Cut new release candidate

cut-new-release-candidate

Trigger the release-candidate workflow ($RC_WORKFLOW_NAME) GitHub Action on a specified release branch ref and return the workflow run URL.

Configuration

This skill reads environment-specific values from environment variables (see the repo README.md):

• INTERNAL_REPO — owner/repo that holds your release branches and the workflow.
• REPO_DIR — absolute path to your local checkout of INTERNAL_REPO.
• RC_WORKFLOW_NAME — name of the GitHub Actions workflow that cuts a release candidate (default Cut New Release Candidate).
• RELEASE_CHANNELS — space-separated release channels used to recognize release branches (default preview stable).
• RELEASE_BRANCH_PREFIX — per-channel branch path prefix; {channel} is replaced with the channel name (default {channel}_release/).

All git/gh operations run inside INTERNAL_REPO.

Step 1: Clarify inputs

Ensure you have:

• Release branch name (required), e.g. stable_release/v0.YYYY.MM.DD.HH.MM.stable_NN

If the user provides origin/<branch>, strip the origin/ prefix.

Reject non-release branches: the branch must start with the configured RELEASE_BRANCH_PREFIX for one of $RELEASE_CHANNELS:

is_release=0
for ch in $RELEASE_CHANNELS; do
  prefix=$(printf '%s' "$RELEASE_BRANCH_PREFIX" | sed "s|{channel}|$ch|")
  case "$BRANCH_NAME" in
    "$prefix"*) is_release=1; break;;
  esac
done
[ "$is_release" = 1 ] || { echo "Not a release branch: $BRANCH_NAME"; exit 1; }

Step 2: Ensure repo context

If you are not already in the release repo:

• Try cd "$REPO_DIR"
• If REPO_DIR is unset or the path does not exist, ask the user for the local path to their release repo, then cd there

Step 3: Validate the branch exists on origin

BRANCH_NAME="<release_branch>"

git fetch origin
git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin "$BRANCH_NAME" >/dev/null

If this fails, tell the user the branch was not found on origin and ask them to confirm the exact branch name.

Step 4: Trigger the workflow

Trigger the workflow by name on the provided ref:

gh workflow run "$RC_WORKFLOW_NAME" \
  --repo "$INTERNAL_REPO" \
  --ref "$BRANCH_NAME"

Step 5: Return the run URL (no waiting)

Fetch the newest run for this workflow on the branch and return its URL:

gh run list \
  --repo "$INTERNAL_REPO" \
  --workflow "$RC_WORKFLOW_NAME" \
  --branch "$BRANCH_NAME" \
  --limit 1 \
  --json url,status,conclusion,createdAt \
  --jq '.[0]'

Share the url with the user. Do not watch/wait for completion.

Step 6: Post an update to Slack

After triggering, post an update to Slack with the branch name and the run URL.

• If the user provides a Slack channel and thread to reply in, invoke the respond-to-slack-thread skill to post the update.
• Otherwise, ask the user where to post (channel + optional thread link) and what audience they want notified.

Suggested message text (edit as needed):

Triggered *$RC_WORKFLOW_NAME* for `$BRANCH_NAME`.
Run: <RUN_URL>

Notes

• This workflow infers the channel from the branch name (via RELEASE_BRANCH_PREFIX), so it must be run on a release branch.
• If gh auth fails, ask the user to authenticate (gh auth status / gh auth login) and retry.