release-please-development

Release Please Development

Configure automated versioning, changelog generation, and releases using Google's release-please.

Quick Reference

• Single Package Pattern - Simple repos with one version
• Multi-Package Pattern - Monorepos with independent versions
• Configuration Options - All available settings

Overview

Release-please automates:

• Version bumping based on conventional commits
• CHANGELOG.md generation
• GitHub release creation
• Version updates in files (package.json, Chart.yaml, etc.)

Core Files

.github/
├── release-please-config.json    # Package configuration
├── release-please-manifest.json  # Current version tracking
└── workflows/
    └── release.yaml              # GitHub Actions workflow

When to Use Each Pattern

Pattern	Use Case
Single Package	Libraries, CLIs, simple apps with one version
Multi-Package	Monorepos, services with independent release cycles

Basic Setup

1. Create Config File

.github/release-please-config.json:

{
  "release-type": "simple",
  "packages": {
    ".": {
      "changelog-path": "CHANGELOG.md"
    }
  }
}

2. Create Manifest

.github/release-please-manifest.json:

{
  ".": "0.0.1"
}

3. Add GitHub Workflow

.github/workflows/release.yaml:

name: Release

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: googleapis/release-please-action@v4
        with:
          config-file: .github/release-please-config.json
          manifest-file: .github/release-please-manifest.json

Release Types

Type	Use Case	Versions
simple	Generic projects	CHANGELOG only
node	npm packages	package.json
python	Python packages	setup.py, pyproject.toml
go	Go modules	go.mod
helm	Helm charts	Chart.yaml

Updating Extra Files

Use extra-files to update versions in arbitrary files:

{
  "packages": {
    ".": {
      "extra-files": [
        {
          "type": "json",
          "path": "manifest.json",
          "jsonpath": "$.version"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code Plugin Marketplaces

For marketplaces with multiple plugins sharing a single version:

{
  "release-type": "simple",
  "packages": {
    ".": {
      "changelog-path": "CHANGELOG.md",
      "extra-files": [
        {
          "type": "json",
          "path": ".claude-plugin/marketplace.json",
          "jsonpath": "$.plugins[0].version"
        },
        {
          "type": "json",
          "path": ".claude-plugin/marketplace.json",
          "jsonpath": "$.plugins[1].version"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add a jsonpath entry for each plugin in the marketplace. When adding new plugins, update both:

1. .claude-plugin/marketplace.json - add the plugin entry
2. .github/release-please-config.json - add jsonpath for the new plugin's version

Conventional Commits

Release-please uses commit prefixes to determine version bumps:

Prefix	Version Bump	Example
feat:	Minor (0.x.0)	New feature
fix:	Patch (0.0.x)	Bug fix
feat!: or BREAKING CHANGE	Major (x.0.0)	Breaking change
docs:, chore:, etc.	None	No release

How It Works

1. Push commits to main with conventional commit messages
2. Release-please creates/updates a release PR
3. Merge the release PR to create a GitHub release
4. Tags and changelog are automatically generated

See Also

• Single Package Example - Detailed single-package setup
• Multi-Package Example - Monorepo configuration
• Configuration Reference - All options explained