claude/skills/release-candidate/SKILL.md

name, effort, description, allowed-tools

name	effort	description	allowed-tools
release-candidate	low	Use when develop is ahead of main and you want to cut a versioned release — finalize version.txt + CHANGELOG, merge develop→main via the gitflow fan-out, tag it, and push. Triggers: "cut a release", "release candidate", "tag a version", "ship develop to main". NOT feature/bugfix integration (that is gitflow finish via /ship-feature) nor a hotfix.	Read Write Edit Bash Grep Glob Agent AskUserQuestion

/release-candidate — cut a gitflow release (orchestrator)

Overview

Turns the accumulated work on develop into a tagged release on main. THIN ORCHESTRATOR over lib/gitflow.sh: the lib does the generic fan-out (release branch → main + back to develop + delete the branch); the skill adds what the lib deliberately does not know — the version number, the CHANGELOG, the human "is it time?" gate, and the git tag.

Division of labour (lib = mechanic, skill = judgment): the tag lives HERE, not in gitflow.sh, because it is release-specific (version + message + human decision) while the lib's fan-out is generic. Consequence (accepted): a release cut by calling gitflow finish directly, bypassing this skill, fans out but is NOT tagged — /release-candidate is the canonical release path.

The two mechanical spans (prep, finish+tag) run on the sonnet-pinned release-executor subagent (dispatch makes the pin effective) — no model gate needed here, dispatch does the job. This dispatcher keeps everything the executor must never own: the version-NUMBER decision (judgment — derives from semver change nature), and the two human gates (when to release, and the tag push). A human gate sits BETWEEN the two spans by construction, so the executor is never dispatched twice in one call.

When to use

• develop is ahead of main and you want to publish a version.
• "cut a release", "release candidate", "tag a version", "ship develop to main".

Not for: integrating a feature/bugfix → gitflow finish (via /ship-feature). A prod emergency fix off main → hotfix (different fan-out).

Versioning

• Tag scheme vX.Y.Z (semver, v-prefix — Gitea/GitHub release convention). Continues the version.txt + CHANGELOG lineage (the repo's authority); never restart at v1.0.0 (desyncs from a CHANGELOG already at 3.x+).
• The number DERIVES from the change nature (semver), not the reverse: a migration-requiring/breaking change → MAJOR; new features → MINOR; fixes → PATCH. Personal repo ⇒ "breaking" = requires a migration of your own usage. Decide the number BEFORE running.

Flow

REQUIRED: lib/gitflow.sh (the release mechanic, via the release-executor subagent). Clean tree, identity set, develop ahead of main.

STEP 1 — Preconditions

git status --porcelain=v1 | wc -l    # 0 required — clean tree
git config user.email                # must be set
git rev-list --count main..develop   # 0 → nothing to release, STOP

Any of these fail their check → STOP, tell the user what's blocking, dispatch nothing.

STEP 2 — Version-number decision (judgment, stays HERE)

Read the ## [Unreleased] section of CHANGELOG.md and the commits on develop since main. Apply the Versioning rule above (breaking → MAJOR, features → MINOR, fixes → PATCH) and settle <X.Y.Z> before dispatching anything — the executor never derives or second-guesses this number.

STEP 3 — Dispatch: prep

Agent(subagent_type="release-executor")
prompt: "SPAN: prep <X.Y.Z>
<any release-candidate fixes to fold into the prep commit, or 'none'>"

Parse the RELEASE-EXEC REPORT:

• STATUS: DONE → continue to STEP 4, carrying the TESTS line forward.
• STATUS: NEED-DECISION → surface the exact question to the user, STOP (don't guess the CHANGELOG wording on its behalf). Resume note: prep may have already run gitflow start release (the release branch exists) — do NOT re-dispatch SPAN: prep (it would BLOCK on the existing branch); resolve the CHANGELOG on the current release branch, commit the prep, then resume at STEP 4.
• STATUS: BLOCKED → surface the blocker verbatim, STOP.

STEP 4 — HUMAN GATE: when to release

STOP. Show the prep report's TESTS result, then:

AskUserQuestion:
  Release <X.Y.Z> now? (tests: <TESTS line from STEP 3>) — go / hold

Proceed only on an explicit human go. Never fire on "tests pass" — a green suite means ready to release, not authorized to. hold → stop here; the prepped release/<X.Y.Z> branch stays as-is for a later run.

STEP 5 — Dispatch: finish + tag

Agent(subagent_type="release-executor")
prompt: "SPAN: finish <X.Y.Z>"

Parse the RELEASE-EXEC REPORT:

• STATUS: DONE → continue to STEP 6, carrying the TAG value forward.
• STATUS: BLOCKED → surface the blocker verbatim (e.g. a merge conflict the fan-out hit), STOP — resolving a conflicted fan-out is a human call, not an auto-retry.

STEP 6 — Tag push GATE (ASK)

main and develop are already on origin: the lib pushes every merge as it lands (_gitflow_merge_into + the post-merge hook, BDR-095). Only the tag is left. STOP. On explicit go only (LRN-069) — run the tag push HERE, in this dispatcher, never delegated to the executor:

AskUserQuestion:
  Push tag v<X.Y.Z> to origin? — go / hold

Go →

git push origin v<X.Y.Z>

hold → stop; the release is on origin (main + develop), the tag stays local.

Common mistakes

• Tagging before gitflow finish → tag wouldn't sit on main's merge commit. Tag AFTER, on main.
• Auto-firing finish because tests pass → finish is a HUMAN gate.
• Restarting the tag at v1.0.0 → desyncs from the CHANGELOG lineage. Continue it.
• Pushing the tag without the ASK gate → LRN-069.

Validation

RC_WORK=$(mktemp -d) RC_TAG=1 bash lib/tests/run-release-candidate.sh → 5/5 (fan-out + tag on main). RC_TAG=0 reds the tag assertion — proves the lib alone never tags (the gap this skill fills).