An opinionated GitHub Action to ease the release of a repository using semantic versioning

Minimal setup to enable semantic release on any repository

• Step 1: Add the following content inside .github/workflows/release-that.yaml file

  name: Release that
  on: [push]
  jobs:
    release-that:
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      permissions:
        id-token: write
        contents: write
        issues: write
        pull-requests: write
      steps:
        - name: Checkout sources
          uses: actions/checkout@v4
  
        - name: Release That
          uses: rlespinasse/release-that@v1

• Step 2: Enjoy your automatic release system

Whether to make a release in dry-run mode. The outputs act like a release was published.

- uses: rlespinasse/release-that@v1
  with:
    dry-run: true

Remove prefix from released version, like v1.0.0 -> 1.0.0 (doesn't apply to major tag)

- uses: rlespinasse/release-that@v1
  with:
    without-prefix: true

Activate the publication a major tag based on released version. Possible values true, false, and auto. If this tag already exists, it will be overwritten.

- uses: rlespinasse/release-that@v1
  with:
    major-tag: true

By default, the value is auto to activate it (like true) on some conditions, otherwise, it's skip (like false).

• the repository is a GitHub Action due to metadata file presence action.yml or action.yaml (to follow GitHub Action recommandation)
• do not hesitate to propose the next condition through issue or pull-request

Whether to use a Personal Access Token instead of the default GitHub Token for release

- uses: rlespinasse/release-that@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ secrets.YOUR_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN }}

By default ${{ github.token }} is used to make a release. Due to limitation for security concerns, if you want to build a workflows that react when a new release is made, you must use a Personal Access Token.

On repositories created before 2023-02-02, the default token was enough to let this action do its job. Now, new repository will always need to setup permissions to work properly. Please refer to setup documentation.

- name: Checkout sources
  uses: actions/checkout@v4
  with:
    persist-credentials: false

• major_tag_published: Whether a major tag was published (true or false)
• major_tag: Value of the published major tag, otherwise empty (e.g. v1)

And the following outputs from cycjimmy/semantic-release-action (see Under the wood section).

• new_release_published: Whether a new release was published (true or false)
• new_release_version: Version of the new release. (e.g. 1.3.0)
• new_release_major_version: Major version of the new release. (e.g. 1)
• new_release_minor_version: Minor version of the new release. (e.g. 3)
• new_release_patch_version: Patch version of the new release. (e.g. 0)
• last_release_version: Version of the previous release, if there was one. (e.g. 1.2.0)

This is a wrapper around cycjimmy/semantic-release-action action with

• No mandatory configuration like package.json or .releaserc files
• Support of Default branches
  • with the addition of vN.x kind of branches
• Auto-publication of a GitHub release with changelog based on the commit history