Release process

meith releases are automated with the release-please package and are based on Conventional Commit history. Maintainers should not push version bumps, release commits, or artifact changes directly to main.

Commit requirements

Every pull request must use Conventional Commits for both its title and commits. The Commit Messages workflow runs commitlint on the PR title and every PR commit. Common examples:

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feat(renderer): add split preview controls
fix(cli): ignore stale runtime sockets
docs: refresh plugin guide
chore(release): release meith v0.1.3

Use ! or a BREAKING CHANGE: footer for breaking changes. Release Please uses those commit messages to choose the next SemVer version and to build release notes.

Release PR flow

The Release workflow runs on every push to main.

1. pnpm release:github asks Release Please to create a GitHub Release if the just-merged commit is a Release Please PR.
2. pnpm release:pr creates or updates the next Release Please PR.
3. When a new vX.Y.Z tag points at the current commit, CI builds the macOS arm64 desktop package and uploads the DMG, ZIP, blockmaps, and checksum file to that GitHub Release.

Release Please owns these files during a release PR:

• package.json
• apps/web/package.json
• packages/*/package.json
• packages/desktop/package.json build.mac.bundleVersion
• .release-please-manifest.json
• CHANGELOG.md

Maintainer checklist

1. Merge normal feature and fix work through PRs only.
2. Wait for the Release Please PR to update after those PRs land.
3. Review the generated version bump and changelog.
4. Merge the Release Please PR to publish.
5. Confirm that the release workflow uploaded the macOS artifacts and meith-<version>-checksums.txt.

For local validation, use dry runs with a GitHub token:

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pnpm release:pr --dry-run --token="$RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN"
pnpm release:github --dry-run --token="$RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN"

Repository protection

The main branch must be protected so maintainers cannot bypass the PR-based release flow. Force pushes and branch deletion are disabled. Pull requests, linear history, and the Validate Conventional Commits status check are required before changes can land on main. Use a Conventional Commit PR title if the branch will be squash-merged.

The release workflow requires a RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN repository secret. The default GITHUB_TOKEN is not sufficient when the organization blocks GitHub Actions from creating pull requests. Use a fine-grained personal access token or GitHub App token with write access for contents, pull requests, and issues.