release-it

# Release It! 🚀 🚀 Generic CLI tool to automate versioning and package publishing related tasks: <img align="right" src="./docs/assets/release-it.gif?raw=true" height="280"> - Execute test & build commands - Bump version (in e.g. `package.json`) - [Git commit, tag, push](#git) - [Create release at GitHub](#github-releases) or [GitLab](#gitlab-releases) - [Generate changelog](#changelog) - [Publish to npm](#publish-to-npm) - [Manage pre-releases](#manage-pre-releases) - [Hooks](#hooks) - Extend with [plugins](#plugins) - Release from any [CI/CD environment](./docs/ci.md) [![Action Status](https://github.com/release-it/release-it/workflows/Cross-OS%20Tests/badge.svg)](https://github.com/release-it/release-it/actions) [![npm version](https://badge.fury.io/js/release-it.svg)](https://badge.fury.io/js/release-it) [![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/release-it/release-it/branch/master/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/release-it/release-it) ## Links - See [CHANGELOG.md](./CHANGELOG.md) for major/breaking updates, and [releases](https://github.com/release-it/release-it/releases) for a detailed version history. - To **contribute**, please read [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) first. - Please [open an issue](https://github.com/release-it/release-it/issues/new) if anything is missing or unclear in this documentation. <details> <summary><strong>Table of Contents</strong> (click to expand)</summary>  - [Installation](#installation) - [Usage](#usage) - [Configuration](#configuration) - [Interactive vs. CI mode](#interactive-vs-ci-mode) - [Latest version](#latest-version) - [Prerequisite checks](#prerequisite-checks) - [Git](#git) - [Mercurial](#mercurial) - [GitHub Releases](#github-releases) - [GitLab Releases](#gitlab-releases) - [Changelog](#changelog) - [Publish to npm](#publish-to-npm) - [Manage pre-releases](#manage-pre-releases) - [Hooks](#hooks) - [Plugins](#plugins) - [Distribution repository](#distribution-repository) - [Metrics](#metrics) - [Troubleshooting & debugging](#troubleshooting--debugging) - [Use release-it programmatically](#use-release-it-programmatically) - [Example projects using release-it](#example-projects-using-release-it) - [Resources](#resources)  </details> ## Installation Although release-it is a **generic** release tool, installation requires npm. A `package.json` file is not required. The recommended way to install release-it also adds basic configuration. Answer one or two questions and it's ready: ```bash npm init release-it ``` Alternatively, install it manually, and add the `release` script to `package.json`: ```bash npm install --save-dev release-it ``` ```json { "name": "my-package", "version": "1.0.0", "scripts": { "release": "release-it" }, "devDependencies": { "release-it": "*" } } ``` Now you can run `npm run release` from the command line (any release-it arguments behind the `--`): ```bash npm run release npm run release -- minor --ci ``` ### Global usage Use release-it in any (non-npm) project, take it for a test drive, or install it globally: ```bash # Run release-it from anywhere (without installation) npx release-it # Install globally and run from anywhere npm install --global release-it release-it ``` ## Usage Release a new version: ```bash release-it ``` You will be prompted to select the new version, and more questions will follow based on your setup. For a "dry run" (to show the interactivity and the commands it _would_ execute): ```bash release-it --dry-run ``` Note: read-only commands are still executed (`$ ...`), while the rest is not (`! ...`): ```bash $ git rev-parse --git-dir .git ! git add package.json ! git commit --message="Release 0.8.3" ``` ## Configuration Out of the box, release-it has sane defaults, and [plenty of options](./config/release-it.json) to configure it. Put (only) the options to override in a configuration file. This is where release-it looks for configuration: - `.release-it.json` - `.release-it.js` (export the configuration object: `module.exports = {}`) - `.release-it.yaml` (or `.yml`) - `.release-it.toml` - `package.json` (in the `release-it` property) Use `--config` to use another path for the configuration file. An example `.release-it.json`: ```json { "git": { "commitMessage": "chore: release v${version}" }, "github": { "release": true } } ``` Or in a `release-it` property in `package.json`: ```json { "name": "my-package", "devDependencies": { "release-it": "*" }, "release-it": { "github": { "release": true } } } ``` Or use YAML in `.release-it.yml`: ```yaml git: requireCleanWorkingDir: false ``` Or TOML in `.release-it.toml`: ```toml [hooks] "before:init" = "npm test" ``` Any option can also be set on the command-line, and will have highest priority. Example: ```bash release-it minor --git.requireBranch=master --github.release ``` Boolean arguments can be negated by using the `no-` prefix: ```bash release-it --no-npm.publish ``` ## Interactive vs. CI mode By default, release-it is **interactive** and allows you to confirm each task before execution: <img