Release Process

Check list for new release:

Setup

• You'll need to have a local copy of bump2version installed - that's probably best done using pipx:

pipx install bump2version

Process

1. Checkout the main branch and ensure it's up to date

   git checkout main
   git pull

2. Prep CHANGELOG.md

   • Consider the unreleased entries to determine the 'bump' level of this release ('patch', 'minor' or 'major')
   • Change the 'Unreleased' heading to the new version details and save

3. Commit the change

   git add .
   git commit -m "Prep changelog for new release"

4. Bump the version

   bumpversion <patch|minor|major>

   This will:

   • Update the __version__ variable in all files
   • Commit those changes
   • Create a new tag on the new commit

5. Push to github

    git push github
    git push github --tags

   The github actions setup in this project will then:

   • Force push the main branch to the production master branch
   • Force push the main branch to the production published branch
   • Push the new tag to the production repo

6. Create a new release at Gitub

   • Visit the github releases page
   • Click 'Draft a new release'
   • Copy the content from CHANGELOG.md for the new release into the description
   • Click 'Publish Release'

7. Announce on Users Forum!

   We tend to make a new forum post for any major or minor release, but add to the relevant one of those for any patch release.