Release Guard Skill

Core Rules (NEVER VIOLATE)

• Releases ONLY from main after PR merge.
• ALL CI jobs must COMPLETE + SUCCESS. NO queued jobs.
• Verify branch protection requires status checks.
• Version MUST match tag before creating release (cargo-dist requirement).

Activation Steps

1. PR Check: Ask for PR# if needed. Run gh pr view $PR_NUM --json state,baseRefName. Must: state=CLOSED, baseRefName=main.
2. Branch: git branch --show-current + gh repo view --json default_branch. Fail if not main.
3. CI: gh run list --branch main --limit 5 --json status,conclusion. ALL: completed + success. Log/screenshot.
4. Clean: git status (clean working dir).
5. Version Check (CRITICAL): grep '^version =' Cargo.toml must match tag (without 'v' prefix).

Fail Response

🚫 BLOCKED: [Exact violation]
Fix:
- Merge PR to main
- Wait CI: gh run list --branch main
- git checkout main && git pull
- BUMP VERSION in Cargo.toml FIRST (must match tag)
Re-run task.

Version Mismatch Example (v0.1.22 Incident)

Tag: v0.1.22 pushed at commit 05c0481
Cargo.toml version: 0.1.21 (MISMATCH!)
Result: cargo-dist failed: "This workspace doesn't have anything for dist to Release!"

Fix: ALWAYS bump version BEFORE pushing tag.
Use: cargo release patch|minor|major (handles atomically)

Pass: Safe Release

• Semver check: cargo semver-checks check-release --workspace (ADR-034)
• Tag: vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (semantic).
• Prefer: cargo release patch|minor|major (ADR-034)
• Fallback: gh release create v1.2.3 --generate-notes --target main
• Confirm before execute.

Examples

• User: "Create release from develop PR #199" → BLOCK: Wrong branch.
• User: "Tag v1.0.0 after PR #199" → Check PR/CI/branch → Proceed if pass.

Progressive disclosure: For CI details, see ci-reference.md if needed.

## Best Practices Applied
- **Description**: Keyword-rich for matching ("release", "tag").
- **allowed-tools**: Read + Bash wildcards (gh/git CLI). Install `gh`.[2]
- **Structure**: Essential in SKILL.md; link supports (add `ci-reference.md` for details).
- **Load/Test**: Restart Claude Code. Ask "What Skills available?". Test: "Create release PR #199".