absolute-versionCommit and Tag Version
commit-and-tag-versionis a fork ofstandard-version. Because of maintainer availability,standard-versionwas deprecated on 15th May 2022. The previous maintainer recommends release-please as an alternative for those who are using GitHub actions. This fork exists for those who can't switch torelease-please, or who would like to continue usingstandard-version.
Can I simply swap the library to migrate?To migrate, you can drop incommit-and-tag-versionin place ofstandard-version. There are no changes in 9.5.0, other than to add the package.json config keycommit-and-tag-version(the previous configuration keystandard-versionwill still work). 10.x drops support for deprecated node versions, 11.x is a formatting change if you're relying on the exact markdown format in the changelog, and 12.x drops support for node 14/16.
Why was it renamed commit-and-tag-version?. I didn't want to scope the package or name itstandard-version-fork, and it was a good opportunity to make the purpose of the tool clearer. I also wanted to distinguish it from the other tool in this organisation,absolute-version, which just prints version information for pre-releases.
A utility for versioning using semver and CHANGELOG generation powered by Conventional Commits.
Having problems? Want to contribute? Join us on the node-tooling community Slack.
- Commit and Tag Version
- How It Works:
bumpFiles,packageFilesandupdaters- Maven Support (Java/Kotlin)
- Gradle Support (Java/Kotlin)
- .NET Support
- YAML Support
- OpenAPI Support
- Python Support
- As a local
npm runscript - As global
bin - Using
npx - Customizing CHANGELOG Generation
- Deeper customization
- First Release
- Cutting Releases
- Release as a Pre-Release
- Release as a Target Type Imperatively (
npm version-like) - Prevent Git Hooks
- Signing Commits and Tags
- Lifecycle Scripts
- Skipping Lifecycle Steps
- Committing Generated Artifacts in the Release Commit
- Dry Run Mode
- Prefix Tags
- Tag replacement
- Generate changelogs for old releases
- CLI Help
- How is
commit-and-tag-versiondifferent fromsemantic-release? - Should I always squash commits when merging PRs?
- Can I use
commit-and-tag-versionfor additional metadata files, languages or version files?
How It Works
- Follow the Conventional Commits Specification in your repository.
- When you're ready to release, run
commit-and-tag-version.
commit-and-tag-version will then do the following:
- Retrieve the current version of your repository by looking at
packageFiles[1], falling back to the lastgit tag. bumpthe version inbumpFiles[1] based on your commits.- Generates a
changelogbased on your commits (uses conventional-changelog under the hood). - Creates a new
commitincluding yourbumpFiles[1] and updated CHANGELOG. - Creates a new
tagwith the new version number.
bumpFiles, packageFiles and updaters
commit-and-tag-version uses a few key concepts for handling version bumping in your project.
packageFiles– User-defined files where versions can be read from and be "bumped".- Examples:
package.json,manifest.json - In most cases (including the default),
packageFilesare a subset ofbumpFiles.
- Examples:
bumpFiles– User-defined files where versions should be "bumped", but not explicitly read from.- Examples:
package-lock.json,npm-shrinkwrap.json
- Examples:
updaters– Simple modules used for readingpackageFilesand writing tobumpFiles.
By default, commit-and-tag-version assumes you're working in a NodeJS based project... because of this, for the majority of projects you might never need to interact with these options.
That said, if you find your self asking How can I use commit-and-tag-version for additional metadata files, languages or version files? – these configuration options will help!
Maven Support (Java/Kotlin)
If you are using Maven, then just point to your pom.xml file.
commit-and-tag-version --packageFiles pom.xml --bumpFiles pom.xmlGradle Support (Java/Kotlin)
If you are using Gradle, then just point to your build.gradle file (or build.gradle.kts if using Kotlin DSL).
commit-and-tag-version --packageFiles build.gradle --bumpFiles build.gradle.NET Support
If you are using .NET with .csproj files.
This is going to read and update only the <Version> tag in the file.
commit-and-tag-version --packageFiles <YOUR-PROJECT-NAME>.csproj --bumpFiles <YOUR-PROJECT-NAME>.csprojYAML Support
If you are using YAML files.
