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Release-Please Setup Guide

This repository uses release-please for automated releases via the googleapis/release-please-action. This guide explains how to configure the necessary permissions.

GitHub Actions Permission Error

If you see this error:

Error: release-please failed: GitHub Actions is not permitted to create or approve pull requests.

You need to configure repository permissions. Choose one of the solutions below:

Solution 1: Enable GitHub Actions Permissions (Recommended)

  1. Go to your repository on GitHub
  2. Navigate to Settings → Actions → General
  3. Under "Workflow permissions":
    • Select "Read and write permissions"
    • Check "Allow GitHub Actions to create and approve pull requests"
  4. Click Save

This allows the default GITHUB_TOKEN to create release PRs.

Solution 2: Use Personal Access Token

If you prefer not to enable broad GitHub Actions permissions:

  1. Create a Personal Access Token:

    • Go to GitHub Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic)
    • Click "Generate new token (classic)"
    • Select scopes: repo (full control of private repositories)
    • Copy the generated token

  2. Add as Repository Secret:

    • Go to your repository → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
    • Click "New repository secret"
    • Name: RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN
    • Value: Your PAT from step 1
    • Click "Add secret"

The workflow is already configured to use RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN if available, falling back to GITHUB_TOKEN.

Solution 3: GitHub App (Advanced)

For organizations preferring app-based authentication:

  1. Create a GitHub App with these permissions:
    • Repository permissions: Contents (write), Pull requests (write), Metadata (read)
  2. Install the app on your repository
  3. Configure the workflow to use app authentication

How Release-Please Works

Once configured, release-please will:

  1. Monitor commits on the main branch for conventional commit messages
  2. Create release PRs automatically when it detects releasable changes
  3. Generate changelogs from commit messages
  4. Create GitHub releases when release PRs are merged
  5. Trigger builds to upload release assets

Conventional Commits

Use these commit prefixes to trigger releases:

  • feat: - New feature (minor version bump)
  • fix: - Bug fix (patch version bump)
  • feat!: or fix!: - Breaking change (major version bump)
  • chore:, docs:, style:, refactor:, test: - No version bump

Testing the Setup

After configuration, test by pushing a commit:

git commit -m "feat: add new feature"
git push origin main

Release-please should create a PR within a few minutes.

Troubleshooting

  • No PR created: Check that conventional commit format is used
  • Permission errors: Verify GitHub Actions permissions are enabled
  • Token issues: Ensure RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN has correct scopes
  • Workflow not running: Check that the workflow file is on the main branch

Current Configuration

  • Release type: Go
  • Current version: 0.2.0
  • Config file: .release-please-config.json
  • Manifest file: .release-please-manifest.json
  • Changelog sections: Features, Bug Fixes, Performance, etc.