Release Prep

Release Prep

Overview

Standardize release preparation with a safety-first checklist: validate quality and security, update versions and docs, build production artifacts, and prepare rollout/rollback plans.

When to Use

• Preparing a release candidate or production deploy
• Coordinating pre-release validation and documentation
• Ensuring versioning, changelog, and build steps are consistent

Avoid when:

• You only need a quick version bump or doc update
• The release process is owned by a separate automation pipeline

Quick Reference

Workflow

1. Confirm release scope and version. 2. Load the release preparation reference. 3. Run pre-release validation (tests, security, performance). 4. Update versions, changelog, and docs. 5. Build production artifacts and validate. 6. Produce deployment checklist and rollback plan.

Output

• Release readiness checklist
• Validation results and blockers
• Deployment plan with rollback steps

Common Mistakes

• Skipping security or performance checks
• Shipping without updating changelog or docs
• Building artifacts without validating environment parity

Reference: prepare-release

/deploy:prepare-release - Release Preparation

Purpose

Systematically prepare application for production release with all necessary checks and documentation.

Triggers

• Version release requests
• Production deployment preparation
• Release candidate creation
• Deployment readiness validation

Usage

/deploy:prepare-release [version] [--type major|minor|patch]

Release Preparation Process

1. Pre-Release Validation

• Run full test suite (unit, integration, e2e)
• Execute security audit
• Perform performance benchmarking
• Validate configuration for production
• Check dependency vulnerabilities

2. Version Management

• Update version numbers (package.json, etc.)
• Generate changelog from commits
• Tag release in version control
• Update API documentation versions

3. Build Optimization

• Create production build
• Optimize bundle size
• Generate source maps
• Minify and compress assets
• Validate build artifacts

4. Documentation Updates

• Update README if needed
• Generate API documentation
• Create release notes
• Document breaking changes
• Update migration guides

5. Deployment Planning

• Create deployment checklist
• Generate rollback plan
• Document environment variables
• Prepare database migrations
• Configure monitoring and alerts

6. Final Checks

• Smoke test production build
• Verify all services health
• Validate external integrations
• Check SSL certificates
• Review security headers

Checklist Output

Pre-Release

• [ ] All tests passing
• [ ] Security audit complete
• [ ] Performance validated
• [ ] Dependencies updated

Version Control

• [ ] Version bumped
• [ ] Changelog generated
• [ ] Git tag created
• [ ] Branch merged

Build

• [ ] Production build created
• [ ] Assets optimized
• [ ] Source maps generated
• [ ] Build validated

Documentation

• [ ] Release notes written
• [ ] API docs updated
• [ ] Migration guide ready
• [ ] Changelog complete

Deployment

• [ ] Rollback plan documented
• [ ] Environment configured
• [ ] Monitoring setup
• [ ] Team notified

Personas (Thinking Modes)

• deployment-engineer: Deployment strategy, infrastructure, rollback planning, production readiness
• quality-engineer: Quality validation, testing standards, release criteria
• security-specialist: Security audit, vulnerability assessment, production security

Delegation Protocol

This command USUALLY delegates - Release preparation is comprehensive multi-phase work.

When to delegate (use Task tool):

• ✅ Any release preparation (always multiple phases)
• ✅ Production deployment validation
• ✅ Security and quality audits required
• ✅ Comprehensive checklist execution

Available subagents:

• general-purpose: Version management, build optimization, documentation
• code-reviewer: Pre-release code quality validation
• security-auditor: Security audit and vulnerability scanning
• test-automator: Full test suite execution and validation

Delegation strategy for release preparation:

<function_calls>
<!-- Phase 1: Pre-Release Validation (Parallel) -->
<invoke name="Task">
  <subagent_type>test-automator</subagent_type>
  <description>Run full test suite</description>
  <prompt>
    Execute comprehensive testing:
    - Unit tests
    - Integration tests
    - E2E tests
    - Performance benchmarks
    All must pass for release.
  </prompt>
</invoke>
<invoke name="Task">
  <subagent_type>security-auditor</subagent_type>
  <description>Execute security audit</description>
  <prompt>
    Comprehensive security audit:
    - Dependency vulnerabilities
    - OWASP Top 10 check
    - Production configuration
    - Security headers
    Critical issues block release.
  </prompt>
</invoke>
<invoke name="Task">
  <subagent_type>code-reviewer</subagent_type>
  <description>Final quality validation</description>
  <prompt>
    Pre-release quality check:
    - Code quality assessment
    - Performance review
    - Best practices compliance
    Quality-engineer thinking.
  </prompt>
</invoke>

<!-- Phase 2: Release Preparation (Sequential after validation) -->
<invoke name="Task">
  <subagent_type>general-purpose</subagent_type>
  <description>Prepare release artifacts</description>
  <prompt>
    Release preparation for version: [version]
    Type: [major|minor|patch]
    - Version management
    - Changelog generation
    - Production build
    - Documentation updates
    - Deployment planning
    Deployment-engineer thinking.
  </prompt>
</invoke>
</function_calls>

When NOT to delegate (use direct tools):

• ❌ Simple version bump (no full release)
• ❌ Documentation-only update

Tool Coordination

• Task tool: Launches subagents for comprehensive release preparation (4 subagents)
• Bash: Build commands, git operations (by subagents)
• Read/Write: Documentation, changelog (by subagents)
• TodoWrite: Release checklist tracking

Example

/deploy:prepare-release 2.1.0 --type minor