How To Set Up An Automated Release Flow Using Semantic Release And

Leo Migdal

-Dec 4, 2025, 7:23 PM

how to set up an automated release flow using semantic release and

This semantic-release publishing flow consists of using a bot for publishing releases with signed/verified commits. This setup requires creating a Github App, a user account for the bot to use, and adding the following Github Actions secrets to the repo it is being used in: Since the bot will need to make commits to bump the package version and update the change-log after a new release, it will require a user account with a GPG key so that the... To create a new GPG key, run the following: To use an existing GPG key, run the following to list them: Run the following to display the base64-encoded secret key:

One of the most common uses of GitHub Actions in Node.js projects is to automate releases: calculate the next version, tag the repository, generate release notes and publish a GitHub Release (and optionally publish... This release flow usually involves a few key steps: In this article we will set up a GitHub Actions workflow that automates this process every time you push to main. We will explain step by step what each part of the workflow does and why it is important. We want that, every time a push happens in our main branch, a set of tasks runs to automate releases using Conventional Commits: Before going into detail, it is useful to understand how a GitHub Actions workflow is structured.

The main elements are: This is the second story about GitHub Actions. This application guides how to integrate semantic-release with github action to automate software versioning, generate release notes and notify in Slack. Semantic Release is a way to automate the process of versioning and releasing software packages based on the semantic versioning specification, generating the release notes, and publishing the package. The Semantic Versioning scheme consists of three numbers, Major.Minor.Patch, and it helps developers communicate the nature of changes in a release. The key idea behind Semantic Release is to analyze the commit history in a version control system and automatically determine the next appropriate version number based on the nature of changes made since the...

For example: When developers make significant changes that may break backward compatibility, the Major version number is incremented. When new features are added in a backward-compatible manner, the Minor version number is incremented. I recently shipped ContactLink, a simple link-in-bio project, and used it as a testing ground to implement a robust and professional Git workflow. This setup automates versioning and changelog generation using semantic-release driven by disciplined commit messages enforced by commitlint. It’s a game-changer for maintaining clean release history and looks great in any professional portfolio!

Using Conventional Commits (enforced by commitlint) ensures that every commit message follows a standard format (e.g., feat: add new button, fix: correct typo). This structure is not just for neatness; it's the foundation for semantic-release, which automatically determines the next version number (major, minor, or patch) and generates the CHANGELOG.md based on your commits. First, you need the right tools. Here are the core development dependencies you’ll need (as shown in my package.json): After installation, initialize Husky (a Git hooks manager) and set up the scripts: This command creates the .husky/ directory.

Now, you can add your Git hooks. The focus of this article is to demonstrate how to automate releases and release notes with semantic-release in GitLab. semantic-release is a Node CLI application, but it can be used to publish any type of package. This article will explore how to publish npm packages in a private GitLab registry. The Replay is a weekly newsletter for dev and engineering leaders. Delivered once a week, it's your curated guide to the most important conversations around frontend dev, emerging AI tools, and the state of modern software.

It is not a trivial task to decide when and how to increase version numbers and sync them with release notes. The goal of semantic-release is to take over this job based on established software engineering patterns: semantic-release parses the commit messages and extracts certain information, such as the release type and scope. Based on this, the Git history, and the used and configured semantic-release plugins, a new version is calculated, a release is created — which might be published to some registry — and release notes... Semantic-release is a popular tool that fully automates versioning and publishing your project based on commit messages. By following a Conventional Commits style (e.g.

feat:, fix: prefixes), it determines whether to bump a major, minor or patch version and publishes artifacts accordingly. You can configure it to publish to npm, create GitHub Releases, and even tag & push Docker images - all without manual intervention. First, install semantic-release and the plugins you need: If you want Docker image publishing, also install a Docker plugin like felixfbecker/semantic-release-docker or @codedependant/semantic-release-docker. Next, ensure your project uses Conventional Commits: semantic-release will parse your commit messages to infer the next version. Tools like commitlint or commitizen can help enforce this format.

Initialize a Git repo (if you haven’t already) and make sure the latest release tag is present (see Troubleshooting below). Finally, define a script to run releases. In package.json add: Lorenzo Miscoli | Last modified : 7 October 2024 As developers we tend to automate everything, so why not automate the generation of Git tags? Having to create Git tags everytime we merge into main is not productive and we’re really likely to make mistakes or just forget.

This is why I decided to write this article and explain how automating versioning and releases using Semantic Release. Semantic versioning, also called (SemVer), is a versioning scheme that provides a standardized way to communicate changes in a software package or application. It follows the format of MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, where: The advantages of using semantic versioning are: In this article we’ll use Semantic Release, which is a tool that automates version management and package publishing. Semantic Release automates the whole package release workflow including: determining the next version number, generating the release notes, and publishing the package.

Posted on Nov 30, 2024 • Edited on Dec 12, 2024 Automating versioning and releases is essential for maintaining a smooth and consistent development workflow. By combining Semantic Versioning (SemVer) with GitHub Actions, you can automatically manage version bumps, changelogs, and releases whenever changes are pushed to your repository. This eliminates manual tasks, improves productivity, and ensures a reliable release process. This process is a part of the broader CI/CD workflow, ensuring consistent and error-free releases. In this guide, we’ll walk through setting up a GitHub Actions workflow that automates the release process using Semantic Versioning.

Before diving into the implementation, let's look at the key components we'll be using to build our automation workflow: Semantic versioning (often abbreviated as SemVer) is a versioning scheme that aims to make it clear whether changes in your project are backward compatible, introduce breaking changes, or simply fix bugs. A typical SemVer version number looks like this: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g. v1.4.8). Learn more about our Custom Development and CMS services. This article intends to give you examples and show you how to manage and automate complex release workflows with semantic-release.

These workflows are based on multiple Git branches and distribution channels. Release management can be challenging, especially for projects with frequent updates and multiple contributors. However, by implementing a streamlined workflow with semantic-release, you can simplify the release process and ensure consistent versioning and distribution. Semantic-release is a popular open-source tool that automates the process of versioning and publishing of software packages. It follows the principles of semantic versioning, where version numbers convey meaning about the code changes. Semantic-release allows developers to focus more on writing code and less on managing releases.

Let's dive into the details. We will start by outlining the topic and showing which problems semantic-release solves. We will also present relevant use cases. When working on a software project with multiple developers and frequent updates, a standardized release process is crucial. Manually managing version numbers, generating changelogs, and publishing to different distribution channels can be time consuming and lead to errors. Semantic-release solves this problem by automating these tasks based on predefined rules and commit message conventions.

How To Set Up An Automated Release Flow Using Semantic Release And

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