Release Management Action

Github action for managing the release version and tags based on the release type. In GitHub action inspires from the release-please-action Github action.

Setting up this action

1. If you haven't already done so, create a .github/workflows folder in your repository (this is where your actions will live).

2. Now create a .github/workflows/release-tagging.yml file with these contents:

name: Tag and Release

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [ closed ]
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  release:
    if: github.event.pull_request.merged && (startsWith(github.event.pull_request.head.ref, 'flight/') || startsWith(github.event.pull_request.head.ref, 'hotfix/'))
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Tag and Release
    steps:
      - name: Release
        uses: respond-io/release-management-action@v1.2.0
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          release-prefix: 'v'

For functioning this this action it requires, Github access token with following permissions.

• Read access to codespaces, commit statuses, and metadata
• Read and Write access to code and pull requests

Note: Please always create a fine grained token in Github level with only specific repository.

Figure 1 : GitHub Token Permission

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Figure 2 : GitHub Token Type

Features

• Automatically managed Github tagging and releasing based on the pull request's branch prefix.

As an example, if it have been merged branch which starts from flight/ it increase the minor version number. ex - v1.0.1 to v1.2.0. If the PR branch starts with hotfix/ prefix, it increase the patch release number. ex - v1.0.1 to v1.0.2

Figure 3 : Semantic Versioning

• Update CHANGELOG.md file based on release feature and fixes. This categorization will handle based on the commit name prefixes.
• Automatically update package.json file's version property

Note: As an example this will update, -- Root level package.json file -- ECS service's root level package.json -- Lambda's root level or function level or layer level package.json files

( In Lambda package.json file only update if the action identify when the function level or layer level changes )

How should Developer write commits?

The most important prefixes you should have in mind are:

• fix: which represents bug fixes, and correlates to a SemVer patch. These Commits automatically identifies as Bug Fixes.
• feat: which represents a new feature, and correlates to a SemVer minor. These commits identifies as Features.
• chore: or any other prefix based commits are identified as Other Commits.

Respond.io Git Workflows Notion post's rules and suggestions also supports to above commit name strategies.

For Maintainers

As general, this Github action also use ncc to package the code in to single js file. So in the development please globally install ncc first.

npm i -g @vercel/ncc --save

After your development, please execute following command for building the package file, then push the code to GitHub.

npm run build

Developers

• Hasitha Gamage