Release

Release Skill

Automates the release process for Keymaker (Vala/GTK4/libadwaita Flatpak app).

Project facts:

• App ID: io.github.tobagin.keysmith (note: dir is keymaker, app ID is keysmith)
• Build system: Meson (no Cargo, no lockfiles)
• Packaged as Flatpak via flatpak-builder
• Manifests: packaging/io.github.tobagin.keysmith.yml (prod) and …Devel.yml (dev)
• Version source of truth: meson.build line ~4 (version: 'X.Y.Z')

Workflow

Step 1: Analyze changes since last release

git describe --tags --abbrev=0
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline --no-merges
git status --short

Categorize changes:

• ✨ New Features — user-visible additions
• 🎨 UI Refinements — visual/UX polish
• 🔧 Changed — behavior changes
• 🐛 Fixed — bug fixes
• 🏗️ Maintenance — metadata, docs, infra
• ❌ Breaking — triggers major bump

Step 2: Determine version bump

SemVer:

• MAJOR (X.0.0): Breaking changes
• MINOR (x.Y.0): New features, backward compatible
• PATCH (x.y.Z): Bug fixes, metadata, backward compatible

Current version: meson.build line 4 (version: 'X.Y.Z').

Confirm version with user before proceeding.

Step 3: Update version in meson.build

Edit meson.build line ~4:

project(
    'keysmith',
    'vala', 'c',
    version: 'X.Y.Z',
    ...
)

Step 4: Update CHANGELOG.md

Insert new section at the TOP (after the header block, before previous releases). Match existing emoji-grouped style — do NOT use [Unreleased] placeholder, this project appends directly:

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

### ✨ New Features
- **Feature**: Description.

### 🔧 Changed
- **Area**: Change description.

### 🐛 Fixed
- **Component**: Fix description.

Only include subsections that have entries. CHANGELOG can be more detailed/technical than README.

Step 5: Update README.md

Replace the version header block (around lines 14-22):

## 🎉 Version X.Y.Z - [Short Title]

**Keymaker X.Y.Z** brings [brief description].

### 🆕 What's New in X.Y.Z

- **Feature 1**: Brief user-facing description.
- **Feature 2**: Brief user-facing description.

Keep this section short and user-friendly — full detail lives in CHANGELOG.

Step 6: Update data/io.github.tobagin.keysmith.metainfo.xml.in

Add a new <release> entry at the TOP of the <releases> section (currently around line 107, immediately after <releases> on line 106):

<release version="X.Y.Z" date="YYYY-MM-DD">
  <description>
    <p>Keymaker X.Y.Z [one-sentence summary].</p>
    <ul>
      <li>Change description 1</li>
      <li>Change description 2</li>
    </ul>
  </description>
</release>

Rules:

• No emojis in <li> items (AppStream validators reject them).
• Keep <li> entries concise — one short line each.
• Date format: YYYY-MM-DD.

Step 7: Verify build

Run the dev flatpak build to catch syntax/resource errors before tagging:

./scripts/build.sh --dev

If the build fails, fix issues and re-run before continuing. Optionally smoke-test:

flatpak run io.github.tobagin.keysmith.Devel

Step 8: Commit all changes

git add meson.build CHANGELOG.md README.md \
  data/io.github.tobagin.keysmith.metainfo.xml.in
git commit -m "Release vX.Y.Z"

Match existing commit-message style: short subject Release vX.Y.Z (see git log --oneline for prior releases). No Co-Authored-By trailer unless the user requests it.

Step 9: Create and push annotated tag

git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "Release vX.Y.Z"
git push origin HEAD --tags

Never force-push tags unless the user explicitly asks.

Step 10: Create GitHub release

gh release create vX.Y.Z --generate-notes

Or pass --notes-file with curated notes derived from the CHANGELOG entry.

Step 11: Verify

Report to user:

• Tag created: git tag --list vX.Y.Z
• Commit hash: git rev-parse HEAD
• Push success
• GitHub release URL (from gh release view vX.Y.Z --json url -q .url)
• Reminder: Flathub PR must be opened separately to ship the new version to users.

File Locations

File	Update	Purpose
meson.build	Line ~4 (version:)	Build system version (source of truth)
CHANGELOG.md	New section at top	Detailed release notes
README.md	Lines ~14-22	User-facing highlights
data/io.github.tobagin.keysmith.metainfo.xml.in	Top of <releases> (line ~107)	AppStream metadata

Notes

• Always tag with v prefix: vX.Y.Z.
• Date format everywhere: YYYY-MM-DD.
• AppStream <li> entries: no emojis, one short line each.
• README "What's New": brief, user-friendly.
• CHANGELOG: more detailed, can include technical context.
• Flathub release is a separate workflow (PR to flathub/io.github.tobagin.keysmith) — out of scope for this skill.