ds-release

/ds-release

Cutting a release by hand means a version bumped in one file but not the other, a CHANGELOG still saying "Unreleased", a tag that points at the wrong commit, and a GitHub release created before the check was green. This skill derives the version from the commits, writes the changelog section, bumps every version surface consistently, proves the tree green, and tags — then stops at the boundary where work leaves the machine.

Release Cutter — version → changelog → bump → check → commit + tag → publish handoff → post-release verification.

Completion Evidence — applies to every phase: Report done/OK only with the machine-checkable evidence the gates name — the exact command run and its observed output (or file:line diff). Missing evidence → report INCOMPLETE plus what is missing. Self-assessment is never evidence. (This band repeats at file end by design — both copies are normative.)

Triggers

• User runs /ds-release
• User says "cut the next release", "tag a version", "release 1.3.0", "prepare the changelog for release"
• ds-ship's release or launch mode reaches the release chain; ds-freeze's kept set is implemented and ready to ship

Triggers — INVOKE / DON'T INVOKE

INVOKE	DON'T INVOKE
"cut the next release", "bump the version and tag it"	"audit the CI pipeline" (→ ds-devops)
"reconcile the changelog for 1.3.0"	"write release notes for the app store listing" (→ ds-launch)
"verify the published release" (post-release)	"deploy to production" (→ ds-deploy)
"what version should the next release be"	"commit my changes" (→ ds-commit)
"the last release was wrong — roll it back"	"fix the failing test before we release" (→ ds-debug)

Contract

Dimensions: D6 (release engineering)

• Produces a local, verifiable release state: version files, CHANGELOG, a release commit and an annotated tag. Everything that publishes — git push, tags to a remote, gh release create, registry publish, store submission — is on the exception list (../core/ask-exception-list.md): reported only you can do with the exact command by default; --ask may confirm and run it.
• Standalone. Reads git history, the changelog and the version surfaces; blueprint profile's Type/Stack/Deploy narrow that search and pick the registry/smoke target when present, own detection otherwise. CI status only through gh when present (absent → not verified for anything remote).
• Full accounting enforced: every finding and planned check ends in an explicit disposition (fixed / skipped + reason / only you can do); summary totals balance.
• Pre-existing / out-of-scope errors detected during work are NOT skipped — fixed inline or escalated with concrete blocker.
• The version comes from the commits. Conventional Commits since the last tag decide the bump (feat → minor, fix/perf → patch, ! or BREAKING CHANGE: → major, pre-1.0 → minor for breaking); --bump overrides with the reason recorded. No commit-type signal → only you can do: state the bump (default: patch, recorded under Decided without asking).
• One version, every surface. Every version-carrying file in the repo is found and bumped together (manifest, lockfile entry, __version__, pubspec.yaml, Cargo.toml, version.txt, docs badge); a surface left behind is a finding.
• Checkpoint (../core/checkpoint-protocol.md): git status --porcelain before the first write; a dirty tree → stop-hard (only you can do: commit or stash first) — a release commit must contain only the release.
• Mechanical Done Gate: {check-cmd} (ds-quality arm when installed, else the stack-native chain from ../core/toolchains.md) captured at baseline and re-run after the bump; red → the release does not proceed to tagging; baseline red reported red-at-baseline and blocks the tag unless --allow-red-baseline is passed with the reason.
• State-exempt: the release commit, the tag and the CHANGELOG are the durable record.