This is going to read and update only the version: tag in the file.
commit-and-tag-version --packageFiles file.yaml --bumpFiles file.yamlOpenAPI Support
If you are using OpenAPI, then just point to your openapi.yaml file.
commit-and-tag-version --packageFiles openapi.yaml --bumpFiles openapi.yamlPython Support
If you are using Python with Poetry, then point to your pyproject.toml file.
commit-and-tag-version --packageFiles pyproject.toml --bumpFiles pyproject.tomlInstalling commit-and-tag-version
As a local npm run script
Install and add to devDependencies:
npm i --save-dev commit-and-tag-versionAdd an npm run script to your package.json:
{
"scripts": {
"release": "commit-and-tag-version"
}
}Now you can use npm run release in place of npm version.
This has the benefit of making your repo/package more portable, so that other developers can cut releases without having to globally install commit-and-tag-version on their machine.
As global bin
Install globally (add to your PATH):
npm i -g commit-and-tag-versionNow you can use commit-and-tag-version in place of npm version.
This has the benefit of allowing you to use commit-and-tag-version on any repo/package without adding a dev dependency to each one.
Using npx
As of `npm@5.2.0,npxis installed alongsidenpm. Usingnpxyou can usecommit-and-tag-versionwithout having to keep apackage.jsonfile by running:npx commit-and-tag-version`.
This method is especially useful when using commit-and-tag-version in non-JavaScript projects.
Configuration
You can configure commit-and-tag-version either by:
Placing a
commit-and-tag-versionstanza in yourpackage.json(assuming your project is JavaScript).Note for users who have migrated to
commit-and-tag-versionfromstandard-version: the previous package.json configuration key ofstandard-versionwill still work.Creating a
.versionrc,.versionrc.jsonor.versionrc.js.If you are using a
.versionrc.jsyour default export must be a configuration object, or a function returning a configuration object.
Any of the command line parameters accepted by commit-and-tag-version can instead
be provided via configuration. Please refer to the conventional-changelog-config-spec for details on available configuration options.
Customizing CHANGELOG Generation
By default, commit-and-tag-version uses the conventionalcommits preset.
This preset adheres closely to the conventionalcommits.org specification.
Suppose you're using GitLab, rather than GitHub, you might modify the following variables:
commitUrlFormat: the URL format of commit SHAs detected in commit messages.compareUrlFormat: the URL format used to compare two tags.issueUrlFormat: the URL format used to link to issues.
Making these URLs match GitLab's format, rather than GitHub's.
Deeper customization
You can override both parser and writer options (they will be merged into the preset we just mentioned). As an example, to list commits in the order that they were committed:
{
"commit-and-tag-version": {
"writerOpts": {
"commitsSort": false
}
}
}CLI Usage
NOTE: To pass nested configurations to the CLI without defining them in the
package.jsonuse dot notation as the parameterse.g. --skip.changelog.
First Release
To generate your changelog for your first release, simply do:
# npm run script
npm run release -- --first-release
# global bin
commit-and-tag-version --first-release
# npx
npx commit-and-tag-version --first-releaseThis will tag a release without bumping the version bumpFiles1.
When you are ready, push the git tag and npm publish your first release. \o/
Cutting Releases
If you typically use npm version to cut a new release, do this instead:
# npm run script
npm run release
# or global bin
commit-and-tag-versionAs long as your git commit messages are conventional and accurate, you no longer need to specify the semver type - and you get CHANGELOG generation for free! \o/
After you cut a release, you can push the new git tag and npm publish (or npm publish --tag next) when you're ready.
Release as a Pre-Release
Use the flag --prerelease to generate pre-releases:
Suppose the last version of your code is 1.0.0, and your code to be committed has patched changes. Run:
# npm run script
npm run release -- --prereleaseThis will tag your version as: 1.0.1-0.
If you want to name the pre-release, you specify the name via --prerelease <name>.
For example, suppose your pre-release should contain the alpha prefix:
# npm run script
npm run release -- --prerelease alphaThis will tag the version as: 1.0.1-alpha.0
Release as a Target Type Imperatively (npm version-like)
To forgo the automated version bump use --release-as with the argument major, minor or patch.
Suppose the last version of your code is 1.0.0, you've only landed fix: commits, but
you would like your next release to be a minor. Simply run the following:
# npm run script
npm run release -- --release-as minor
# Or
npm run release -- --release-as 1.1.0You will get version 1.1.0 rather than what would be the auto-generated version 1.0.1.
NOTE: you can combine
--release-asand--prereleaseto generate a release. This is useful when publishing experimental feature(s).
Prevent Git Hooks
If you use git hooks, like pre-commit, to test your code before committing, you can prevent hooks from being verified during the commit step by passing the --no-verify option:
# npm run script
npm run release -- --no-verify
# or global bin
commit-and-tag-version --no-verifySigning Commits and Tags
If you have your GPG key set up, add the --sign or -s flag to your commit-and-tag-version command.
