release-setup

Files (1)

• SKILL.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Release Setup

Set up automated binary releases for a Go CLI project. Every push to main builds and publishes cross-platform binaries. No tags, no manual release steps.

## Prerequisites

Before starting, read the project to determine:
- **Binary name**: from Makefile, go.mod module path, or main package
- **GitHub owner/repo**: from `git remote get-url origin`
- **License**: from LICENSE file
- **Description**: from README.md first line or go.mod comment

Ask the user which platforms to target. Default: macOS ARM, Linux x86_64, Linux ARM. Optional: Windows x86_64.

## Steps

Work through each step, implementing immediately. Show what you're creating and why.

---

### 1. Version variable

The version string format is: `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM <branch> <short-sha> <dev|release>`

Examples:
- Local build: `2026-04-10 14:22 main fa431a dev`
- CI release: `2026-04-10 14:22 main fa431a release`

**In the source code**, find where the version is defined. Replace any hardcoded version string with a `var` that defaults to `"dev"` and is set at build time via ldflags:

For Go:
```go
// version is set at build time via -ldflags "-X main.version=..."
var version = "dev"
```

For Rust (in build.rs + env!):
```rust
let version = option_env!("BUILD_VERSION").unwrap_or("dev");
```

**In the Makefile** (or equivalent build config), set VERSION and pass it via ldflags:

For Go:
```makefile
VERSION  = $(shell date -u +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M') $(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD) $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD) dev
GOFLAGS  = -trimpath -ldflags="-s -w -X 'main.version=$(VERSION)'"
```

If the project has an existing hardcoded version constant, remove it. If there's a `make release` target that manages tags, remove it.

---

### 2. GitHub Actions workflow

Create `.github/workflows/release.yml`:

```yaml
name: Release

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
        with:
          go-version-file: go.mod

      - name: Build binaries
        run: |
          SHA=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
          DATE=$(TZ=UTC date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M')
          VERSION="${DATE} main ${SHA} release"
          LDFLAGS="-s -w -X 'main.version=${VERSION}'"
          GOOS=darwin  GOARCH=arm64 go build -trimpath -ldflags="$LDFLAGS" -o dist/<BINARY>-darwin-arm64  .
          GOOS=linux   GOARCH=amd64 go build -trimpath -ldflags="$LDFLAGS" -o dist/<BINARY>-linux-amd64  .
          GOOS=linux   GOARCH=arm64 go build -trimpath -ldflags="$LDFLAGS" -o dist/<BINARY>-linux-arm64  .

      - name: Create or update release
        env:
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
        run: |
          gh release delete latest --yes 2>/dev/null || true
          git push origin :refs/tags/latest 2>/dev/null || true
          gh release create latest \
            dist/<BINARY>-darwin-arm64 \
            dist/<BINARY>-linux-amd64 \
            dist/<BINARY>-linux-arm64 \
            --title "Latest" \
            --notes "Built from main at $(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" \
            --latest
```

Replace `<BINARY>` with the actual binary name. If Windows is requested, add:
```yaml
          GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -trimpath -ldflags="$LDFLAGS" -o dist/<BINARY>-windows-amd64.exe .
```
and include it in the `gh release create` assets list.

Adapt the setup step for non-Go projects (e.g. `actions/setup-node`, `rustup`, etc.).

---

### 3. Homebrew formula

Check if the user has a homebrew tap repo. Look for `../homebrew-tap` or ask. If they have one, create a formula.

Create `Formula/<binary>.rb` in the tap repo:

From joewalnes/skills, MIT.

More from joewalnes/skills