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semrel

Quick Start

  1. Install semrel

    Terminal window
    go install github.com/GoSemantics/semrel/cmd/semrel@latest

  2. Create a minimal config

    Add a .semrel.yaml at the root of your repository:

    version: 1
    

    branches:
      - name: main
    

    release:
      rules:
        - type: feat
          bump: minor
        - type: fix
          bump: patch
        - type: perf
          bump: patch

  3. Write commits using Conventional Commits

    Terminal window
    git commit -m "feat: add user authentication"
    git commit -m "fix: correct token expiry calculation"

  4. Dry-run to preview the release

    Terminal window
    semrel release --dry-run

    semrel will print the calculated next version and the generated changelog without making any changes:

    semrel v0.1.0 – release pipeline (dry-run=true, config=.semrel.yaml)
    Next version: v1.1.0
    Changelog:
      ## [1.1.0] – 2026-05-23
      ### Features
      - add user authentication
      ### Bug Fixes
      - correct token expiry calculation

  5. Run the real release

    Terminal window
    semrel release

    semrel will create the git tag, publish a GitHub/GitLab release (via the configured provider plugin), and trigger any notification hooks.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”