ci: automate releases with release-please + conventional commits

- Add .github/workflows/release-please.yml to open "Release PR"s bumping
  package.json, updating CHANGELOG.md, and drafting release notes from
  conventional commit messages.
- Simplify release.yml: drop the hand-rolled prepare-release / publish-release
  jobs (release-please now owns the release body and tag). The build job only
  attaches installers to the existing release.
- Document the conventional-commits flow in CLAUDE.md.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: beautyfree

.github/workflows/release-please.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+name: Release Please
+
+# Opens / updates a "Release PR" whenever conventional-commits land on main.
+# On merge, release-please bumps `package.json`, updates `CHANGELOG.md`, creates
+# a GitHub Release and pushes a matching `v<version>` tag. The tag push then
+# triggers `.github/workflows/release.yml` which builds & uploads the desktop
+# installers. Release notes come from the conventional commit messages.
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+concurrency:
+  group: release-please-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
+jobs:
+  release-please:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: googleapis/release-please-action@v4
+        with:
+          config-file: release-please-config.json
+          manifest-file: .release-please-manifest.json
+          # Use the default token — tag push is what re-triggers downstream
+          # build workflow (release.yml) on the same commit.
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 name: Release
 
-# Triggered by pushing a tag like v0.2.0. Builds the Electron app natively on
-# each OS (electron-builder + node-gyp native modules don't cross-compile
-# cleanly) and uploads every artifact to the GitHub Release directly so the
-# workflow keeps working even if the account-wide Actions artifact quota is
-# full. electron-updater reads `latest-{mac,linux,win}.yml` from the same
-# release to drive auto-updates in production.
+# Triggered by pushing a tag like v0.2.0. release-please (see
+# .github/workflows/release-please.yml) creates the GitHub Release + tag when
+# its "Release PR" is merged; this workflow then builds the Electron app
+# natively on each OS (electron-builder + node-gyp native modules don't
+# cross-compile cleanly) and uploads every artifact to that same release.
+# electron-updater reads `latest-{mac,linux,win}.yml` from the same release
+# to drive auto-updates in production.
 
 on:
   push:
@@ -20,37 +21,8 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
 jobs:
-  prepare-release:
-    name: Prepare draft release
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
-
-      - name: Create or reset draft release
-        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
-        with:
-          tag_name: ${{ github.ref_name }}
-          name: Skiller ${{ github.ref_name }}
-          body: |
-            Desktop installers — download the one that matches your OS:
-
-            - **macOS (Apple Silicon):** `Skiller-<version>-macos-arm64.dmg` (signed + notarized — drag to Applications)
-            - **macOS (Intel):** `Skiller-<version>-macos-x64.dmg` (signed + notarized — drag to Applications)
-            - **Windows (x64):** `Skiller-<version>-win-x64.exe` (NSIS installer)
-            - **Linux (x64):** `Skiller-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage` or `.deb`
-
-            After the first install, Skiller checks this release on launch and
-            via **Settings → App Updates**. Updates are downloaded on demand
-            and applied on next restart — powered by `electron-updater`.
-          draft: true
-          prerelease: false
-          generate_release_notes: true
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
   build-desktop:
     name: Build ${{ matrix.label }}
-    needs: prepare-release
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -153,11 +125,12 @@ jobs:
 
       # Upload every artifact (including latest-*.yml and .blockmap files —
       # electron-updater needs them alongside the binaries).
+      # The release itself (with CHANGELOG body) was already created by
+      # release-please when the Release PR merged — we only attach assets.
       - name: Upload build outputs to Release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
         with:
           tag_name: ${{ github.ref_name }}
-          draft: true
           # GitHub Releases shows assets in reverse upload order (newest on
           # top). Upload the auto-updater plumbing (yml, blockmap, zip) FIRST
           # and the human-facing installers LAST so the download list leads
@@ -175,19 +148,3 @@ jobs:
           fail_on_unmatched_files: false
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-  publish-release:
-    name: Publish release
-    needs: build-desktop
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
-
-      - name: Publish release
-        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
-        with:
-          tag_name: ${{ github.ref_name }}
-          draft: false
-          prerelease: false
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

.release-please-manifest.json

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  ".": "0.2.8"
+}

CLAUDE.md

@@ -58,6 +58,17 @@ bun install
 
 See `docs/DEVELOPMENT.md` for signing env vars and artifact locations.
 
+## Releases
+
+Releases are driven by **[release-please](https://github.com/googleapis/release-please)** and **conventional commits**.
+
+- Every commit to `main` should use a conventional prefix: `feat:`, `fix:`, `perf:`, `refactor:`, `docs:`, `chore:`, `ci:`, `build:`, `test:`, `style:`, `revert:`. Breaking changes: add `!` (`feat!:`) or a `BREAKING CHANGE:` footer.
+- `.github/workflows/release-please.yml` watches `main` and opens a **Release PR** that bumps `package.json`, updates `CHANGELOG.md`, and drafts the GitHub Release notes from commit messages.
+- Merging the Release PR pushes a `vX.Y.Z` tag → `.github/workflows/release.yml` builds the installers (macOS / Windows / Linux) and attaches them to the same release.
+- `electron-updater` reads release metadata for auto-updates on launch.
+
+Version source of truth: `package.json` + `.release-please-manifest.json`. Never bump manually — let release-please do it.
+
 ## Icons
 
 1. Edit canonical layer: `assets/icons/Skiller.icon/Assets/Image.png` (optionally run `python3 scripts/normalize-skiller-icon-layer.py`).

release-please-config.json

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/googleapis/release-please/main/schemas/config.json",
+  "release-type": "node",
+  "include-component-in-tag": false,
+  "include-v-in-tag": true,
+  "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
+  "bump-patch-for-minor-pre-major": true,
+  "changelog-sections": [
+    { "type": "feat", "section": "Features" },
+    { "type": "fix", "section": "Bug Fixes" },
+    { "type": "perf", "section": "Performance" },
+    { "type": "revert", "section": "Reverts" },
+    { "type": "docs", "section": "Documentation", "hidden": false },
+    { "type": "refactor", "section": "Refactors", "hidden": false },
+    { "type": "build", "section": "Build", "hidden": true },
+    { "type": "ci", "section": "CI", "hidden": true },
+    { "type": "chore", "section": "Chores", "hidden": true },
+    { "type": "style", "section": "Style", "hidden": true },
+    { "type": "test", "section": "Tests", "hidden": true }
+  ],
+  "packages": {
+    ".": {
+      "package-name": "skiller",
+      "changelog-path": "CHANGELOG.md"
+    }
+  }
+}