---

description: Build, commit, push & version bump workflow - automates the complete release cycle allowed-tools: Read Write Edit Bash Grep Glob

Ship Release

Systematic release workflow for RTK: build verification, version bump, changelog update, git tag, and push to trigger CI/CD.

When to Use

• Manual invocation: When ready to release a new version
• After feature completion: Before tagging and publishing
• Before version bump: To automate the release checklist

Pre-Release Checklist (Auto-Verified)

Before running /ship, verify:

1. Quality Checks Pass

cargo fmt --all --check    # Code formatted
cargo clippy --all-targets # Zero warnings
cargo test --all           # All tests pass

2. Performance Benchmarks Pass

hyperfine 'target/release/rtk git status' --warmup 3
# Should show <10ms mean time

/usr/bin/time -l target/release/rtk git status
# Should show <5MB maximum resident set size

3. Integration Tests Pass

cargo install --path . --force  # Install locally
cargo test --ignored            # Run integration tests

4. Git Clean State

git status  # Should show "nothing to commit, working tree clean"

Release Workflow

Step 1: Determine Version Bump

Semantic Versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH):

• MAJOR (v1.0.0): Breaking changes (rare for RTK)
• MINOR (v0.X.0): New features, new filters, new commands
• PATCH (v0.0.X): Bug fixes, performance improvements

Examples:

• New filter added (rtk pytest) → MINOR bump (v0.16.0 → v0.17.0)
• Bug fix in git log filter → PATCH bump (v0.16.0 → v0.16.1)
• Breaking CLI arg change → MAJOR bump (v0.16.0 → v1.0.0)

Step 2: Update Version

Files to update:

1. Cargo.toml (line 3): version = "X.Y.Z"
2. README.md (if version mentioned)

Note: CHANGELOG.md is auto-generated by release-please from conventional commit messages — do not edit manually.

Example:

# Cargo.toml (before)
[package]
name = "rtk"
version = "0.16.0"  # Current version

# Cargo.toml (after - MINOR bump)
[package]
name = "rtk"
version = "0.17.0"  # New version

CHANGELOG.md template:

## [0.17.0] - 2026-02-15

### Added
- `rtk pytest` command for Python test filtering (90% token reduction)
- Support for `pytest` JSON output parsing
- Integration with `uv` package manager auto-detection

### Fixed
- Shell escaping for PowerShell on Windows
- Memory leak in regex pattern caching

### Changed
- Updated `cargo test` filter to show test names in failures

Step 3: Build and Verify

# Clean build
cargo clean
cargo build --release

# Verify binary
target/release/rtk --version
# Should show new version

# Run full quality checks
cargo fmt --all --check
cargo clippy --all-targets
cargo test --all

# Benchmark performance
hyperfine 'target/release/rtk git status' --warmup 3
# Should still be <10ms

Step 4: Commit Version Bump

# Stage version files
git add Cargo.toml Cargo.lock README.md

# Commit with version tag
git commit -m "chore(release): bump version to v0.17.0

- Updated Cargo.toml version
- Verified all quality checks pass
- Benchmarked performance (<10ms startup)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>"

Step 5: Create Git Tag

# Create annotated tag with changelog excerpt
git tag -a v0.17.0 -m "Release v0.17.0

Added:
- rtk pytest command (90% token reduction)
- Support for uv package manager

Fixed:
- Shell escaping for PowerShell
- Memory leak in regex caching

Performance: <10ms startup, <5MB memory"

Step 6: Push to Remote

# Push commit and tags
git push origin main
git push origin v0.17.0

# Trigger GitHub Actions release workflow
# (CI/CD will build binaries, create GitHub release, publish to crates.io if configured)

Post-Release Verification

After pushing, verify:

1. GitHub Actions CI/CD Pass

# Check GitHub Actions workflow status
gh run list --limit 1

# Watch latest run
gh run watch

2. GitHub Release Created

# Check if release created
gh release view v0.17.0

# Should show:
# - Release notes from git tag
# - Binaries attached (macOS, Linux x86_64/ARM64, Windows)
# - Checksums for verification

3. Installation Verification

# Test installation from release
curl -sSL https://github.com/rtk-ai/rtk/releases/download/v0.17.0/rtk-macos-latest -o rtk
chmod +x rtk
./rtk --version
# Should show v0.17.0

