# How-to setup a semi-automated release process with GitHub action/workflow


If you are a fan of conventional commits and want to semi-automate your release process then this recipe might help to get you started.

My goals were

* being able to generate changelog based on conventional commits

* being able to preview generated changelog and auto-determined version number

* being able to override version number for release in case I want to deviate from the auto-determined version number

* being able to decide when to release via a one-click action

By using the `workflow_dispatch` trigger event it is possible to start a workflow from GitHub directly.

```
workflow_dispatch:
  inputs:
    dryRun:
      description: 'Dry Run'
      required: true
      default: 'true'
    releaseVersion:
      description: 'Custom Version (major.minor.patch; leave empty for automatic determination)'
      required: false
```


By defining two input options it is possible to execute a dry run or actually create a release. If no custom version number is set then the version number gets calculated.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1612557391863/tRtphdZ_n.png)

Here is an output of the workflow for a dry run.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1612557393429/hmVGhX9To.png)

You can find the source code of `release.yml` on [https://github.com/MarcoEidinger/gh-workflow_dispatch-standard-version-recipe/blob/main/.github/workflows/release.yml](https://github.com/MarcoEidinger/gh-workflow_dispatch-standard-version-recipe/blob/main/.github/workflows/release.yml) and use it as inspiration.

But before you go ahead I’d like to point out specific implementation details so that you can avoid the following pitfalls:

- Pitfall: no or not enough information in the changelog
- Solution: set `fetch-depth: 0` to ensure to fetch complete history during checkout

```
- name: Checkout Repo      
  uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    fetch-depth: 0
    token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
```


- Pitfall: cannot push to a protected branch
- Solution: make sure administrators are not included and use a personal access token with full repository authorization to fetch

And last but not least

- Pitfall: GitHub shows on releases page no or incorrect “x commits to <branch>since this release” label
- Solution: set `commitish` equal to the branch on which the commit with the tag resides

```
- name: Publish GitHub release
  uses: actions/create-release@v1.1.4
  env:
    GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
  with:
    tag_name: ${{ env.NEXT_VERSION }}
    release_name: ${{ env.NEXT_VERSION }}
    commitish: main # set branch to avoid
```