Configure Release Please

/configure:release-please

Check and configure release-please against project standards.

When to Use This Skill

Context

• Workflow file: !find .github/workflows -maxdepth 1 -name 'release-please*'
• Config file: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name \'release-please-config.json\'
• Manifest file: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name \'.release-please-manifest.json\'
• Package files: !find . -maxdepth 1 \( -name 'package.json' -o -name 'pyproject.toml' -o -name 'Cargo.toml' -o -name 'go.mod' \)
• Workflows dir: !find . -maxdepth 1 -type d -name \'.github/workflows\'

Skills referenced: release-please-standards, release-please-protection

Parameters

Parse from command arguments:

• --check-only: Report status without offering fixes
• --fix: Apply all fixes automatically

Execution

Execute this release-please configuration check:

Step 1: Fetch latest action version

Run this command to get the current release-please-action version dynamically:

curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/googleapis/release-please-action/releases/latest | jq -r '.tag_name'

References:

• release-please-action releases
• release-please CLI releases

Step 2: Detect project type

Determine appropriate release-type from detected package files:

• node: Has package.json (default for frontend/backend apps)
• python: Has pyproject.toml without package.json
• helm: Infrastructure with Helm charts
• simple: Generic projects

Step 3: Analyze compliance

Workflow file checks:

• Action version: googleapis/release-please-action@v4
• Token: Uses MY_RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN secret (not GITHUB_TOKEN)
• Trigger: Push to main branch
• Permissions: contents: write, pull-requests: write

Config file checks:

• Valid release-type for project
• changelog-sections includes feat and fix
• Appropriate plugins (e.g., node-workspace for Node projects)

Manifest file checks:

• Valid JSON structure
• Package paths match config

Step 4: Generate compliance report

Print a formatted compliance report showing file status and configuration check results. If --check-only is set, stop here.

For the report format, see REFERENCE.md.

Step 5: Apply configuration (if --fix or user confirms)

1. Missing workflow: Create from standard template 2. Missing config: Create with detected release-type 3. Missing manifest: Create with initial version 0.0.0 4. Outdated action: Update to v4 5. Wrong token: Update to use MY_RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN

For standard templates, see REFERENCE.md.

Step 6: Update standards tracking

Update .project-standards.yaml:

components:
  release-please: "2025.1"

Agentic Optimizations

Important Notes

• Requires MY_RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN secret in repository settings
• CHANGELOG.md is managed by release-please - never edit manually
• Version fields in package.json/pyproject.toml are managed automatically
• Works with conventional-pre-commit hook for commit validation

See Also

• /configure:pre-commit - Ensure conventional commits hook
• /configure:all - Run all compliance checks
• release-please-protection skill - Protected file rules

configure-release-please Reference

Compliance Report Format

Release-Please Compliance Report
====================================
Project Type: node (detected)

File Status:
  Workflow        .github/workflows/release-please.yml  [PASS | MISSING]
  Config          release-please-config.json            [PASS | MISSING]
  Manifest        .release-please-manifest.json         [PASS | MISSING]

Configuration Checks:
  Action version  v5                                    [PASS | OUTDATED]
  Token           MY_RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN               [PASS | WRONG TOKEN]
  Release type    node                                  [PASS | WRONG TYPE]
  Changelog       feat, fix sections                    [PASS | INCOMPLETE]
  Plugin          node-workspace                        [PASS | MISSING]

Overall: Fully compliant | X issues found

Standard Templates

Workflow Template

name: Release Please

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  release-please:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: googleapis/release-please-action@v5
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.MY_RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN }}

Config Template (Node)

{
  "packages": {
    ".": {
      "release-type": "node",
      "changelog-sections": [
        {"type": "feat", "section": "Features"},
        {"type": "fix", "section": "Bug Fixes"},
        {"type": "perf", "section": "Performance"},
        {"type": "deps", "section": "Dependencies"}
      ]
    }
  },
  "plugins": ["node-workspace"]
}

Manifest Template

{
  ".": "0.0.0"
}