X.x) - New features, backward-compatible changes

MAJOR (X.x.x) - Breaking changes

For beta releases (--beta flag):

If current version has no beta suffix: Add -beta.1 to the version

If current version already has beta suffix: Increment beta number (e.g., -beta.1 → -beta.2)

If moving from beta to release: Remove beta suffix and use the base version

When unsure — If the changes are ambiguous (e.g., a new feature that may also break consumers, or a mix of fixes and features), use AskUserQuestion to let the user decide the semver level:

header: "Version"

question: "Changes include both <summary>. Which release level?"

options: list the plausible semver levels with their resulting version (e.g., "1.3.0 (minor)", "2.0.0 (major)")

multiSelect: false

Use the user's choice and skip step 7

Confirm version - When the version was confidently inferred (no explicit version argument), use AskUserQuestion to confirm before proceeding:

header: "Version"

question: "Release <current> → <inferred>?"

options:

The inferred version label (e.g., "1.3.0 (minor)") — mark as "(Recommended)"

One alternative that is one semver level higher (e.g., "2.0.0 (major)")

One alternative that is one semver level lower when possible (e.g., "1.2.4 (patch)")

multiSelect: false

If the user picks an alternative, use that version for the remaining steps. Skip this step when --dry-run is active (show the inferred version in the preview instead)

Beta Release Logic

When --beta flag is provided in the $ARGUMENTS

Check for explicit version - If version provided:

If version already has beta suffix → use as-is

If version has no beta suffix → append -beta.1

Otherwise, parse current version from package.json and determine beta version:

If current version is 1.2.3: Create 1.2.4-beta.1 (increment patch + beta.1)

If current version is 1.2.3-beta.1: Create 1.2.3-beta.2 (increment beta number)

If current version is 1.2.3-beta.5: Create 1.2.3-beta.6 (increment beta number)

Skip CHANGELOG.md update - Beta releases don't update the changelog

Commit and tag with beta version (e.g., v1.2.4-beta.1)

Output

For regular releases only, generate changelog entries in CHANGELOG.md following the format and writing guidelines in references/common-changelog.md. Use the Changed, Added, Removed, Fixed categories (in that order). Every entry must begin with a present-tense verb in imperative mood.

Inclusion Criteria

For regular releases only (changelog generation is skipped for beta releases):

Files field constraint - If package.json contains a files field, only include changes to files/directories specified in that array. All other codebase changes should be excluded from the CHANGELOG

Production changes only - When no files field exists, exclude test changes, CI/CD workflows, and development tooling

Reference pull requests - Link to PRs when available for context

Net changes only - Examine diffs between the current branch and the previous tag to identify changes

Only dependencies and peerDependencies changes - Exclude changes to devDependencies

Examples

Regular Release

# Create a regular patch/minor/major release
/bump-release

# Preview what a regular release would do
/bump-release --dry-run

Beta Release

# Create a beta release with -beta.X suffix
/bump-release --beta

# Preview what a beta release would do
/bump-release --beta --dry-run

Explicit Version

# Specify exact version
/bump-release 2.0.0

# Specify exact beta version
/bump-release 2.0.0-beta.1

# Combine with flags
/bump-release 2.0.0 --dry-run

Version Examples

Current Version
Release Type
New Version

1.2.3
Regular
1.2.4 (patch)

1.2.3
Beta
1.2.4-beta.1

1.2.3-beta.1
Beta
1.2.3-beta.2

1.2.3-beta.5
Regular
1.2.3

1.2.3
2.0.0
2.0.0

1.2.3
2.0.0 + Beta
2.0.0-beta.1

Resources

references/common-changelog.md — Read when generating changelog entries: Common Changelog format and writing guidelines