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Merged
shavonn merged 1 commit into from
Apr 1, 2026
Merged

feat: make release label optional #9

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44 changes: 26 additions & 18 deletions README.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,27 +1,24 @@
# Release Champion

A GitHub Action that automates semantic versioning and releases
using <a href="https://www.conventionalcommits.org/">conventional commits</a>. Label a PR, merge it, and the action
handles the
rest — version bumps, changelogs, tags, and GitHub releases.
using <a href="https://www.conventionalcommits.org/">conventional commits</a>. Merge a PR and the action
handles the rest — version bumps, changelogs, tags, and GitHub releases. Optionally gate releases behind a label.

## Quick start

1. Add the workflow to your repo (see [Usage](#usage) below)
2. Create a label called `change-release` in your repo (or configure a custom label via the `release-label` input)
3. When you're ready to release, add the `change-release` label to a PR
4. Merge the PR — the action creates a release PR with the version bump and changelog
5. Review and merge the release PR — the action creates the tag and GitHub release
2. Merge a PR — the action creates a release PR with the version bump and changelog
3. Review and merge the release PR — the action creates the tag and GitHub release

That's it. The label is what tells the action "this merge should trigger a release."
By default, every merged PR triggers a release. If you'd rather control when releases happen, set `require-release-label: true` and add the configured label (default: `change-release`) to PRs that should trigger a release.

## How it works

The action operates in two phases, both triggered by `pull_request` `closed` events:

### Phase 1: Create a release PR

When a PR with the release label (default: `change-release`) is merged:
When a PR is merged (and the release label requirement is met, if enabled):

1. Finds the latest version tag
2. Analyzes all commits since that tag using conventional commit prefixes
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -69,15 +66,16 @@ jobs:

## Inputs

| Input | Description | Required | Default |
|------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|----------|------------------|
| `github-token` | GitHub token for creating PRs, tags, and releases | Yes | — |
| `release-label` | Label that marks a PR for release | No | `change-release` |
| `version-prefix` | Prefix for version tags (e.g., `v` produces `v1.2.3`) | No | `v` |
| `create-tag` | Create a git tag when the release PR is merged | No | `true` |
| `create-release` | Create a GitHub release when the release PR is merged | No | `true` |
| `draft-release` | Create the GitHub release as a draft (unpublished) | No | `true` |
| `changelog` | Generate or update `CHANGELOG.md` in the release PR | No | `true` |
| Input | Description | Required | Default |
|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------|------------------|
| `github-token` | GitHub token for creating PRs, tags, and releases | Yes | — |
| `release-label` | Label that marks a PR for release (only used when `require-release-label` is `true`) | No | `change-release` |
| `require-release-label` | Require the release label to trigger a release PR. When `false`, every merged PR triggers a release | No | `false` |
| `version-prefix` | Prefix for version tags (e.g., `v` produces `v1.2.3`) | No | `v` |
| `create-tag` | Create a git tag when the release PR is merged | No | `true` |
| `create-release` | Create a GitHub release when the release PR is merged | No | `true` |
| `draft-release` | Create the GitHub release as a draft (unpublished) | No | `true` |
| `changelog` | Generate or update `CHANGELOG.md` in the release PR | No | `true` |

## Outputs

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -145,12 +143,22 @@ Commits that can't be linked to a PR will reference the commit SHA instead.
changelog: false
```

### Require a label to release

```yaml
- uses: offload-project/release-champion@v1
with:
github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
require-release-label: true
```

### Custom label and no version prefix

```yaml
- uses: offload-project/release-champion@v1
with:
github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
require-release-label: true
release-label: 'ready-to-release'
version-prefix: ''
```
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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions action.yml
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Expand Up @@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ inputs:
description: 'Label that marks a PR for release'
required: false
default: 'change-release'
require-release-label:
description: 'Require the release label to trigger a release PR. When false, every merged PR triggers a release.'
required: false
default: 'false'
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Copilot AI Apr 1, 2026

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require-release-label defaults to false, which changes the action’s default behavior from “only labeled PRs create a release PR” to “every merged PR creates a release PR”. To avoid a breaking change for existing users on @v1, consider defaulting this input to true (preserve prior behavior) and let users opt out, or publish this under a new major version and call out the breaking change prominently.

Suggested change
default: 'false'
default: 'true'

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.
version-prefix:
description: 'Prefix for version tags (e.g., "v" produces "v1.2.3")'
required: false
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -56,6 +60,7 @@ runs:
env:
GH_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.github-token }}
INPUT_RELEASE_LABEL: ${{ inputs.release-label }}
INPUT_REQUIRE_RELEASE_LABEL: ${{ inputs.require-release-label }}
INPUT_VERSION_PREFIX: ${{ inputs.version-prefix }}
INPUT_CREATE_TAG: ${{ inputs.create-tag }}
INPUT_CREATE_RELEASE: ${{ inputs.create-release }}
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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions scripts/main.sh
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Expand Up @@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ if [[ "$PR_HEAD_REF" == release/* ]]; then
echo "Detected release PR merge (branch: ${PR_HEAD_REF})"
bash "$SCRIPT_DIR/finalize-release.sh"

elif [[ "${INPUT_REQUIRE_RELEASE_LABEL:-false}" != "true" ]]; then
# Phase 1: Label not required — every merged PR triggers a release
echo "Release label not required — creating release PR"
bash "$SCRIPT_DIR/create-release-pr.sh"
Comment on lines +20 to +23
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Copilot AI Apr 1, 2026

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The new require-release-label branching changes the phase-detection logic but there are no automated tests covering scripts/main.sh behavior. Since the repo already uses Bats, consider adding a small Bats test suite for main.sh to assert the action triggers/releases correctly when require-release-label is true vs false and when the PR is a release/* branch.

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elif echo "$PR_LABELS" | tr ',' '\n' | grep -qx "$INPUT_RELEASE_LABEL"; then
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Label matching uses grep -qx, which treats INPUT_RELEASE_LABEL as a regex. If a label name contains regex metacharacters, this can produce incorrect matches. Use fixed-string matching (e.g., grep -F) so the label is matched literally.

Suggested change
elif echo "$PR_LABELS" | tr ',' '\n' | grep -qx "$INPUT_RELEASE_LABEL"; then
elif echo "$PR_LABELS" | tr ',' '\n' | grep -Fqx "$INPUT_RELEASE_LABEL"; then

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# Phase 1: Labeled PR was merged → create release PR
echo "Detected labeled PR merge (label: ${INPUT_RELEASE_LABEL})"
Expand Down
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