Release

Release — Version Bump, Tag, and Changelog

Create a new release with a structured changelog and author attribution.

Arguments

• ` — The version to release (e.g. 1.19.1, v2.0.0). The v` prefix is optional in input but always used for the git tag.

If no version is given, detect the current version and suggest the next one (see Step 1).

Constraints

• Only patch (x.y.Z) or minor (x.Y.0) bumps. Never bump major — the

module path has no /vN suffix, so a major bump would violate Go v2+ rules.

• All version tags use the v prefix (e.g. v1.20.0).

Workflow

0. Ensure on main and pull from upstream

Verify you are on the main branch. If not, stash any pending work and switch:

git branch --show-current

If not on main: git stash && git checkout main

Then pull the latest upstream codebase:

git pull upstream main --rebase

If there are merge conflicts, resolve them before proceeding.

1. Detect current version and suggest the next

Read the current version and identify changes since the last tag:

1. Read the code version from cmd/san/main.go:

``bash grep 'var version = ' cmd/san/main.go ``

1. Get the latest git tag:

``bash git describe --tags --abbrev=0 ` Strip the v` prefix for comparison.

1. Compare. If the code version and tag version differ, warn the user — the code may be out of sync with releases.

1. Get commits since the latest tag:

``bash git log --oneline ..HEAD ``

1. Suggest the next semver bump based on commit content:

• Major (X.0.0): commits with BREAKING CHANGE, or that remove/rename public APIs
• Minor (x.Y.0): feat: commits, new functionality, new features
• Patch (x.y.Z): fix: commits, bug fixes, docs, chores, refactors

Default to patch if the commits don't clearly indicate otherwise.

1. Ask the user. Use AskUserQuestion, showing the current code version and the suggested next version:

• Option 1: the suggested version (e.g. v1.19.1 — patch)
• Option 2: one step larger bump (e.g. v1.20.0 — minor)
• The "Other" option lets the user enter a custom version.

Example: if current is 1.19.0 and commits are all fix: and chore:, offer: `` Current version: 1.19.0 → suggest v1.19.1 (patch) Options: [v1.19.1, v1.20.0] ``

2. Verify the working tree is clean

Check for uncommitted changes before touching any files:

git status --short

If there are any modified or untracked files (other than the version bump and changelog update this workflow will create), stop. Ask the user to commit or stash them first. Do not proceed until the tree is clean.

3. Update the changelog

Add a new CHANGELOG.md section for the target version. Keep older sections in place. The format must match:

## [vX.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
- ...

### Changed
- ...

### Fixed
- ...

Use the commit log from Step 1 as source material. Group entries under Added, Changed, or Fixed based on conventional commit prefixes.

Contributor attribution: Every changelog entry must include the author's GitHub handle and a link to the PR or commit, matching the existing format:

- Description of change ([@username](https://github.com/username) in [#NNN](https://github.com/genai-io/san/pull/NNN))

For direct commits without a PR, use the commit hash:

- Description of change ([@username](https://github.com/username) in [abcdef1](https://github.com/genai-io/san/commit/abcdef1))

Exclude: OWNERS updates, dependabot bumps, and other purely administrative chore commits. Do not list them in the changelog.

Write only the current version section in CHANGELOG.md. Do not pass the entire file as manual release notes later; the GitHub Actions workflow extracts the current version section automatically.

3. Bump the version in source code

Update the version string in cmd/san/main.go:

var version = ""

4. Commit and push

Stage the version bump and changelog update, then commit with sign-off:

git add cmd/san/main.go CHANGELOG.md
git commit -s -m "chore: bump version to "

If the canonical repo is upstream and its main is protected, pushing directly will fail. Use this PR-based path instead:

a. Push the commit to the fork (origin): ``bash git push origin main ``

b. Create a PR from fork main to upstream main: ``bash gh pr create --base main --head :main \ --title "chore: bump version to " \ --body "Bump code version..." ``

c. Wait for required CI checks (DCO, test, lint) to pass on the PR.

d. Check DCO. If the DCO check fails on upstream commits that lack a sign-off (common after rebasing onto upstream), add sign-offs to all PR commits: ``bash git rebase --signoff upstream/main git push --force-with-lease origin main ``

e. Merge the PR (this repo requires squash-merge): ``bash gh pr merge --squash --subject "chore: bump version to " ``

f. Pull the merged result, tag, and push the tag to upstream: ``bash git fetch upstream && git checkout main && git reset --hard upstream/main git tag v git push upstream v ``

If pushing directly to upstream is allowed, use the Makefile helper:

make release-push VERSION=v

This target validates that the working tree is clean, the tag does not already exist, and CHANGELOG.md contains the matching section before it pushes main and the tag.

The tag push triggers the GitHub Actions release workflow (.github/workflows/release.yml) which builds binaries, creates the GitHub release, and uses only the current changelog section as release notes.

5. Wait for the release to be created

Poll until the GitHub release exists:

gh release view v

Wait up to 3 minutes, checking every 15 seconds. If the release hasn't appeared after 3 minutes, check the workflow — use gh run list --workflow=release.yml --event=push --limit=3 (tag-triggered workflows are push events, not branch-based).

Important Notes

• Always use git commit -s to include the DCO sign-off.
• Never force push to main.
• If the version string is already set to the target version, skip the bump and warn the user.
• If the code version already matches the target and the CHANGELOG already contains a matching section (i.e., a prior release attempt was committed but never tagged), skip the bump and changelog steps. Proceed directly to verifying a clean tree, then commit any outstanding files, tag, and push.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: genai-io
• Source: genai-io/san
• License: Apache-2.0
• Homepage: https://genai-io.github.io/san/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.