Release It!
Interactive release tool for Git repositories. Options: run build command first, release to distribution repository (or branch), create GitHub release, publish to npm.
Automatically bump version, commit, tag, push, done.
Here's an extended article about Using Release It!
Obviously, Release It has released itself. Cool, heh?! There's also a Grunt plugin.
Install
npm install release-it -g
Examples
Release a new patch (increments from e.g. 1.0.4
to 1.0.5
):
release-it
Release a patch, minor, major, or specific version:
release-it minor
release-it 0.8.3
release-it 2.0.0-rc.3
Create a pre-release using prelease
, prepatch
, preminor
, or premajor
:
release-it premajor --prereleaseId="beta"
release-it premajor
The first example would increment from e.g. 1.0.6
to 2.0.0-beta.0
, the second from 2.0.0-beta.0
to 2.0.0-beta.1
.
See node-semver for more details.
You can also do a dry run, which won't write/touch anything, but does output the commands it would execute, and show the interactivity:
release-it --dry-run
If you don't like questions and trust the tool, you can use the non-interactive
mode:
release-it --non-interactive
Provide a custom name for the GitHub release:
release-it --github.releaseName="Awesome Ants"
Configuration
Release It can do a lot out-of-the-box, but has plenty of options to configure it.
Help
$ release-it --help
Release It! v2.1.0
Usage: release <increment> [options]
Use e.g. "release minor" directly as shorthand for "release --increment=minor".
Options:
-c, --config Path to local configuration options [default: ".release.json"]
-d, --dry-run Do not touch or write anything, but show the commands and interactivity
-e, --debug Output exceptions
-f, --force Force tagging with Git
-h, --help Print help
-i, --increment Increment "major", "minor", "patch", or "pre*" version; or specify version [default: "patch"]
-m, --message Commit message [default: "Release %s"]
-n, --non-interactive No interaction (assume default answers to questions)
--prereleaseId Identifier for pre-releases (e.g. "beta" in "1.0.0-beta.1")
-p, --npm.publish Auto-publish to npm (only relevant in --non-interactive mode)
--npm.tag Register published package with given tag (default: "latest")
-v, --version Print version number
-V, --verbose Verbose output
Default Settings
{
"non-interactive": false,
"dry-run": false,
"verbose": false,
"force": false,
"pkgFiles": ["package.json"],
"increment": "patch",
"prereleaseId": null,
"commitMessage": "Release %s",
"tagName": "%s",
"tagAnnotation": "Release %s",
"buildCommand": false,
"changelogCommand": "git log --pretty=format:'* %s (%h)' [REV_RANGE]",
"requireCleanWorkingDir": false,
"src": {
"pushRepo": null,
"beforeStartCommand": false,
"beforeStageCommand": false,
"afterReleaseCommand": false
},
"dist": {
"repo": false,
"stageDir": ".stage",
"baseDir": "dist",
"files": ["**/*"],
"pkgFiles": null,
"beforeStageCommand": false,
"afterReleaseCommand": false
},
"npm": {
"publish": false,
"publishPath": ".",
"tag": "latest",
"private": false,
"forcePublishSourceRepo": false
},
"github": {
"release": false,
"releaseName": "Release %s",
"preRelease": false,
"tokenRef": "GITHUB_TOKEN"
},
"prompt": {
"src": {
"status": false,
"commit": true,
"tag": true,
"push": true,
"release": true,
"publish": false
},
"dist": {
"status": false,
"commit": true,
"tag": true,
"push": true,
"release": true,
"publish": false
}
}
}
Notes:
- If
src.pushRepo
has a falsey value, just git push
is used. Otherwise, it's the url or name of a remote in git push <src.pushRepo>
. - If
dist.pkgFiles
has a falsey value, it will take the value of pkgFiles
. - The
after*/before*
commands are executed from the root/working directory of the source or distribution repository. The beforeStageCommand
is executed before files are staged for commit, and after a version bump.
Distribution Repository
Some projects use a special distribution repository. There might be multiple reasons to do.
- Distribute more "clean" file structures (without unrelated test, manifest, documentation files etc.).
- Distribute to target specific package managers. One example is the "shims" repositories in https://github.com/components (the actual source files are elsewhere).
- Distribute just documentation to a Github Pages branch. Also see Using GitHub Pages, the easy way.
Notes:
- To release to a separate "distribution repo", set
dist.repo
to a git endpoint (e.g. "git@github.com:components/ember.git"
). - Note that this can also be a branch, possibly of the same source repository, using
#
notation (e.g. "git@github.com:webpro/release-it.git#gh-pages"
). - In case you want to update
dist.repo
, but still want to publish the source repository to npm, make sure to set "forcePublishSourceRepo": true
.
GitHub
SSH keys & git remotes
The tool assumes you've configured your SSH keys and remotes correctly. In case you need to configure things for GitHub, the following pages might be of help.
GitHub release
To create GitHub releases, you'll need to set github.release
to true
, get a GitHub access token, and make this available as the environment variable defined with github.tokenRef
. With the default settings, you could set it like this:
export GITHUB_TOKEN="f941e0..."
In non-interactive mode, the release is created only for the source repository.
Local configuration file
Place a .release.json
file in your project root, and Release It will use it to overwrite default settings. You can use --config
if you want to use another filename/location. Most options can be set on the command-line (these will have highest priority).
What it does
To keep you in control, many steps need your confirmation before execution. This is what happens if you answer "Yes" to each question:
With the current repository:
- Bump version in
pkgFiles
. - Is
buildCommand
provided? Clean dist.baseDir
and execute the buildCommand
. - Commit changes with
commitMessage
(%s
is replaced with the new version). - Tag commit with
tagName
(and tagAnnotation
). - Push commit and tag.
- Create release on GitHub (with
github.releaseName
and output of changelogCommand
). - No
dist.repo
? Publish package to npm.
Additionally, if a distribution repository is configured:
- Clone
dist.repo
in dist.stageDir
. - Copy
dist.files
from dist.baseDir
to dist.repo
. - Bump version in
dist.pkgFiles
, commit, tag, push dist.repo
. - Create release on GitHub (with
github.releaseName
and output of changelogCommand
). - Publish package to npm.
Notes:
- In the background, some steps of the distribution repo process are actually executed before you are asked to commit anything (even in the source repo), so you know about build, clone, or copy issues as soon as possible.
- If present, your
"private": true
setting in package.json will be respected and you will not be bothered with the question to publish to npm.
Credits
Major dependencies:
The following Grunt plugins have been a source of inspiration:
Why YA...
Why did I need to create yet another "release" tool/plugin? I think this tool stands out:
- As a user-friendly, stand-alone CLI tool.
- Making it simple to release the current project you're working at.
- Working without any configuration, but also provides many options.
- Releasing a separate distribution repository (in a single run).
- Being as quiet or verbose as you want it to be.
License
MIT