src="./docs/assets/release-it-interactive.gif?raw=true" height="290"> By using the `--ci` option, the process is fully automated without prompts. The configured tasks will be executed as demonstrated in the first animation above. On a Continuous Integration (CI) environment, this non-interactive mode is activated automatically. ## Latest version For projects with a `package.json`, its `version` will be used. Otherwise, release-it uses the latest Git tag to determine which version should be released. In any case, as a last resort, `0.0.0` will be used as the latest version. Use `--no-increment` to not increment the version. Use `--npm.ignoreVersion` to use the latest Git tag. Use `--no-npm` (or `"npm": false`) to ignore and skip bumping `package.json` and skip `npm publish` altogether. Alternatively, a plugin can be used to get the version from anywhere else (e.g. a `VERSION` file). Also see [plugins](./docs/plugins.md). ## Prerequisite checks Read more about [prerequisites checks](./docs/prerequisites.md) release-it does to help prevent incorrect or polluted releases. ## Git Git projects are supported well by release-it, automating the tasks to stage, commit, tag and push releases to any Git remote. → See [Git](./docs/git.md) for more details. ## Mercurial An experimental [Mercurial plugin](https://github.com/release-it/mercurial) is available. ## GitHub Releases The "Releases" tab on GitHub projects links to a page to store the changelog cq. release notes. To add [GitHub releases](https://help.github.com/articles/creating-releases) in your release-it flow: - Configure `github.release: true`. - Obtain a [personal access token](https://github.com/settings/tokens) (release-it only needs "repo" access; no "admin" or other scopes). - Make sure the token is available as an environment variable. Example: ```bash export GITHUB_TOKEN="f941e0..." ``` → See [GitHub Releases](./docs/github-releases.md) for more details. ## GitLab Releases [GitLab releases](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/workflow/releases.html#releases) work just like GitHub releases: - Configure `gitlab.release: true`. - Obtain a [personal access token](https://gitlab.com/profile/personal_access_tokens) (release-it only needs the "api" scope). - Make sure the token is available as an environment variable. Example: ```bash export GITLAB_TOKEN="f941e0..." ``` → See [GitLab Releases](./docs/gitlab-releases.md) for more details. ## Changelog By default, release-it generates a changelog, to show and help select a version for the new release. Additionally, this changelog serves as the release notes for the GitHub or GitLab release. The [default command](./config/release-it.json) is based on `git log ...`. This setting (`git.changelog`) can be overridden. To customize the release notes for the GitHub or GitLab release, use `github.releaseNotes` or `gitlab.releaseNotes`. Make sure any of these commands output the changelog to `stdout`. Instead of executing a shell command, a (Handlebars) template can be used to generate the changelog. See [auto-changelog](./docs/changelog.md#auto-changelog) for more details. If your project follows conventions, such as the [Angular commit guidelines](https://github.com/angular/angular.js/blob/master/DEVELOPERS.md#commits), the [@release-it/conventional-changelog](https://github.com/release-it/conventional-changelog) plugin is useful. → See [Changelog](./docs/changelog.md) for more details. ## Publish to npm With a `package.json` in the current directory, release-it will let `npm` bump the version in `package.json` (and `package-lock.json` if present), and publish to the npm registry. → See [Publish to npm](./docs/npm.md) for more details. ## Manage pre-releases With release-it, it's easy to create pre-releases: a version of your software that you want to make available, while it's not in the stable semver range yet. Often "alpha", "beta", and "rc" (release candidate) are used as identifier for pre-releases. An example pre-release version is `2.0.0-beta.0`. → See [Manage pre-releases](./docs/pre-releases.md) for more details. ## Hooks Use script hooks to run shell commands at any moment during the release process (such as `before:init` or `after:release`). The format is `[prefix]:[hook]` or `[prefix]:[plugin]:[hook]`: | part | value | | ------ | ------------------------------------------- | | prefix | `before` or `after` | | plugin | `version`, `git`, `npm`, `github`, `gitlab` | | hook | `init`, `bump`, `release` | Use the optional `:plugin` part in the middle to hook into a life cycle method exactly before or after any plugin. The core plugins include `version`, `git`, `npm`, `github`, `gitlab`. See [execution order](./docs/plugins.md#execution-order) for more details on execution order of plugin lifecycle methods. All commands can use configuration variables (like template strings). An array of commands can also be provided, they will run one after another. Some example release-it configuration: ```json { "hooks": { "before:init": ["npm run lint", "npm test"], "after:my-plugin:bump": "./bin/my-script.sh", "after:bump": "npm run build", "after:git:release": "echo