How to Release a New Version

Automated Releases (Recommended)

The easiest way to release new versions is through automatic semantic releases. Just commit with the right message format and push and everything else happens automatically.

Commit Message Format

Use these prefixes to control what type of release happens:

fix: resolve CLI argument parsing bug      # → patch release (4.1.0 → 4.1.1)
feat: add new agent orchestration mode     # → minor release (4.1.0 → 4.2.0)
feat!: redesign CLI interface              # → major release (4.1.0 → 5.0.0)

What Happens Automatically

When you push commits with fix: or feat:, GitHub Actions will:

✅ Analyze your commit messages
✅ Bump version in package.json
✅ Generate changelog
✅ Create git tag
✅ Publish to NPM automatically
✅ Create GitHub release with notes

Your Simple Workflow

# Make your changes
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add team collaboration mode"
git push

# That's it! Release happens automatically 🎉
# Users can now run: npx bmad-method (and get the new version)

Commits That DON'T Trigger Releases

These commit types won't create releases (use them for maintenance):

chore: update dependencies     # No release
docs: fix typo in readme      # No release
style: format code            # No release
test: add unit tests          # No release

Test Your Setup

npm run release:test    # Safe to run locally - tests the config

Manual Release Methods (Exceptions Only)

⚠️ Only use these methods if you need to bypass the automatic system

Quick Manual Version Bump

npm run version:patch   # 4.1.0 → 4.1.1 (bug fixes)
npm run version:minor   # 4.1.0 → 4.2.0 (new features)
npm run version:major   # 4.1.0 → 5.0.0 (breaking changes)

# Then manually publish:
npm publish
git push && git push --tags

Manual GitHub Actions Trigger

You can also trigger releases manually through GitHub Actions workflow dispatch if needed.

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