chore: add release-catalyst-patch skill for isolated patch releases (#3000)

Document the workflow for shipping a single Catalyst package patch ahead of
the normal release cadence, without bundling it with other queued changesets
in the open Version Packages PR. Quarantines other changesets, runs
`changeset version` for the target, hands the publish + canary push back to
the user, and creates the GitHub release manually since the bot's release
flow only fires when CI itself publishes.

Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: chanceaclark

.claude/skills/release-catalyst-patch/SKILL.md

@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+---
+name: release-catalyst-patch
+description: >
+  Release a single Catalyst package patch in isolation, without bundling it with
+  other queued changesets in the open Version Packages PR. Use when the user says
+  "/release-catalyst-patch", "isolate a patch release", "publish only one package",
+  or wants to ship a single package's changeset ahead of the normal release cadence.
+  Performs the full flow locally (`changeset version`, build, `changeset publish`,
+  push, GitHub release) so the remaining queued changesets stay untouched in the
+  Version Packages PR.
+---
+
+# Release Catalyst Patch (single-package isolation)
+
+The Changesets GitHub Action picks one mode per push to `canary`: if any unconsumed
+changesets exist, it opens/refreshes the Version Packages PR and **does not** publish.
+That's why we publish locally — we keep the other changesets in `.changeset/` so the
+Version Packages PR still tracks them, but we ship just the one we want now.
+
+Execute stages in order. Pause for user input where indicated. **Never execute the
+`changeset publish` command yourself** — provide it to the user to run.
+
+## Stage 0: Confirm scope
+
+Identify the changeset to release and the target package + version.
+
+```bash
+ls .changeset/
+git log --oneline -10                       # find the PR/commit that added the changeset
+cat .changeset/<changeset-file>.md          # confirm the package + bump type
+npm view <package> version dist-tags        # confirm current published state
+```
+
+Confirm with the user:
+- Which `.changeset/*.md` file is being released
+- The target package and the resulting version (e.g., `1.0.2` → `1.0.3`)
+- That **all other** changesets in `.changeset/` should remain queued for the next regular release
+
+If the package has notes in the [Package-specific notes](#package-specific-notes) section
+below, review them before continuing.
+
+## Stage 1: Branch + quarantine
+
+Work on a release branch so the workflow doesn't trigger mid-flow.
+
+```bash
+git switch canary && git pull
+git switch -c release/<package>-<new-version>
+```
+
+Move the **other** changesets **outside** the repo. A subdirectory inside `.changeset/`
+gets parsed as a malformed changeset by the CLI and crashes `changeset version`:
+
+```bash
+mkdir -p /tmp/changeset-hold
+mv .changeset/<other-1>.md .changeset/<other-2>.md ... /tmp/changeset-hold/
+ls .changeset/   # should leave only config.json + the one changeset to release
+```
+
+## Stage 2: Run `changeset version`
+
+Requires `GITHUB_TOKEN` because the repo uses `@changesets/changelog-github`. The `gh`
+CLI token works.
+
+```bash
+pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
+GITHUB_TOKEN=$(gh auth token) pnpm changeset version
+```
+
+Restore the held changesets immediately:
+
+```bash
+mv /tmp/changeset-hold/*.md .changeset/
+rmdir /tmp/changeset-hold
+```
+
+Verify the diff:
+
+```bash
+git status
+git diff packages/<package>/package.json packages/<package>/CHANGELOG.md
+```
+
+Expect: bumped `package.json`, new CHANGELOG entry, deleted only the one changeset.
+The other changesets should be back in `.changeset/` and untouched.
+
+## Stage 3: Build
+
+Run the root build. Turborepo handles env passthrough from `.env.local` via the
+pipeline config, so package builds get the variables they need without manual sourcing.
+
+```bash
+pnpm build
+```
+
+If a package has build-time secrets that must be present, see the
+[Package-specific notes](#package-specific-notes) section for verification steps.
+
+## Stage 4: Commit
+
+```bash
+git add -A
+git commit -m "Version Packages (\`canary\`)"
+```
+
+Match the message format the changesets bot uses, since this is a manual stand-in for it.
+
+## Stage 5: Hand the publish command to the user
+
+**Do not run `changeset publish` from the agent.** Publishing to npm is a destructive,
+externally-visible action that should be performed by the user.
+
+Have the user confirm they're logged in, then run the publish themselves. The CLI will
