Releases are manual and error-prone. Automate with semantic versioning and changelogs.

Step 1: Adopt Conventional Commits

# Commit message format:
<type>(<scope>): <description>

[optional body]

[optional footer(s)]

# Types and their effect on versioning:
fix:      -> PATCH (1.0.0 -> 1.0.1)
feat:     -> MINOR (1.0.0 -> 1.1.0)
feat!:    -> MAJOR (1.0.0 -> 2.0.0)
BREAKING CHANGE: in footer -> MAJOR

# Examples:
fix(auth): resolve token refresh race condition
feat(api): add pagination support to list endpoints
feat!: redesign authentication flow

BREAKING CHANGE: OAuth tokens now expire after 1 hour

Step 2: Enforce Commit Messages

# .github/workflows/commitlint.yml
name: Lint Commits

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  commitlint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 18

      - name: Install commitlint
        run: npm install -g @commitlint/cli @commitlint/config-conventional

      - name: Validate commits
        run: |
          npx commitlint --from ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }} --to ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }} --verbose

// commitlint.config.js
module.exports = {
  extends: ['@commitlint/config-conventional'],
  rules: {
    'type-enum': [
      2,
      'always',
      ['feat', 'fix', 'docs', 'style', 'refactor', 'perf', 'test', 'chore', 'ci', 'build', 'revert']
    ],
    'scope-enum': [
      2,
      'always',
      ['api', 'auth', 'ui', 'db', 'config', 'deps', 'release']
    ]
  }
};

Step 3: Automated Release with semantic-release

# .github/workflows/release.yml
name: Release

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write
  issues: write
  pull-requests: write
  id-token: write

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          persist-credentials: false

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

      - name: Release
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
        run: npx semantic-release

// release.config.js
module.exports = {
  branches: ['main'],
  plugins: [
    '@semantic-release/commit-analyzer',
    '@semantic-release/release-notes-generator',
    [
      '@semantic-release/changelog',
      {
        changelogFile: 'CHANGELOG.md'
      }
    ],
    [
      '@semantic-release/npm',
      {
        npmPublish: true
      }
    ],
    [
      '@semantic-release/github',
      {
        assets: [
          { path: 'dist/**/*.js', label: 'Distribution files' },
          { path: 'CHANGELOG.md', label: 'Changelog' }
        ]
      }
    ],
    [
      '@semantic-release/git',
      {
        assets: ['package.json', 'CHANGELOG.md'],
        message: 'chore(release): ${nextRelease.version} [skip ci]\n\n${nextRelease.notes}'
      }
    ]
  ]
};

Step 4: Alternative - Release Please (Google’s Approach)

# .github/workflows/release-please.yml
name: Release Please

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  release-please:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      release_created: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}
      tag_name: ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }}
    steps:
      - uses: google-github-actions/release-please-action@v4
        id: release
        with:
          release-type: node
          package-name: my-package

  publish:
    needs: release-please
    if: needs.release-please.outputs.release_created
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'

      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - run: npm publish
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

Step 5: Multi-Package Release (Monorepo)

# .github/workflows/release-monorepo.yml
name: Release Packages

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
  id-token: write

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build all packages
        run: npm run build --workspaces

      - name: Create Release PR or Release
        uses: google-github-actions/release-please-action@v4
        id: release
        with:
          command: manifest
          config-file: release-please-config.json
          manifest-file: .release-please-manifest.json

      - name: Publish packages
        if: steps.release.outputs.releases_created
        run: |
          # Get list of released packages
          RELEASES='${{ steps.release.outputs.paths_released }}'

          for path in $(echo $RELEASES | jq -r '.[]'); do
            echo "Publishing $path"
            cd $path
            npm publish --provenance --access public
            cd -
          done
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

// release-please-config.json
{
  "packages": {
    "packages/core": {
      "release-type": "node",
      "package-name": "@myorg/core"
    },
    "packages/cli": {
      "release-type": "node",
      "package-name": "@myorg/cli"
    },
    "packages/utils": {
      "release-type": "node",
      "package-name": "@myorg/utils"
    }
  },
  "changelog-sections": [
    { "type": "feat", "section": "Features" },
    { "type": "fix", "section": "Bug Fixes" },
    { "type": "perf", "section": "Performance Improvements" },
    { "type": "docs", "section": "Documentation" }
  ]
}

Step 6: Docker Image Releases

# .github/workflows/release-docker.yml
name: Release Docker

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

permissions:
  contents: read
  packages: write

jobs:
  docker:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Docker metadata
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
        with:
          images: |
            ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}
            docker.io/myorg/myapp
          tags: |
            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}
            type=semver,pattern={{major}}
            type=sha

      - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3

      - name: Login to GHCR
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max

      - name: Update Docker Hub description
        uses: peter-evans/dockerhub-description@v3
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
          repository: myorg/myapp
          readme-filepath: ./README.md

Step 7: Complete Release Pipeline

name: Complete Release

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
  packages: write
  id-token: write

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

  release:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      released: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}
      version: ${{ steps.release.outputs.major }}.${{ steps.release.outputs.minor }}.${{ steps.release.outputs.patch }}
    steps:
      - uses: google-github-actions/release-please-action@v4
        id: release
        with:
          release-type: node

  publish-npm:
    needs: release
    if: needs.release.outputs.released == 'true'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - run: npm publish --provenance
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

  publish-docker:
    needs: release
    if: needs.release.outputs.released == 'true'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
      - uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      - uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          push: true
          tags: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:${{ needs.release.outputs.version }}

  notify:
    needs: [release, publish-npm, publish-docker]
    if: needs.release.outputs.released == 'true'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
        with:
          webhook: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
          webhook-type: incoming-webhook
          payload: |
            {
              "text": "Released v${{ needs.release.outputs.version }}!",
              "blocks": [
                {
                  "type": "section",
                  "text": {
                    "type": "mrkdwn",
                    "text": "*v${{ needs.release.outputs.version }}* has been released!\n<https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases|View Release>"
                  }
                }
              ]
            }