Gmacko Release Preparation Skill

Gmacko Release Preparation

Prepare release artifacts including changelog, release notes, and environment verification.

When to Use

QA verification is complete (APPROVED)
Ready to deploy to staging or production
Need to generate release notes
Cutting a new version

Prerequisites

QA handoff exists and is APPROVED
All related PRs are merged
Branch is ready for deployment

Workflow

digraph release_prepare {
    rankdir=TB;
    node [shape=box];
    
    start [label="Start Preparation" shape=ellipse];
    gather [label="1. Gather Changes"];
    version [label="2. Determine Version"];
    notes [label="3. Generate Release Notes"];
    changelog [label="4. Update CHANGELOG"];
    env [label="5. Verify Environment"];
    migration [label="6. Check Migrations"];
    checklist [label="7. Run Release Checklist"];
    summary [label="8. Create Release Summary"];
    done [label="Ready for Deploy" shape=ellipse];
    
    start -> gather -> version -> notes;
    notes -> changelog -> env -> migration;
    migration -> checklist -> summary -> done;
}

Execution Steps

Step 1: Gather Changes

Collect all changes since last release:

# Get last release tag
LAST_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "")

# List commits since last release
if [ -n "$LAST_TAG" ]; then
    git log ${LAST_TAG}..HEAD --oneline --no-merges
else
    git log --oneline -20
fi

# List merged PRs
gh pr list --state merged --limit 20 --json number,title,labels

Categorize changes:

Features: New functionality
Fixes: Bug fixes
Improvements: Enhancements
Breaking: Breaking changes
Docs: Documentation updates
Chores: Maintenance/tooling

Step 2: Determine Version

Follow semantic versioning:

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

MAJOR: Breaking changes
MINOR: New features (backwards compatible)
PATCH: Bug fixes (backwards compatible)

Ask user:

Based on the changes, I recommend version [X.Y.Z].

Changes include:

[N] new features

[N] bug fixes

[N] breaking changes

Is this version correct, or would you like to specify?

Step 3: Generate Release Notes

Create release notes:

# Release Notes: v[X.Y.Z]

**Release Date**: [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Environment**: [staging/production]

## Highlights

[1-2 sentence summary of the most important changes]

## What's New

### Features
- **[Feature Name]**: [Brief description] (#123)
- **[Feature Name]**: [Brief description] (#124)

### Improvements
- [Improvement description] (#125)

### Bug Fixes
- Fixed [issue description] (#126)
- Fixed [issue description] (#127)

## Breaking Changes

[If any, describe migration steps]

## Dependencies

- Updated [package] from X to Y
- Added [new package] for [purpose]

## Contributors

- @username
- @username

## Full Changelog

[Link to compare: previous...current]

Step 4: Update CHANGELOG

Update CHANGELOG.md (if it exists) or docs/ai/CHANGELOG.md:

## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
- Feature description (#123)

### Changed
- Change description (#124)

### Fixed
- Fix description (#125)

### Removed
- Removal description (#126)

Step 5: Verify Environment

Check target environment is ready:

# For Vercel (web)
vercel env ls --environment production

# Check required env vars are set
REQUIRED_VARS=(
    "DATABASE_URL"
    "CLERK_SECRET_KEY"
    "NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY"
)

for var in "${REQUIRED_VARS[@]}"; do
    vercel env ls --environment production | grep -q "$var" && \
        echo "OK: $var" || echo "MISSING: $var"
done

For mobile (EAS):

# Check EAS configuration
eas config --platform ios
eas config --platform android

# Verify credentials
eas credentials --platform ios
eas credentials --platform android

Step 6: Check Migrations

If database changes are included:

## Migration Check

### Pending Migrations
- [ ] `20250105_add_feature_table.sql`

### Migration Plan
1. Backup production database
2. Apply migration in staging first
3. Verify data integrity
4. Apply to production during low-traffic window

### Rollback Plan
```sql
-- Rollback script
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS new_table;
ALTER TABLE existing_table DROP COLUMN new_column;

Data Impact

Rows affected: ~[N]
Estimated duration: [X] seconds
Downtime required: No


### Step 7: Run Release Checklist

Use the release checklist from `docs/ai/checklists/release-checklist.md`:

```markdown
## Pre-Release Checklist

### Code Quality
- [ ] All PRs merged
- [ ] `pnpm typecheck` passes
- [ ] `pnpm lint` passes
- [ ] `pnpm build` succeeds

### Testing
- [ ] QA verification complete
- [ ] No blocking issues
- [ ] Regression tests passed

### Documentation
- [ ] Release notes written
- [ ] CHANGELOG updated
- [ ] Migration guide ready (if needed)

### Environment
- [ ] Env vars configured
- [ ] Third-party services ready
- [ ] SSL certificates valid

Step 8: Create Release Summary

Write docs/ai/releases/[date]-v[version].md:

# Release: v[X.Y.Z]

## Metadata
- **Version**: X.Y.Z
- **Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
- **Tag**: v[X.Y.Z]
- **Prepared by**: AI Assistant

## Status
- [ ] Staging deployed
- [ ] Staging verified
- [ ] Production deployed
- [ ] Production verified

## Changes Summary

| Type | Count |
|------|-------|
| Features | X |
| Fixes | Y |
| Improvements | Z |

### Key Changes
1. [Most important change]
2. [Second most important]
3. [Third most important]

## PRs Included
- #123: [Title]
- #124: [Title]
- #125: [Title]

## Issues Closed
- #100: [Title]
- #101: [Title]

## Environment Verification
- [x] Production env vars set
- [x] Database migrations ready
- [x] Third-party services configured

## Deployment Commands

### Web (Vercel)
```bash
# Automatic via git push to main
git push origin main

# Or manual
vercel --prod

Mobile (EAS)

# Build
eas build --platform all --profile production

# Submit
eas submit --platform ios
eas submit --platform android

Rollback Plan

Web

vercel rollback

Database

# Run rollback migration
pnpm db:rollback

Post-Deployment

[ ] Smoke test production
[ ] Monitor Sentry for errors
[ ] Check analytics events
[ ] Update status page

Prepared by: AI Assistant Approved by: [Pending]


## Output

Present summary to user:

RELEASE PREPARATION COMPLETE

Version: v[X.Y.Z] Changes: [N] features, [N] fixes, [N] improvements Breaking Changes: [Yes/No]

Artifacts Created:

docs/ai/releases/[date]-v[version].md
Release notes (ready for GitHub release)
CHANGELOG updated

Environment Status:

Web (Vercel): READY
Mobile (EAS): READY
Database: [N] pending migrations

Next Steps:

Review release summary
Run gmacko-release-deploy-web for Vercel deployment
Run gmacko-release-deploy-mobile for EAS builds (if applicable)

Proceed with deployment?


## Red Flags

| Rationalization | Correction |
|-----------------|------------|
| "Skip env verification, it worked before" | ALWAYS verify environment for each release |
| "No migrations, skip that section" | Document "no migrations" explicitly |
| "Changelog can be updated later" | Update changelog BEFORE deploying |
| "Just push to main, Vercel handles it" | Follow full preparation process |

## Integration

- **Input**: Version number (or auto-determine), target environment
- **References**: QA handoffs, merged PRs, git history
- **Output**: Release summary, changelog updates, release notes
- **Next**: `gmacko-release-deploy-web` or `gmacko-release-deploy-mobile`

Agent Skills: Gmacko Release Preparation

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Skill Files