Prepare Release

Overview

Prepare a new release by generating changelog entries, updating version references, and creating release notes.

Usage

code

/prepare-release

IMPORTANT: Releases are Manual

NEVER create release tags automatically. The maintainer handles all releases manually.

Your job:

•Prepare the changelog
•Update version references
•Generate release notes draft
•Commit preparation changes

User's job:

•Create the actual tag
•Push the tag
•Create GitHub release

Workflow

dot

digraph release_flow {
    rankdir=TB;
    node [shape=box];

    analyze [label="1. Analyze changes since last release"];
    classify [label="2. Classify release type"];
    changelog [label="3. Update CHANGELOG.md"];
    badges [label="4. Update version badges"];
    gpt [label="5. Update GPT knowledge"];
    notes [label="6. Generate release notes"];
    commit [label="7. Commit preparation"];

    analyze -> classify;
    classify -> changelog;
    changelog -> badges;
    badges -> gpt;
    gpt -> notes;
    notes -> commit;
}

Step 1: Analyze Changes

bash

# Get latest release tag
LATEST=$(gh release list --repo kube-hetzner/terraform-hcloud-kube-hetzner --limit 1 --json tagName --jq '.[0].tagName')
echo "Latest release: $LATEST"

# List commits since last release
git log $LATEST..HEAD --oneline

# Get detailed changes
git log $LATEST..HEAD --pretty=format:"- %s (%h)"

Use Gemini for comprehensive analysis:

bash

gemini --model gemini-3-pro-preview -p \
  "Analyze these git changes for a changelog. Categorize into: Features, Bug Fixes, Breaking Changes, Documentation. Ignore internal refactors.

$(git log $LATEST..HEAD --oneline)
$(git diff $LATEST..HEAD --stat)"

Step 2: Classify Release Type

Type	When	Example
PATCH (x.x.X)	Bug fixes, docs, deps	2.19.1
MINOR (x.X.0)	New features, backward compatible	2.20.0
MAJOR (X.0.0)	Breaking changes	3.0.0

Breaking Change Indicators

•Variable removed or renamed
•Default value changes behavior
•Resource naming changes (causes recreation)
•Required migration steps

Use Codex for breaking change analysis:

bash

codex exec -m gpt-5.2-codex -s read-only -c model_reasoning_effort="xhigh" \
  "Analyze these changes for breaking changes affecting existing deployments: $(git diff $LATEST..HEAD -- variables.tf locals.tf)"

Step 3: Update CHANGELOG.md

Changelog Format

markdown

## [Unreleased]

### ⚠️ Upgrade Notes
<!-- Migration guides, breaking change warnings, special upgrade steps -->

### 🚀 New Features
<!-- New functionality added -->

### 🐛 Bug Fixes
<!-- Bugs that were fixed -->

### 🔧 Changes
<!-- Non-breaking changes, refactors, improvements -->

### 📚 Documentation
<!-- Documentation updates -->

Writing Good Entries

•Write from user's perspective
•Include issue/PR references: (#1234)
•Be specific about what changed
•Include migration steps for breaking changes

Example Entries

markdown

### 🚀 New Features
- **K3s v1.35 Support** - Added support for k3s v1.35 channel (#2029)
- **NAT Router IPv6** - NAT router now supports IPv6 egress (#2015)

### 🐛 Bug Fixes
- Fixed autoscaler not respecting max_nodes limit (#2018)
- Resolved firewall rules not applying to new nodes (#2012)

### ⚠️ Upgrade Notes
- **NAT Router users**: Run `terraform apply` twice after upgrade due to route changes

Step 4: Update Version Badges

Update README.md badges if version references changed:

markdown

[![K3s](https://img.shields.io/badge/K3s-v1.35-FFC61C?style=flat-square&logo=k3s)](https://k3s.io)

Check versions.tf for:

•Terraform version requirement
•Provider version requirements
•K3s default channel

Step 5: Update GPT Knowledge (if applicable)

If significant changes, regenerate the Custom GPT knowledge base:

bash

# Run the knowledge generation script from CLAUDE.md
python3 << 'PYEOF'
# ... (script from CLAUDE.md)
PYEOF

Update meta.version in the script to match new release.

Step 6: Generate Release Notes

Release Notes Template

markdown

## 🚀 Release vX.Y.Z

### Highlights

- **Feature 1**: Brief description
- **Feature 2**: Brief description

### ⚠️ Upgrade Notes

[Any special upgrade instructions]

### What's Changed

#### New Features
- Feature description (#PR)

#### Bug Fixes
- Fix description (#PR)

#### Other Changes
- Change description (#PR)

### Full Changelog

https://github.com/kube-hetzner/terraform-hcloud-kube-hetzner/compare/vPREV...vX.Y.Z

### Upgrade

\`\`\`tf
module "kube-hetzner" {
  source  = "kube-hetzner/kube-hetzner/hcloud"
  version = "X.Y.Z"
  # ...
}
\`\`\`

\`\`\`bash
terraform init -upgrade
terraform plan
terraform apply
\`\`\`

Step 7: Commit Preparation

bash

git add CHANGELOG.md README.md
git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
chore: prepare release vX.Y.Z

- Update CHANGELOG.md with release notes
- Update version badges
EOF
)"
git push origin master

After Preparation (User Does This)

bash

# Create tag
git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "Release vX.Y.Z"

# Push tag
git push origin vX.Y.Z

# Create GitHub release (or use gh CLI)
gh release create vX.Y.Z --title "vX.Y.Z" --notes-file release-notes.md

Version Reference Locations

Files that may need version updates:

File	What to Update
`README.md`	Badge versions
`CHANGELOG.md`	[Unreleased] → [vX.Y.Z]
`docs/llms.md`	Example version references
`kube.tf.example`	Version in comments
GPT knowledge	meta.version

Quick Checklist

• Commits analyzed since last release
• Release type determined (PATCH/MINOR/MAJOR)
• CHANGELOG.md updated
• Breaking changes documented with migration steps
• Version badges updated (if needed)
• Release notes drafted
• Changes committed and pushed
• Ready for maintainer to tag release