ABOUTME: Release preparation skill with pre-flight verification, prevents retag-four-times pattern

ABOUTME: Invoked on "release", "tag", "ship it", "push to production"

Releasing Software

Iron Law

NO TAG WITHOUT GREEN CI

Run full verification locally → Fix everything → THEN tag. Never tag before CI passes.

Pre-Release Checklist

Check	Items	Why
Build Paths	goreleaser.yml main:, workflows, Makefile, Dockerfile	Wrong path = build failure
Test Coverage	Every package has ≥1 test file	Go 1.23+ covdata fails without tests
Local CI	make test && make lint && make build	Catch failures before push
Docs	README.md, CHANGELOG.md, version refs	Professional releases
Release Config	goreleaser description, homepage URL, .gitignore	Proper artifact generation
Git State	git status, git diff --stat, git log	Clean history

Release Procedure

Only after ALL checks pass:

1. Commit: git add -A && git commit -m "release: prepare vX.Y.Z"
2. Wait for pre-commit hooks
3. Push and WAIT: git push origin main
4. Check CI: gh run list --limit 2
5. Only after green: git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "vX.Y.Z" && git push origin vX.Y.Z
6. Verify release workflow triggered

Red Flags - STOP IMMEDIATELY

• Tagging before CI completes
• "CI will probably pass"
• Deleting/recreating tags
• Force-pushing tags

Common Failures

Symptom	Root Cause	Fix
"couldn't find main file"	Wrong goreleaser path	Set main: . if main.go at root
"no such tool 'covdata'"	Package without tests	Add _test.go with placeholder
Had to retag	Tagged before CI passed	WAIT FOR GREEN CI
Build fails but tests pass	Wrong build path	Check Makefile/goreleaser match

Semver Quick Ref

• Patch (0.0.X): Bug fixes only
• Minor (0.X.0): New features, backwards compatible
• Major (X.0.0): Breaking changes

Troubleshooting

# Verify goreleaser config
goreleaser check

# Dry run release
goreleaser release --snapshot --clean

# Check for packages without tests
find . -type d -not -path "*/.*" -exec sh -c 'ls {}/*_test.go 2>/dev/null || echo "No tests: {}"' \;

Remember

Every retag erodes trust. Fix problems before tagging, not after.