R pkg release

Package Release

Guided release workflow: audit dependencies, test, document, check, bump, review, submit.

Prerequisites

• R package with DESCRIPTION, NAMESPACE, and R/ directory
• testthat 3e configured with existing test suite
• renv initialized (renv.lock present)
• All current work committed to version control

Progress Tracking

Use TaskCreate at the start of this workflow — one task per phase below. Mark each in_progress when starting, completed when its gate passes.

• "Phase 1: Dependency audit"
• "Phase 2: Run tests"
• "Phase 3: Document"
• "Phase 4: R CMD check"
• "Phase 5: Version bump"
• "Phase 6: Final review"
• "Phase 7: Submit (CRAN only — skip for internal releases)"

CRAN submission is high-stakes; visible checkpoint state prevents skipping a gate after a failed retry.

Steps

Step 1: Dependency audit

Agent: r-dependency-manager Action: Run renv::status(), check for version conflicts, unused dependencies, and heavy packages with lighter alternatives. Verify R version compatibility. Gate: No CRITICAL dependency issues. Lock file is in sync.

Step 2: Run tests

Skill: r-tdd Action: Run devtools::test(). Check coverage with covr::package_coverage(). Gate: All tests pass. Coverage >= 80%.

Step 3: Document

Skill: r-package-dev Action: Run devtools::document(). Verify all exported functions have complete roxygen2 docs (@param, @returns, @examples). Update NEWS.md with changes since last release. Gate: No undocumented exports. NEWS.md is current.

Step 4: R CMD check

Agent: r-pkg-check → escalate to r-dependency-manager on version conflicts → escalate to r-code-reviewer on code quality findings Action: Run devtools::check(). Resolve all ERRORs and WARNINGs. Review NOTEs. Gate: 0 errors, 0 warnings. NOTEs reviewed and either fixed or documented as acceptable.

Step 5: Version bump

Skill: r-package-dev Action: Run usethis::use_version() (patch/minor/major as appropriate). Verify DESCRIPTION version and NEWS.md heading match. Gate: Version incremented. NEWS heading matches new version.

Step 6: Final review

Agent: r-code-reviewer (scope: full) Action: Review all changed files since last release tag. Check for leftover TODOs, debug code, or commented-out blocks. Gate: No CRITICAL or HIGH findings.

Step 7: Submit (CRAN only)

Skill: r-package-dev Action: Run devtools::submit_cran() or follow manual submission at https://cran.r-project.org/submit.html. Verify cran-comments.md is complete. Gate: Package submitted. Confirmation email received.

Abort Conditions

• Failing tests that indicate broken functionality — fix before proceeding.
• R CMD check ERRORs requiring architectural changes — stop and re-plan.
• Dependency conflicts requiring upstream package updates — file issue, defer release.
• Coverage below 80% — add tests before release.

Examples

Example: Preparing a patch release for CRAN

Prompt: "Prepare mypackage v0.2.1 for CRAN — we fixed two bugs since 0.2.0."

Flow: Dependency audit → Tests (all pass) → Document (update NEWS.md with bug fixes) → R CMD check (0/0/1 NOTE about package size — acceptable) → Version bump to 0.2.1 → Final review → Submit

Example: First CRAN submission

Prompt: "Submit mypackage to CRAN for the first time."

Flow: Dependency audit (extra scrutiny on deps list) → Tests → Document (ensure all vignettes build) → R CMD check (fix all NOTEs for first submission) → Version bump to 1.0.0 → Final review → Create cran-comments.md with usethis::use_cran_comments() → Submit