version-rubric

Version Rubric

Use this repository skill to decide and maintain how this project grades patch, minor, and major. The decision lives in a project-owned Markdown file that github-release reads at release time.

Run this skill whenever the rubric needs to be created, reviewed, or changed. It is safe to run repeatedly.

Rubric File

Resolve the rubric path in this order:

1. JIG_VERSION_RUBRIC environment variable (session-only override).
2. git config --local --get jig.versionRubric (repository override; not propagated by clone).
3. .jig/versioning.md (the convention).

• .jig/ is owned by the project, not by jig. The installer and jig-update never write or delete it, and jig-doctor never treats it as drift.
• The file must be committed. git config --local lives in .git/config and is not propagated by clone or CI checkout, so a config-only setup grades differently for different people.
• Never store state such as "the default was adopted" in a config key. That belongs in the file's > Basis: line, which is the single record of the decision.

File Contract

Two required sections, six optional. The section titles are the contract.

# Version Policy

> Basis: jig default (human-intervention axis) | project-specific, <date>

## Decision Order        (required)
1. <question> → `patch`
2. <question> → `minor`
3. <question> → `major`

## Grade Definitions     (required)
| bump | definition |

## Hard Rules            (optional) conditions that always escalate
## Interface Paths       (optional) changed paths that set a starting grade
## Hotfix Triggers       (optional) what justifies bypassing the develop queue
## Release Notes         (optional) note section order and titles
## Version Format        (optional) tag pattern, pre-1.0 handling, summary language
## Pre-Release Checks    (optional) commands to run before releasing

• ## Decision Order is asked in order and stops at the first match. A rubric cannot change that meaning.
• An optional section a rubric omits simply does not apply to that project. No ## Hard Rules means no escalation rule, even though the default below ships two.
• The > Basis: line records whether the default was adopted or the rubric was written for the project.
• Sections beyond these are read as context, not ignored. A project may add its own, such as a list of what counts as its public interface.