Rollback Plan

If release has critical issues:

Option 1: Patch Release (Preferred)

# Fix issue in new branch
git checkout -b hotfix/v0.17.1
# Apply fix
cargo test --all
git commit -m "fix: critical issue in pytest filter"

# Release v0.17.1 (PATCH bump)
# Follow release workflow above

Option 2: Yank Release (crates.io only)

# Yank broken version from crates.io
cargo yank --vers 0.17.0

# Users can't download yanked version, but existing installs work

Option 3: Revert Tag (Last Resort)

# Delete tag locally
git tag -d v0.17.0

# Delete tag on remote
git push origin :refs/tags/v0.17.0

# Delete GitHub release
gh release delete v0.17.0 --yes

# Revert commit
git revert HEAD
git push origin main

Automated Release Script (Optional)

Save as scripts/ship.sh:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

# Parse version argument
if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 <version>"
    echo "Example: $0 0.17.0"
    exit 1
fi

NEW_VERSION=$1

echo "🚀 Starting release workflow for v$NEW_VERSION"

# 1. Quality checks
echo "📦 Running quality checks..."
cargo fmt --all --check
cargo clippy --all-targets
cargo test --all

# 2. Update version
echo "🔢 Updating version to $NEW_VERSION..."
sed -i '' "s/^version = .*/version = \"$NEW_VERSION\"/" Cargo.toml

# 3. Build
echo "🔨 Building release binary..."
cargo build --release

# 4. Verify version
echo "✅ Verifying version..."
target/release/rtk --version | grep "$NEW_VERSION"

# 5. Commit
echo "💾 Committing version bump..."
git add Cargo.toml Cargo.lock
git commit -m "chore(release): bump version to v$NEW_VERSION

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>"

# 6. Tag
echo "🏷️  Creating git tag..."
git tag -a "v$NEW_VERSION" -m "Release v$NEW_VERSION"

# 7. Push
echo "🚢 Pushing to remote..."
git push origin main
git push origin "v$NEW_VERSION"

echo "✅ Release v$NEW_VERSION shipped!"
echo "Monitor CI/CD: gh run watch"

Usage:

chmod +x scripts/ship.sh
./scripts/ship.sh 0.17.0

Release Frequency

Recommended cadence:

• PATCH releases: As needed for critical bugs (24h turnaround)
• MINOR releases: Weekly or bi-weekly for new features
• MAJOR releases: Quarterly or when breaking changes necessary

Version History Reference

Check version history:

git tag -l "v*"  # List all version tags
git log --oneline --tags  # Show commits with tags

Example output:

v0.17.0 (HEAD -> main, tag: v0.17.0, origin/main)
v0.16.0
v0.15.1
v0.15.0

Common Issues

Issue: CI/CD Fails After Tag Push

Symptom: GitHub Actions workflow fails on release build

Solution:

# Fix issue locally
git checkout main
# Apply fix
cargo test --all
git commit -m "fix: CI/CD build issue"
git push origin main

# Delete old tag
git tag -d v0.17.0
git push origin :refs/tags/v0.17.0

# Create new tag
git tag -a v0.17.0 -m "Release v0.17.0 (rebuild)"
git push origin v0.17.0

Issue: Version Mismatch

Symptom: rtk --version shows old version after bump

Solution:

# Cargo.lock might be out of sync
cargo update -p rtk
cargo build --release

# Verify
target/release/rtk --version

Issue: Changelog Merge Conflict

Symptom: CHANGELOG.md has conflicts after rebase

Solution: Do not edit CHANGELOG.md manually. It is auto-generated by release-please from conventional commit messages when merging to master.

Security Considerations

Before releasing:

• [ ] No secrets in code (API keys, tokens)
• [ ] No .env files committed
• [ ] Dependencies scanned (cargo audit)
• [ ] Shell injection vulnerabilities reviewed
• [ ] Cross-platform shell escaping tested

Dependency audit:

cargo install cargo-audit
cargo audit

# Example output:
# Crate: some-crate
# Version: 0.1.0
# Warning: vulnerability found
# Advisory: CVE-2024-XXXXX

If vulnerabilities found:

# Update vulnerable dependency
cargo update some-crate

# Verify fix
cargo audit

# Re-run quality checks
cargo test --all