templates-dotnet/.github/skills/new-release/SKILL.md

name, description, argument-hint

name	description	argument-hint
new-release	Cut a new release: tag the appropriate commit, generate the changelog, and produce build artifacts. Use when: releasing a new version, tagging a release, publishing NuGet packages, preparing release artifacts.	Branch or commit to release from (default: current main) and the kind of release (stable, prerelease, hotfix)

New Release

Versioning is GitVersion-driven (GitVersion.yml). Do not hand-pick versions — let GitVersion compute them from branch and tag history.

Versioning

Branch	Label	Resulting version
main	—	MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (stable)
develop / dev / development	beta	MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH-beta.N
release/*, hotfix/*, feature/*	branch name	…-<branch>.N

• Tags use the prefix v (regex [vV]? also accepts V or none).
• Each src/* project is versioned independently: only changes under that project's own directory, Directory.Packages.props, or GitVersion.yml increment its version (see GenerateProjectGitVersionConfig in src/Directory.Build.props and GitVersion.template.yml). A change to one library does not bump a sibling's version.
• Increments are suppressed for already-merged branches and already-tagged commits.

Procedure

1. Sync. git fetch --all --tags && git status — confirm clean.
2. Compute. dotnet build src\<Project>\<Project>.csproj -getProperty:Version — verify the value matches expectations for that specific project (there is no single repo-wide version).
3. Pack. dotnet pack -c Release (or use the docker-build pack target). Artifacts land in artifacts/nuget/.
4. Tag. git tag -a v<version> -m "Release v<version>" && git push origin v<version>.
5. Publish packages to the configured feed.
6. Create the GitHub release linked to the tag, using the generated changelog as notes.

For hotfixes: branch from the latest stable tag (git switch -c hotfix/<name> v<latest-stable>), follow the procedure, then back-merge into main and develop.

Guardrails

• Tags are immutable once pushed; never move or delete them.
• Never skip a PATCH — ship a fix forward.
• Do not edit GitVersion.yml or a generated src/*/GitVersion.yml to force a version. Address the underlying cause (missing tag, branch base, path filter, commit messages). Generated per-project files are gitignored build artifacts, re-derived from the root GitVersion.yml on every build — never hand-edit them.