Bump Version

Overview

Standardized process for bumping versions in projects with package.json and manifest.json (e.g., Obsidian plugins).

When to Use

•User asks to "bump version to x.x.x"
•User asks to "prepare release x.x.x"
•User asks to "release version x.x.x"
•User runs /bump-version or /bump-version x.x.x

Process

0. Determine Version

•If version is provided as argument (e.g., /bump-version 0.13.0), use it
•If version is mentioned in user's message (e.g., "bump version to 0.13.0"), use it
•Otherwise, ask user: "What version should I bump to?"

1. Update Version Files

Update the version field in:

•package.json
•manifest.json (if exists, e.g., Obsidian plugins)

2. Analyze Changes Since Last Release

Find the latest stable release tag (excludes beta/rc tags):

bash

LAST_STABLE=$(git tag --list --sort=-v:refname | grep -E '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | head -1)
git log --oneline ${LAST_STABLE}..HEAD

IMPORTANT: User perspective, not commit history

CHANGELOG is for end users, not developers. Write from the user's perspective:

•What new capabilities can they use?
•What existing behavior changed?
•What bugs that affected them are fixed?

Do NOT include:

•Internal refactoring (unless it affects users)
•Bug fixes for features introduced in the same release cycle
•Intermediate fixes made during development of a new feature
•Implementation details (API changes, code structure)

Example - What to exclude: If commits show:

code

feat: add OpenAI integration
fix: OpenAI token limit error
fix: OpenAI settings UI positioning
refactor: use requestUrl API for OpenAI

Only the first commit matters for CHANGELOG. The fixes are for bugs introduced during development of the new feature - users never experienced them.

Categorize changes into sections:

•Added: New features users can now use
•Changed: Changes to existing functionality users will notice
•Fixed: Bug fixes for issues that existed in previous releases
•Improved: Performance or UX improvements users will notice

3. Update CHANGELOG.md

Follow Keep a Changelog format:

markdown

## [x.x.x] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
- New feature description (#issue)

### Changed
- Change description (#issue)

### Fixed
- Bug fix description (#issue)

Include issue/PR numbers where applicable: (#123)

4. Commit Changes

bash

git commit -m "chore: bump version to x.x.x"

Do NOT push - let user review locally first.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Solution
Including development-phase bug fixes	Only include fixes for bugs in previous releases
Copying commit messages directly	Summarize from user perspective
Including internal refactoring	Only include if it affects user experience
Pushing without user review	Always stop after commit
Missing manifest.json	Check if project has manifest.json before updating
Wrong changelog format	Use Keep a Changelog format consistently
Missing issue numbers	Include `(#123)` when commits reference issues