+prompt them interactively for the npm OTP.
+
+```bash
+npm whoami                       # expect their npm username
+pnpm exec changeset publish      # prompts for OTP interactively
+```
+
+`changeset publish` is per-package version-aware: it only publishes packages whose local
+`package.json` is ahead of npm. Since only one package was bumped, only it ships. It
+also creates a local git tag like `@bigcommerce/<package>@<version>`.
+
+Wait for the user to confirm the publish completed before continuing.
+
+## Stage 6: Verify npm state
+
+```bash
+npm view <package> version
+npm view <package> dist-tags
+```
+
+`latest` should point to the new version. If it doesn't (rare — only happens if
+`publishConfig.tag` is set), advise the user to fix with:
+
+```bash
+npm dist-tag add <package>@<version> latest
+```
+
+## Stage 7: Fast-forward canary and push
+
+This requires a direct push to the protected default branch. **Pause and ask for explicit
+user authorization** before pushing — the user's "never push directly to main/master/production"
+rule guards against this even though the changesets bot does the same thing during normal
+releases.
+
+```bash
+git switch canary
+git fetch origin canary
+git log --oneline origin/canary..canary    # should be 1 ahead
+git log --oneline canary..origin/canary    # should be 0 behind
+git merge --ff-only release/<package>-<new-version>
+```
+
+If you're 1 ahead and 0 behind, default `git push` rejects non-fast-forward updates,
+which gives the same safety as `--ff-only` on the push side. Apple's git build (≤2.50.x)
+does not accept `--ff-only` as a push flag — `git push origin canary` is correct here.
+
+If a hook blocks the agent push, hand these commands to the user:
+
+```bash
+git push origin canary
+git push origin "@bigcommerce/<package>@<new-version>"
+```
+
+## Stage 8: Create the GitHub release manually
+
+CI runs `changeset publish` after the canary push, finds the version already on npm,
+and no-ops. Because the action only creates GitHub releases for packages it actually
+publishes, **no release is created automatically** in this flow. Make it manually.
+
+Extract the new CHANGELOG section (everything after the `## <version>` heading up to
+the next `## ` heading) into a notes file. Then:
+
+```bash
+gh release create "@bigcommerce/<package>@<new-version>" \
+  --repo bigcommerce/catalyst \
+  --title "@bigcommerce/<package>@<new-version>" \
+  --notes-file /tmp/release-notes.md
+```
+
+Match the body format of prior releases — just the `### Patch Changes` /
+`### Minor Changes` heading and the bullets, no version heading at the top. Compare
+against an existing release:
+
+```bash
+gh release view "@bigcommerce/catalyst-core@<some-prior-version>" --repo bigcommerce/catalyst --json body
+```
+
+## Stage 9: Final validation
+
+```bash
+git fetch origin canary
+git log --oneline origin/canary -3                                              # version commit on canary
+git ls-remote --tags origin "@bigcommerce/<package>@<new-version>"              # tag on origin
+gh release view "@bigcommerce/<package>@<new-version>" --repo bigcommerce/catalyst --json tagName,isDraft,isPrerelease
+gh run list --workflow=changesets-release.yml --limit 1                         # CI run succeeded
+gh pr list --search "Version Packages (canary)" --state open --json number,headRefName,updatedAt   # Version Packages PR refreshed
+git fetch origin changeset-release/canary
+git show --stat origin/changeset-release/canary | head -20                      # confirm only the other changesets remain
+npm view <package> version dist-tags
+```
+
+Report:
+- Published version + dist-tag
+- Canary commit SHA
+- Tag pushed
+- GitHub release URL
+- Confirmation that the Version Packages PR now contains **only** the other changesets — the released one has been dropped from its scope.
+
+## Stage 10: Cleanup
+
+```bash
+git branch -d release/<package>-<new-version>
+```
+
+## Package-specific notes
+
+### `@bigcommerce/create-catalyst`
+
+The CLI build (`tsup` via the package's `tsup.config.ts`) inlines `CLI_SEGMENT_WRITE_KEY`
+at build time, falling back to the placeholder `'not-a-valid-segment-write-key'` if the
+env var is missing. After Stage 3, verify the real key was embedded:
+
+```bash
+grep -c "not-a-valid-segment-write-key" packages/create-catalyst/dist/index.js
+# expect: 0
+```
+
+If `1`, the env var wasn't loaded. Confirm `CLI_SEGMENT_WRITE_KEY` exists in `.env.local`,
+and that the turbo pipeline for `build` declares it under `env` or `passThroughEnv` in
+`turbo.json`. Re-run `pnpm build` after fixing.