Signed-off-by trailer
To add the "Signed-off-by" trailer to the commit message add the --signoff flag to your commit-and-tag-version command.
Lifecycle Scripts
commit-and-tag-version supports lifecycle scripts. These allow you to execute your
own supplementary commands during the release. The following
hooks are available and execute in the order documented:
prerelease: executed before anything happens. If theprereleasescript returns a non-zero exit code, versioning will be aborted, but it has no other effect on the process.prebump/postbump: executed before and after the version is bumped. If theprebumpscript returns a version #, it will be used rather than the version calculated bycommit-and-tag-version.prechangelog/postchangelog: executes before and after the CHANGELOG is generated.precommit/postcommit: called before and after the commit step.pretag/posttag: called before and after the tagging step.
Simply add the following to your package.json to configure lifecycle scripts:
{
"commit-and-tag-version": {
"scripts": {
"prebump": "echo 9.9.9"
}
}
}As an example to change from using GitHub to track your items to using your projects Jira use a
postchangelog script to replace the url fragment containing 'https://github.com/`myproject`/issues/'
with a link to your Jira - assuming you have already installed replace
{
"commit-and-tag-version": {
"scripts": {
"postchangelog": "replace 'https://github.com/myproject/issues/' 'https://myjira/browse/' CHANGELOG.md"
}
}
}Skipping Lifecycle Steps
You can skip any of the lifecycle steps (bump, changelog, commit, tag),
by adding the following to your package.json:
{
"commit-and-tag-version": {
"skip": {
"changelog": true
}
}
}Committing Generated Artifacts in the Release Commit
If you want to commit generated artifacts in the release commit, you can use the --commit-all or -a flag. You will need to stage the artifacts you want to commit, so your release command could look like this:
{
"commit-and-tag-version": {
"scripts": {
"prerelease": "webpack -p --bail && git add <file(s) to commit>"
}
}
}{
"scripts": {
"release": "commit-and-tag-version -a"
}
}Dry Run Mode
running commit-and-tag-version with the flag --dry-run allows you to see what
commands would be run, without committing to git or updating files.
# npm run script
npm run release -- --dry-run
# or global bin
commit-and-tag-version --dry-runPrefix Tags
Tags are prefixed with v by default. If you would like to prefix your tags with something else, you can do so with the -t flag.
commit-and-tag-version -t @scope/package\@This will prefix your tags to look something like @scope/package@2.0.0
If you do not want to have any tag prefix you can use the -t flag and provide it with an empty string as value.
Note: simply -t or --tag-prefix without any value will fallback to the default 'v'
Tag replacement
If you've already run commit-and-tag-version when creating your release, you may want to alter the release content and changelog without bumping
the version, by using commit-and-tag-version --skip.bump. By default, tagging with an already existing tag make git fails.
You can add the --tag-force flag to make use of -f option when calling git tag, then the existing version tag will be replaced.
Generate changelogs for old releases
Normally only the changelog for the last release will be generated and prepended to the changelog.md. If you want to generate changelogs for previous releases you can do so by setting the releaseCount option like described here.
When setting releaseCount=0 the whole changelog gets regenerated and replaced.
You can set the option either in the.versionrc file or inside package.json like below
//.versionrc
{
"releaseCount": 0
}
//package.json
"commit-and-tag-version": {
"releaseCount": 0
}CLI Help
# npm run script
npm run release -- --help
# or global bin
commit-and-tag-version --helpCode Usage
const commitAndTagVersion = require("commit-and-tag-version");
// Options are the same as command line, except camelCase
// commitAndTagVersion returns a Promise
commitAndTagVersion({
noVerify: true,
infile: "docs/CHANGELOG.md",
silent: true,
})
.then(() => {
// commit-and-tag-version is done
})
.catch((err) => {
console.error(`commit-and-tag-version failed with message: ${err.message}`);
});TIP: Use the silent option to prevent commit-and-tag-version from printing to the console.
FAQ
How is commit-and-tag-version different from semantic-release?
semantic-release is described as:
semantic-release automates the whole package release workflow including: determining the next version number, generating the release notes and publishing the package.
