release-please

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Set up `release-please` for automated releases in a repository. Use this skill when the user mentions release-please, `googleapis/release-please-action`, release PRs, conventional commits, `release-please-config.json`, `.release-please-manifest.json`, GitHub Actions release automation, or wants to bootstrap or debug release-please in a new or existing repo.

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Sourceaaronflorey/agent-skills

Added on2026-04-18

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add aaronflorey/agent-skills release-please

SKILL.md Content

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Setting Up Release-Please

This skill guides you through setting up release-please in a repository.

Before You Start

Ask the user (if not clear from context):

What language/framework? (determines
```
release-type
```
)
Single package or monorepo?
Current version of the package(s)?

Setup Steps

1. Create GitHub Actions Workflow

Create

.github/workflows/release-please.yml

:

yaml

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

name: release-please

jobs:
  release-please:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: googleapis/release-please-action@v4
        with:
          release-type: <type>  # See references/release-types.md

Unified release-please + GoReleaser workflow (recommended when both are used)

If the project uses both release-please and GoReleaser, prefer a single workflow file. Run release-please first, then run GoReleaser only when

release_created

is

true

.

This avoids the common PAT workaround. You do not need a custom

RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN

just to trigger a second workflow for GoReleaser.

For the canonical recipe, see

references/release-please-goreleaser-unified-workflow.md

.

yaml

name: release-please

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
  packages: write

jobs:
  release-please:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      release_created: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}
      tag_name: ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }}
    steps:
      - id: release
        uses: googleapis/release-please-action@v4
        with:
          release-type: <type>

  goreleaser:
    needs: release-please
    if: ${{ needs.release-please.outputs.release_created == 'true' }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
      packages: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          ref: ${{ needs.release-please.outputs.tag_name }}
      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
        with:
          go-version-file: go.mod
      - uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@v6
        with:
          version: latest
          args: release --clean
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

If the user needs CI to run on release PRs (common), they need a PAT for that PR-triggering behavior:

yaml

        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN }}

Do not use this PAT requirement as the default fix for release-please + GoReleaser integration. Prefer the unified single-workflow pattern above.

2. Create Config Files (for advanced setups)

For monorepos or custom config, create manifest files instead of using

release-type

input.

release-please-config.json:

json

{
  "packages": {
    ".": {
      "release-type": "<type>"
    }
  }
}

.release-please-manifest.json:

json

{
  ".": "<current-version>"
}

Then update the workflow to omit

release-type

:

yaml

- uses: googleapis/release-please-action@v4
  with:
    token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN }}

3. Bootstrap Existing Repository

For repos with existing releases, set the current version in

.release-please-manifest.json

to match the latest release tag.

If there's extensive commit history, add

bootstrap-sha

to config to limit changelog scope:

json

{
  "bootstrap-sha": "<commit-sha-before-first-desired-commit>",
  "packages": { ... }
}

Common Setup Patterns

Node.js Package

```
release-type: node
```
Updates
```
package.json
```
and
```
CHANGELOG.md
```

Python Package

```
release-type: python
```
Updates
```
pyproject.toml
```
/
```
setup.py
```
and
```
CHANGELOG.md
```

Go Module

```
release-type: go
```
Updates
```
CHANGELOG.md
```
only (version from tags)

Monorepo

Use manifest config with multiple packages
Consider
```
node-workspace
```
or
```
cargo-workspace
```
plugins
See
```
references/manifest-config.md
```

Post-Setup Checklist

Tell the user:

Commit and push the new files
Start using conventional commits:
```
feat:
```
,
```
fix:
```
,
```
feat!:
```
Use squash-merge for PRs (cleaner changelogs)
Release-please will create a Release PR after releasable commits
Merge the Release PR to create the GitHub release

Reference Files

Read these for detailed options:

```
references/release-types.md
```
- All supported languages
```
references/github-actions.md
```
- Action inputs, outputs, examples
```
references/manifest-config.md
```
- Full config options, plugins, monorepos
```
references/release-please-goreleaser-unified-workflow.md
```
- Canonical combined setup for release-please + GoReleaser

release-please

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Setting Up Release-Please

Before You Start

Setup Steps

1. Create GitHub Actions Workflow

Unified release-please + GoReleaser workflow (recommended when both are used)

2. Create Config Files (for advanced setups)

3. Bootstrap Existing Repository

Common Setup Patterns

Node.js Package

Python Package

Go Module

Monorepo

Post-Setup Checklist

Reference Files