Release Creation Command

Create GitHub releases using release-please automation or manual release workflows for containerized applications.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...	Use `deploy-handoff` instead when...
Cutting a new release from `main` and tagging a version	Documenting an already-deployed service for another developer or client
Setting up or auditing release-please automation and manifests	Generating access URLs, monitoring links, and onboarding checklists for a deployed resource
Publishing a manual GitHub release, draft, or pre-release	Producing handoff prose for a ticket rather than cutting a version
Driving the version-tag side of a containerized release pipeline	Building or hardening container images themselves (use `container-development`)

Context

Git remotes: !git remote -v
Branch: !git branch --show-current
Recent tags: !git tag --sort=-v:refname -l 'v*' --format='%(refname:short)' -n5
Last release commit: !git log --oneline --max-count=5
Release config: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name 'release-please-config.json'
Manifest: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name '.release-please-manifest.json'
Changelog: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name 'CHANGELOG.md'

Parameters

Parse from $ARGUMENTS:

$1 (VERSION): Semantic version string (e.g., 1.2.0, v2.0.0-rc.1)
--draft: Create release as draft (not published)
--prerelease: Mark as pre-release

Execution

Execute this release workflow:

Step 1: Determine release strategy

Check whether the project uses release-please or manual releases:

If release-please-config.json exists, use the release-please workflow
If no release-please config exists, use the manual release workflow

Step 2a: Release-please workflow

If release-please is configured:

Verify conventional commits exist since last release tag
Check for an open release PR: gh pr list --label "autorelease: pending" --json number,title,url
If a release PR exists, report its status and URL
If no release PR exists, explain that release-please creates PRs automatically from conventional commits
Provide guidance on merging the release PR to trigger the release

Step 2b: Manual release workflow

If no release-please config:

Validate the VERSION argument follows semver format
Check that the working tree is clean: git status --porcelain
Confirm the branch is main or master

Create the release with:

gh release create v<VERSION> --title "v<VERSION>" --generate-notes

Add --draft flag if --draft was passed
Add --prerelease flag if --prerelease was passed

Step 3: Set up release-please (if requested)

If the user asks to set up release-please automation:

Create release-please-config.json with manifest release type:

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/googleapis/release-please/main/schemas/config.json",
  "release-type": "simple",
  "packages": {
    ".": {
      "component": "<project-name>",
      "extra-files": [
        {"type": "json", "path": "package.json", "jsonpath": "$.version"}
      ],
      "changelog-sections": [
        {"type": "feat", "section": "Features"},
        {"type": "fix", "section": "Bug Fixes"},
        {"type": "perf", "section": "Performance"},
        {"type": "refactor", "section": "Code Refactoring"},
        {"type": "docs", "section": "Documentation"}
      ]
    }
  }
}

Create .release-please-manifest.json with current version:
```
{
  ".": "0.0.0"
}
```
Recommend adding the release-please GitHub Action workflow

Step 4: Report results

Print a summary including:

Release version and URL (if created)
Release PR status (if release-please)
Next steps for the user

Release-Please GitHub Action

Recommended workflow for automation:

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: release-please-config.json
          manifest-file: .release-please-manifest.json

Agentic Optimizations

Context	Command
List recent tags	`git tag --sort=-v:refname -l 'v*' -n5`
Check release PRs	`gh pr list --label "autorelease: pending" --json number,title,url`
Latest release	`gh release view --json tagName,publishedAt,url`
Create release	`gh release create v1.0.0 --generate-notes`
Create draft	`gh release create v1.0.0 --draft --generate-notes`
Create prerelease	`gh release create v1.0.0-rc.1 --prerelease --generate-notes`
List all releases	`gh release list --json tagName,isLatest,isDraft,isPrerelease`
Commits since tag	`git log v1.0.0..HEAD --oneline`

Quick Reference

Flag	Description
`--draft`	Create as draft release (not visible publicly)
`--prerelease`	Mark as pre-release version
`--generate-notes`	Auto-generate release notes from commits
`--notes-file FILE`	Use file contents as release notes
`--target BRANCH`	Target branch for the release tag

Related Skills

deploy-handoff - Generate deployment handoff documentation
container-development - Container image construction and optimization

deploy-release