While both are based on the same foundation of structured commit messages, commit-and-tag-version takes a different approach by handling versioning, changelog generation, and git tagging for you without automatic pushing (to GitHub) or publishing (to an npm registry). Use of commit-and-tag-version only affects your local git repo - it doesn't affect remote resources at all. After you run commit-and-tag-version, you can review your release state, correct mistakes and follow the release strategy that makes the most sense for your codebase.
We think they are both fantastic tools, and we encourage folks to use semantic-release instead of commit-and-tag-version if it makes sense for their use-case.
Should I always squash commits when merging PRs?
The instructions to squash commits when merging pull requests assumes that one PR equals, at most, one feature or fix.
If you have multiple features or fixes landing in a single PR and each commit uses a structured message, then you can do a standard merge when accepting the PR. This will preserve the commit history from your branch after the merge.
Although this will allow each commit to be included as separate entries in your CHANGELOG, the entries will not be able to reference the PR that pulled the changes in because the preserved commit messages do not include the PR number.
For this reason, we recommend keeping the scope of each PR to one general feature or fix. In practice, this allows you to use unstructured commit messages when committing each little change and then squash them into a single commit with a structured message (referencing the PR number) once they have been reviewed and accepted.
Can I use commit-and-tag-version for additional metadata files, languages or version files?
You can configure multiple bumpFiles and packageFiles:
- Specify a custom
bumpFile"filename", this is the path to the file you want to "bump" - Specify the
bumpFile"updater", this is how the file will be bumped. a. If you're using a common type, you can use one ofcommit-and-tag-version's built-inupdatersby specifying atype. b. If your using an less-common version file, you can create your ownupdater.
// .versionrc
{
"bumpFiles": [
{
"filename": "MY_VERSION_TRACKER.txt",
// The `plain-text` updater assumes the file contents represents the version.
"type": "plain-text"
},
{
"filename": "a/deep/package/dot/json/file/package.json",
// The `json` updater assumes the version is available under a `version` key in the provided JSON document.
"type": "json"
},
{
"filename": "VERSION_TRACKER.json",
// See "Custom `updater`s" for more details.
"updater": "commit-and-tag-version-updater.js"
}
]
}If using .versionrc.js as your configuration file, the updater may also be set as an object, rather than a path:
// .versionrc.js
const tracker = {
filename: "VERSION_TRACKER.json",
updater: require("./path/to/custom-version-updater"),
};
module.exports = {
bumpFiles: [tracker],
packageFiles: [tracker],
};Custom updaters
An updater is expected to be a Javascript module with atleast two methods exposed: readVersion and writeVersion.
readVersion(contents = string): string
This method is used to read the version from the provided file contents.
The return value is expected to be a semantic version string.
writeVersion(contents = string, version: string): string
This method is used to write the version to the provided contents.
The return value will be written directly (overwrite) to the provided file.
Let's assume our VERSION_TRACKER.json has the following contents:
{
"tracker": {
"package": {
"version": "1.0.0"
}
}
}An acceptable commit-and-tag-version-updater.js would be:
// commit-and-tag-version-updater.js
const stringifyPackage = require("stringify-package");
const detectIndent = require("detect-indent");
const detectNewline = require("detect-newline");
module.exports.readVersion = function (contents) {
return JSON.parse(contents).tracker.package.version;
};
module.exports.writeVersion = function (contents, version) {
const json = JSON.parse(contents);
let indent = detectIndent(contents).indent;
let newline = detectNewline(contents);
json.tracker.package.version = version;
return stringifyPackage(json, indent, newline);
};Why do breaking changes before 1.0.0 not trigger a 1.0.0 release?
Below 1.0.0, the semver specification doesn't give any guarantees about the meaning of version numbers. However, with npm there is a community convention, and implementation-defined behaviour: If your version is between 0.1.0 and 1.0.0, npm treats an update to the minor version as a breaking change - that is ^0.1.0 will match 0.1.2 but not 0.2.0. Rust's cargo package manager also behaves the same way.
This tool (via conventional-commits) also follows that convention - breaking changes below v1.0.0 are treated as a minor version bump. Here's an example series of commits with tagged versions:
1017b00 chore: initial commit
9e2ba95 (tag: v0.0.2) chore(release): 0.0.2
3598012 fix!: Example breaking change
1a4994a (tag: v0.1.0) chore(release): 0.1.0Semver's only guarantee is "all bets are off", but npm has made a choice about
what bets to make. commit-and-tag-version follows the same convention (along
with other package managers for other ecosystems).
When you are ready to release v1.0.0, add --release-as 1.0.0 to the options.
License
ISC