Release Command

Create a new versioned release of KERNEL.

Prerequisites

• Must be on main branch
• Working tree must be clean (all changes committed)
• GitHub CLI (gh) installed for release creation

Steps

1. Verify State

git branch --show-current
git status --short

If not on main → Error: "Must be on main branch to release. Merge your changes first." If uncommitted changes → Error: "Working tree not clean. Commit or stash changes first."

2. Get Current Version

Read version from .claude-plugin/plugin.json:

cat .claude-plugin/plugin.json | grep '"version"'

Parse current version (e.g., 1.2.0 → major=1, minor=2, patch=0).

3. Ask for Version Bump

Prompt user:

• patch (1.2.0 → 1.2.1) - Bug fixes, small changes
• minor (1.2.0 → 1.3.0) - New features, backwards compatible
• major (1.2.0 → 2.0.0) - Breaking changes

4. Ask for Release Summary

Prompt user for a brief description of what's new in this release. Use this for the commit message and release notes.

5. Update Version Files

Update BOTH version locations:

1. .claude-plugin/plugin.json
2. kernel/.claude-plugin/plugin.json

Replace the old version string with the new version.

6. Update RELEASE_NOTES.md (Optional)

Ask if user wants to prepend release notes. If yes, add section at top:

# KERNEL vX.Y.Z

**Release Date**: [current date]

## What's New

- [User-provided summary items]

---

[Previous content below]

7. Commit

git add -A
git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
Bump version to X.Y.Z

New in this release:
- [summary items]

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
EOF
)"

8. Tag

git tag vX.Y.Z

9. Push

git push origin main
git push origin vX.Y.Z

10. Create GitHub Release (Optional)

Ask if user wants to create a GitHub release:

gh release create vX.Y.Z --title "KERNEL vX.Y.Z" --notes "[release summary]"

11. Report

Display:

• Previous version → New version
• Git tag created
• Release URL (if created)
• Reminder: "Users can update via plugin marketplace"

Version Locations

Both files must stay in sync:

File	Purpose
.claude-plugin/plugin.json	Root plugin manifest
kernel/.claude-plugin/plugin.json	Distributed plugin manifest

Example Run

Current version: 1.2.0
Bump type: minor
New version: 1.3.0

Summary: Added /release command for automated versioning

✓ Updated .claude-plugin/plugin.json
✓ Updated kernel/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
✓ Committed: "Bump version to 1.3.0"
✓ Tagged: v1.3.0
✓ Pushed to origin
✓ Created GitHub release

Release v1.3.0 complete!