Prepare Release

Analyzes commits since the last release and prepares all release artifacts.

Usage

/release-prepare auto       # Auto-detect version from commits
/release-prepare minor      # Force minor version bump
/release-prepare major      # Force major version bump
/release-prepare patch      # Force patch version bump

What This Does

1. Analyze Commits: Get all commits since last release tag
2. Determine Version: Calculate version bump based on commit types
3. Generate Changelog: Create changelog entries grouped by type
4. Create Release Notes: Generate comprehensive release notes
5. Prepare Files: Show what version files need updating

Workflow

Step 1: Get Last Release

Find the most recent release tag and analyze commits since then:

# Get last release tag
LAST_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "")
echo "Last release: ${LAST_TAG:-'No previous release'}"

# Count commits since last release
if [ -n "$LAST_TAG" ]; then
  COMMIT_COUNT=$(git rev-list --count $LAST_TAG..HEAD)
else
  COMMIT_COUNT=$(git rev-list --count HEAD)
fi
echo "Commits since last release: $COMMIT_COUNT"

Step 2: Analyze Commit Types

Parse commits using conventional commit format:

# Get commits since last tag
if [ -n "$LAST_TAG" ]; then
  COMMITS=$(git log $LAST_TAG..HEAD --pretty=format:"%s")
else
  COMMITS=$(git log --pretty=format:"%s")
fi

# Count by type
FEAT_COUNT=$(echo "$COMMITS" | grep -c "^feat" || echo "0")
FIX_COUNT=$(echo "$COMMITS" | grep -c "^fix" || echo "0")
BREAKING_COUNT=$(echo "$COMMITS" | grep -c "!" || echo "0")
BREAKING_FOOTER=$(echo "$COMMITS" | grep -c "BREAKING CHANGE" || echo "0")

echo "Features: $FEAT_COUNT"
echo "Fixes: $FIX_COUNT"
echo "Breaking changes: $((BREAKING_COUNT + BREAKING_FOOTER))"

Step 3: Determine Version Bump

Based on argument or auto-detection:

Auto-detection logic:

• Any breaking changes (! or BREAKING CHANGE) → MAJOR
• Any features (feat:) → MINOR
• Only fixes/docs/chores → PATCH

Step 4: Generate Changelog

Group commits by type for the changelog:

## [VERSION] - DATE

### ⚠️ Breaking Changes
- Breaking change commits

### ✨ Features
- feat: commits

### 🐛 Bug Fixes
- fix: commits

### 📚 Documentation
- docs: commits

### 🔧 Maintenance
- chore:, refactor:, ci: commits

Step 5: Create Release Notes

Generate user-friendly release notes:

# Release vVERSION

## Highlights

Summary of the key changes in this release.

## ⚠️ Breaking Changes

Details on breaking changes with migration instructions.

## ✨ New Features

Description of new features.

## 🐛 Bug Fixes

List of bug fixes.

## 📦 Upgrade

Instructions for upgrading.

Step 6: Show Files to Update

Identify version files that need updating:

• package.json (if exists)
• .claude-plugin/plugin.json (if exists)
• CHANGELOG.md
• Any other version constants

Arguments

• version-type (optional):
  • auto (default): Auto-detect from commits
  • major: Force major version bump
  • minor: Force minor version bump
  • patch: Force patch version bump

Output

The command outputs:

1. Commit analysis summary
2. Determined version number
3. Generated changelog section
4. Draft release notes
5. List of files to update

Example Output

## Release Preparation: v1.6.0

### Commit Analysis

Analyzed 15 commits since v1.5.0:
- 2 features (feat:)
- 5 fixes (fix:)
- 3 documentation (docs:)
- 5 maintenance (chore:, refactor:)

**Version Bump**: MINOR (1.5.0 → 1.6.0)
Reason: New features added, no breaking changes

### Changelog Entry

## [1.6.0] - 2025-01-15

### ✨ Features
- Add issue tracking command (#42)
- Add release preparation workflow (#45)

### 🐛 Bug Fixes
- Fix validation error in hooks (#55)
- Fix duplicate detection (#58)
...

### Files to Update

- [ ] .claude-plugin/plugin.json: 1.5.0 → 1.6.0
- [ ] CHANGELOG.md: Add new section

Ready to proceed?

Integration

This command works with:

• release-manager agent: Full release workflow
• managing-commits skill: Commit analysis
• milestone-close command: Close release milestone

Notes

• Uses conventional commits format for parsing
• Follows semantic versioning (SemVer)
• Generates Keep a Changelog format
• Does NOT automatically update files (presents plan first)