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Releasing Bear

This document captures the release process. The goal is that running through it mechanically produces a tagged, published release with consistent metadata.

Replace X.Y.Z with the version being released (e.g. 4.1.2). The release branch is X.Y.Z-rc; the destination branch is master.

1. Preconditions

  • All work for the release is on X.Y.Z-rc, branched from master.
  • master has no commits the rc branch is missing: 
    git fetch origin
git log --oneline HEAD..origin/master   # must be empty
    If non-empty, rebase the rc branch onto master first.
  • Latest CI run on X.Y.Z-rc is green: 
    gh run list --branch X.Y.Z-rc --limit 1

2. Pre-flight checklist

Run from the repo root on the rc branch:

cargo fmt --check
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo build --verbose          # integration tests need a debug build
cargo test

All four must pass before tagging.

Then verify the release metadata:

Item Where Check
Workspace version Cargo.toml ([workspace.package]) matches X.Y.Z
Lockfile in sync Cargo.lock bear, bear-codegen, etc. show X.Y.Z; clean cargo build does not modify it
Man page date man/bear.1.md line 3 set to today (e.g. April 25, 2026)
Man page generated man/bear.1 regenerated from .md (see below)

If the man page date or content changed, regenerate bear.1:

cd man && pandoc -s -t man bear.1.md -o bear.1

Commit any pre-flight fixups to X.Y.Z-rc and let CI run again.

3. Merge to master

Use a fast-forward merge to keep master's first-parent history linear, which is the convention the 4.x series follows.

git checkout master
git pull --ff-only origin master
git merge --ff-only X.Y.Z-rc

Do not create a merge commit. If --ff-only fails, the rc branch is behind master - rebase it and start over.

4. Tag

Tags are unprefixed (4.1.2, not v4.1.2), annotated, and SSH-signed. The message body uses the v-prefixed form.

Verify your signing config once:

git config --get gpg.format        # ssh
git config --get user.signingkey   # path or key starting with "key::"
git config --get tag.gpgsign       # true (recommended)

Then tag the merge tip:

git tag -s X.Y.Z -m "vX.Y.Z"
git tag --verify X.Y.Z             # confirm signature is good

5. Push

git push origin master
git push origin X.Y.Z

6. Draft release notes

Use prior releases as the template (gh release view 4.1.1). Sections, in order, when applicable:

  • ### Features
  • ### Bug Fixes
  • ### Performance
  • ### Internal Refactoring
  • ### Documentation
  • ### Closed Issues - bullet list of #NNN - one-line description
  • ### Thanks - issue reporters and external PR authors, by @handle
  • ### New Contributors - first-time contributors only

Trailer:

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/rizsotto/Bear/compare/PREV...X.Y.Z

Useful inputs while drafting:

# commit subjects since the previous tag
git log --pretty="%s" PREV..X.Y.Z

# external contributors since the previous tag
git log --pretty="%an <%ae>" PREV..X.Y.Z | sort -u

# issues closed since the previous tag
gh issue list --state closed --search "closed:>=YYYY-MM-DD" --limit 50

# PRs merged since the previous tag
gh pr list --state merged --search "merged:>=YYYY-MM-DD" --limit 50

Save the notes to a temporary file (e.g. /tmp/release-notes.md) - they are reused for the GitHub release and the discussion announcement.

7. Publish the GitHub release

gh release create X.Y.Z \
    --title X.Y.Z \
    --notes-file /tmp/release-notes.md \
    --verify-tag

Use --draft first if you want to review the rendered output before it goes live, then gh release edit X.Y.Z --draft=false.

8. Announce on the discussions thread

The pinned thread for release announcements is #399.

Keep the announcement short:

  • One-line summary linking to the release page.
  • Three to five highlight bullets.
  • Thanks to issue reporters and external contributors by @handle.
  • Invite users to open new issues for problems; the discussion thread is for general feedback.

Post with:

gh api graphql -f query='
  mutation($id: ID!, $body: String!) {
    addDiscussionComment(input: {discussionId: $id, body: $body}) {
      comment { url }
    }
  }' -f id=DISCUSSION_NODE_ID -f body="$(cat /tmp/announcement.md)"

(Get DISCUSSION_NODE_ID once via gh api graphql -f query='{ repository(owner:"rizsotto",name:"Bear") { discussion(number:399) { id } } }'.)

Alternatively, paste through the web UI.

9. Post-release

  • Pin the announcement comment in discussion #399 if you typically do.
  • Verify the release page renders correctly and the tag signature is shown.
  • Notify downstream packagers if the release contains packaging-relevant changes (install layout, prerequisites, breaking flags). Past channels: Homebrew, Arch, Debian/Fedora maintainers.
  • Open a new branch <next>-rc when work for the next version begins, and bump Cargo.toml ([workspace.package].version) on that branch.

Conventions reference

Item Convention
Release branch name X.Y.Z-rc
Tag name X.Y.Z (no v prefix)
Tag type annotated, SSH-signed
Tag message vX.Y.Z
GitHub release title X.Y.Z
Merge style fast-forward only
Version source of truth Cargo.toml [workspace.package].version