ci: migrate from git-cliff to release-please

[thedavidweng]

Summary

Migrate the release automation from git-cliff + manual changelog to release-please for fully automated version bumps, changelogs, and GitHub Releases.

Changes

Added

• release-please-config.json — Release Please configuration with Go release type, conventional commit changelog sections (Features, Bug Fixes, Performance, Refactoring, Documentation), and hidden sections for chore/test/build/ci commits
• .release-please-manifest.json — Bootstrapped at v0.3.1 to match the current latest release
• .github/workflows/release-please.yml — GitHub Actions workflow that runs on every push to main, creates a Release Please PR, and on merge creates a tag + GitHub Release with changelog notes

Modified

• .goreleaser.yaml:
  • Replaced changelog section with changelog.disable: true (Release Please now owns the changelog)
  • Added release.mode: append to append release notes to existing releases

Removed

• cliff.toml — No longer needed; Release Please handles changelog generation

How it works

1. On every push to main, Release Please analyzes conventional commits and opens/updates a release PR
2. When the release PR is merged, the workflow creates a git tag and GitHub Release with extracted changelog notes
3. GoReleaser then builds and publishes binaries to the release

Prerequisites

• RELEASE_PLEASE_TOKEN secret must be set in the repository with a PAT that has repo and workflow scopes (needed for Release Please to create/update PRs)

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

Migrates release automation from git-cliff + manual GoReleaser changelogs to release-please, which now owns version bumping, CHANGELOG.md generation, and GitHub Release creation. GoReleaser is updated to changelog.disable: true and release.mode: append so it only attaches binaries to the Release Please-created release.

• release-please-config.json and .release-please-manifest.json bootstrap the pipeline at v0.3.1 with a Go release type and conventional-commit sections that mirror what cliff.toml produced.
• .github/workflows/release-please.yml orchestrates the full flow: Release Please creates the tag, a custom shell step extracts CHANGELOG notes and appends installation instructions, and GoReleaser appends binaries via the existing release.yml on tag push.

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge; the release pipeline logic is sound and the only open item is a mutable version tag on actions/checkout that is inconsistent with the SHA-pinned release-please action.

The migration is mechanically correct: Release Please owns tagging and changelog generation, GoReleaser appends binaries with changelog.disable: true so it won't clobber the release notes, and the manifest is bootstrapped at the right version. The gh release view / gh release edit fallback in the custom release step handles both the race-condition case and the fresh-create case cleanly.

.github/workflows/release-please.yml — actions/checkout uses a mutable tag while a privileged PAT flows through it; worth pinning to a SHA for consistency with the already-pinned release-please action.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
.github/workflows/release-please.yml	New workflow orchestrating Release Please tag creation + custom GitHub Release with CHANGELOG notes and installation instructions; actions/checkout uses a mutable version tag while a privileged token flows through it
.github/workflows/release.yml	Minor: trailing newline removed, no behavioral change; GoReleaser still triggers on v* tag push
.goreleaser.yaml	Changelog disabled and release.mode set to append; installation header/footer removed since they're now generated by the release-please workflow
release-please-config.json	Well-formed Release Please config for a Go repo with conventional-commit changelog sections; chore/test/build/ci correctly hidden
.release-please-manifest.json	Bootstrapped at v0.3.1 matching the latest release; single-package root config is correct
cliff.toml	Deleted as part of the migration; no longer needed

Sequence Diagram

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
sequenceDiagram
    participant Dev as Developer
    participant Main as main branch
    participant RP as release-please.yml
    participant RPAction as release-please-action
    participant GH as GitHub Release
    participant TagEvent as Tag Push Event
    participant GoR as release.yml (GoReleaser)

    Dev->>Main: merge Release PR
    Main->>RP: push to main (trigger)
    RP->>RPAction: run (skip-github-release: true)
    RPAction-->>RP: "release_created=true, tag_name=vX.Y.Z"
    RPAction->>Main: git push tag vX.Y.Z
    Main->>TagEvent: tag push triggers release.yml
    par Release Please workflow continues
        RP->>GH: gh release create/edit vX.Y.Z with CHANGELOG notes + install instructions
    and GoReleaser starts
        TagEvent->>GoR: trigger
        GoR->>GH: "append binary artifacts (release.mode=append, changelog.disable=true)"
    end

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%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': {"darkMode": true, "background": "#0d1117", "primaryColor": "#21262d", "primaryTextColor": "#e6edf3", "primaryBorderColor": "#8b949e", "lineColor": "#8b949e", "textColor": "#e6edf3", "edgeLabelBackground": "#161b22", "actorBkg": "#21262d", "actorBorder": "#8b949e", "actorTextColor": "#e6edf3", "actorLineColor": "#8b949e", "signalColor": "#8b949e", "signalTextColor": "#e6edf3", "noteBkgColor": "#373320", "noteBorderColor": "#d4a72c", "noteTextColor": "#f0e6c0", "labelBoxBkgColor": "#21262d", "labelBoxBorderColor": "#8b949e", "labelTextColor": "#e6edf3", "loopTextColor": "#e6edf3", "activationBkgColor": "#30363d", "activationBorderColor": "#8b949e"}}}%%
sequenceDiagram
    participant Dev as Developer
    participant Main as main branch
    participant RP as release-please.yml
    participant RPAction as release-please-action
    participant GH as GitHub Release
    participant TagEvent as Tag Push Event
    participant GoR as release.yml (GoReleaser)

    Dev->>Main: merge Release PR
    Main->>RP: push to main (trigger)
    RP->>RPAction: run (skip-github-release: true)
    RPAction-->>RP: "release_created=true, tag_name=vX.Y.Z"
    RPAction->>Main: git push tag vX.Y.Z
    Main->>TagEvent: tag push triggers release.yml
    par Release Please workflow continues
        RP->>GH: gh release create/edit vX.Y.Z with CHANGELOG notes + install instructions
    and GoReleaser starts
        TagEvent->>GoR: trigger
        GoR->>GH: "append binary artifacts (release.mode=append, changelog.disable=true)"
    end

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_{Reviews (17): Last reviewed commit: "fix: fail wait job on timeout instead of..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

[thedavidweng]

Superseded: the git-cliff → release-please migration landed directly on main (release-please.yml + config + manifest, cliff.toml removed) as part of the fleet-standard alignment.