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skill CX Codex

release-dry-run — Claude Code skill for release checks

This skill reviews changes since the latest release tag and recommends a MAJOR, MINOR, or PATCH bump. Use it to assess a release before changing the version.

Install into Claude Code · Skills CLI (Vercel) All methods and platforms ↓
npx skills add dyoshikawa/rulesync --skill release-dry-run -a claude-code
Open on GitHub

What release-dry-run does

The skill fetches Git tags, identifies the latest one, then compares it with the current HEAD. Its report lists commits and file-change statistics, grouping the work into breaking changes, new features, bug fixes, and other changes.

It then recommends a semantic version bump and explains the reasoning. Removed features or changed behavior in an existing feature point toward a MAJOR bump. The run is read-only: it changes no files and creates no commits.

Git tags and repository history are needed; the workflow runs git fetch --tags before comparing revisions. The skill supports Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, and OpenCode.

What it helps with

  • list commits since the latest release tag
  • group repository changes by category
  • assess the required version bump
  • draft a reasoned release recommendation

Example prompts for the agent

  • Compare HEAD with the latest release tag and recommend a version bump.
  • Summarize the commits and changed files since the last release, then classify the changes.
  • Check for breaking changes and explain the recommended version bump.

How to install release-dry-run

1Skills CLI (Vercel)

npx skills add dyoshikawa/rulesync --skill release-dry-run -a claude-code

2Manually: put the files in place

~/.claude/skills/release-dry-run/SKILL.md

Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/release-dry-run/

Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways

Questions about release-dry-run

How do I install release-dry-run in Claude Code?

Run npx skills add dyoshikawa/rulesync --skill release-dry-run -a claude-code. The skill file is located at ~/.claude/skills/release-dry-run/SKILL.md.

What does release-dry-run do?

It compares the latest release tag with the current HEAD, summarizes commits and file changes, then recommends a MAJOR, MINOR, or PATCH bump with a rationale.

Does release-dry-run modify files or make commits?

No. It reports a recommendation without changing files or creating commits.

Source text

SKILL.md · MIT
---
name: release-dry-run
description: "Dry run for release: summarize changes since last release and suggest version bump."
targets:
  - "*"
---

This is a dry run command for release. It will summarize the changes since the last release and suggest the appropriate version bump based on semantic versioning.

## Steps

1. Get the latest release tag.
   - Run `git fetch --tags` to ensure all tags are available.
   - Run `git describe --tags --abbrev=0` to get the latest tag.
   - Assign the result to $latest_tag.

2. Compare code changes between the latest tag and the current HEAD.
   - Run `git log ${latest_tag}..HEAD --oneline` to get the commit list.
   - Run `git diff ${latest_tag}..HEAD --stat` to get the file change statistics.

3. Analyze the changes and create a summary in the following format:

   ```
   ## Changes Summary

   ### Commits since ${latest_tag}
   - List of commits with their messages

   ### Changed Files
   - Summary of file changes (added, modified, deleted)

   ### Change Categories
   - **Breaking Changes**: List any breaking changes (API changes, removed features, etc.)
   - **New Features**: List new features added
   - **Bug Fixes**: List bug fixes
   - **Other Changes**: List other changes (refactoring, documentation, tests, etc.)
   ```

4. Based on the analysis, suggest the appropriate version bump following semantic versioning rules:
   - **MAJOR** (X.0.0): Breaking changes that are not backward compatible
     - Removed or renamed public APIs
     - Changed behavior of existing features
     - Dropped support for older Node.js versions
   - **MINOR** (x.Y.0): New features that are backward compatible
     - New CLI commands or options
     - New configuration options
     - New tool support
   - **PATCH** (x.y.Z): Bug fixes and minor improvements
     - Bug fixes
     - Documentation updates
     - Internal refactoring without API changes
     - Dependency updates (unless they cause breaking changes)

   **Important**: Whenever the changes include any feature removal or a change in the behavior of an existing feature, do not hesitate to choose a MAJOR version bump. Prioritize protecting users from unexpected breakage over keeping the version number low.

5. Output the final recommendation in the following format:

   ```
   ## Version Bump Recommendation

   Current version: ${latest_tag}
   Recommended bump: MAJOR / MINOR / PATCH
   Suggested new version: vX.Y.Z

   ### Reasoning
   - Explain why this version bump is recommended based on the changes.
   ```

**Note**: This is a dry run only. No files will be modified and no commits will be made.

© dyoshikawa · MIT · dyoshikawa/rulesync

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