After git push, before github release", "after:release": "echo Successfully released ${name} v${version} to ${repo.repository}." } } ``` The variables can be found in the [default configuration](./config/release-it.json). Additionally, the following variables are exposed: ``` version latestVersion changelog name repo.remote, repo.protocol, repo.host, repo.owner, repo.repository, repo.project ``` All variables are available in all hooks. The only exception is that the additional variables listed above are not yet available in the `init` hook. Use `--verbose` to log the output of the commands. For the sake of verbosity and to not complicate matters further, the above table is not complete. The full list of hooks is actually: `init`, `beforeBump`, `bump`, `beforeRelease`, `release` or `afterRelease`. However, hooks like `before:beforeRelease` look weird and are usually not useful in practice. ## Plugins Since v11, release-it can be extended in many, many ways. Here are some examples: | Plugin | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [@release-it/bumper](https://github.com/release-it/bumper) | Read & write the version from/to any file | | [@release-it/conventional-changelog](https://github.com/release-it/conventional-changelog) | Provides recommended bump, conventional-changelog, and updates `CHANGELOG.md` | | [release-it-lerna-changelog](https://github.com/rwjblue/release-it-lerna-changelog) | Integrates lerna-changelog into the release-it pipeline | | [@grupoboticario/news-fragments](https://github.com/grupoboticario/news-fragments) | An easy way to generate your changelog file | Internally, release-it uses its own plugin architecture (for Git, GitHub, GitLab, npm). → See all [release-it plugins on npm](https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=keywords:release-it-plugin). → See [plugins](./docs/plugins.md) for more details. ## Distribution repository Some projects use a distribution repository. Generated files (such as compiled assets or documentation) can be distributed to a separate repository. Or to a separate branch, such as a `gh-pages`. Some examples include [shim repositories](https://github.com/components) and a separate [packaged Angular.js repository](https://github.com/angular/bower-angular) for distribution on npm and Bower. The `dist.repo` option was removed in v10, but similar setups can still be achieved. Please see the [distribution repository](./docs/recipes/distribution-repo.md) recipe for example configurations. ## Metrics Use `--disable-metrics` to opt-out of sending some anonymous statistical data to Google Analytics. For details, refer to [lib/metrics.js](./lib/metrics.js). Please consider to not opt-out: more data means more support for future development. ## Troubleshooting & debugging - With `release-it --verbose` (or `-V`), release-it prints every custom script/hook and its output. - With `release-it -VV`, release-it also prints every internal command and its output. - Prepend `DEBUG=release-it:* release-it [...]` to print configuration and more error details. ## Use release-it programmatically While mostly used as a CLI tool, release-it can be used as a dependency to integrate in your own scripts. See [use release-it programmatically](./docs/recipes/programmatic.md) for example code. ## Example projects using release-it - [react-navigation/react-navigation](https://github.com/react-navigation/react-navigation) - [swagger-api/swagger-ui](https://github.com/swagger-api/swagger-ui) + [swagger-editor](https://github.com/swagger-api/swagger-editor) - [js-cookie/js-cookie](https://github.com/js-cookie/js-cookie) - [StevenBlack/hosts](https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts) - [youzan/vant](https://github.com/youzan/vant/search?q=release-it) - [antonmedv/fx](https://github.com/antonmedv/fx) - [react-native-community/react-native-tab-view](https://github.com/react-native-community/react-native-tab-view) - [callstack/linaria](https://github.com/callstack/linaria) + [react-native-paper](https://github.com/callstack/react-native-paper) - [tabler/tabler-icons](https://github.com/tabler/tabler-icons) - [blockchain/blockchain-wallet-v4-frontend](https://github.com/blockchain/blockchain-wallet-v4-frontend) - [Repositories that depend on release-it](https://github.com/release-it/release-it/network/dependents) - GitHub search for [projects with .release-it.json](https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=in%3Apath+.release-it.json&s=indexed&type=Code) ## Resources - [semver.org](https://semver.org) - [GitHub Help](https://help.github.com) (→ [About Releases](https://help.github.com/articles/about-releases)) - [npm Blog: Publishing what you mean to publish](https://blog.npmjs.org/post/165769683050/publishing-what-you-mean-to-publish) - [npm Documentation: package.json](https://docs.npmjs.com/files/package.json) - [Prereleases and npm](https://medium.com/@mbostock/prereleases-and-npm-e778fc5e2420) - [Glob Primer (node-glob)](https://github.com/isaacs/node-glob#glob-primer) (release-it uses [globby](https://github.com/sindresorhus/globby#readme))