Qmd release

Manage releases for this project. Validates changelog, installs git hooks, and cuts releases. Use when user says "/release", "release 1.0.5", "cut a release", or asks about the release process. NOT auto-invoked by the model.

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/tobi/qmd
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/tobi/qmd "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/release" ~/.claude/skills/tobi-qmd-release && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: skills/release/SKILL.md
source content

Release

Cut a release, validate the changelog, and ensure git hooks are installed.

Usage

/release 1.0.5
or
/release patch
(bumps patch from current version).

Process

When the user triggers

/release <version>
:

  1. Gather context — run

    skills/release/scripts/release-context.sh <version>
    . This silently installs git hooks and prints everything needed: version info, working directory status, commits since last release, files changed, current
    [Unreleased]
    content, and the previous release entry for style reference.

  2. Commit outstanding work — if the context shows staged, modified, or untracked files that belong in this release, commit them first. Use the /commit skill or make well-formed commits directly.

  3. Write the changelog — if

    [Unreleased]
    is empty, write it now using the commits and file changes from the context output. Follow the changelog standard below. Re-run the context script after committing if needed.

  4. Cut the release — run

    scripts/release.sh <version>
    . This renames
    [Unreleased]
    [X.Y.Z] - date
    , inserts a fresh
    [Unreleased]
    , bumps
    package.json
    , commits, and tags.

  5. Show the final changelog — print the full

    [Unreleased]
    + minor series rollup via
    scripts/extract-changelog.sh <version>
    . Ask the user to confirm before pushing.

  6. Push — after explicit confirmation, run

    git push origin main --tags
    .

  7. Watch CI — after the push, start a background dispatch to watch the publish workflow. Use

    interactive_shell
    in dispatch mode with:

    gh run watch $(gh run list --workflow=publish.yml --limit=1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId') --exit-status
    

    The agent will be notified when CI completes and should report the result.

  8. Check dependency updates — before cutting the release, check for updates to

    sqlite-vec
    (and platform packages),
    node-llama-cpp
    , and
    better-sqlite3
    . Run
    pnpm outdated
    and report any available updates for these packages. If updates exist, bump them (pinned, no
    ^
    ranges) and re-run tests before proceeding.

If any step fails, stop and explain. Never force-push or skip validation.

Dependency Policy

All dependencies must be pinned to exact versions (no

^
or
~
ranges). The lockfile ensures reproducible installs. When adding or updating any dependency, always use the exact version string (e.g.
"3.18.1"
not
"^3.18.1"
).

Changelog Standard

The changelog lives in

CHANGELOG.md
and follows Keep a Changelog conventions.

Heading format

  • ## [Unreleased]
    — accumulates entries between releases
  • ## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD
    — released versions

Structure of a release entry

Each version entry has two parts:

1. Highlights (optional, 1-4 sentences of prose)

Immediately after the version heading, before any

###
section. The elevator pitch — what would you tell someone in 30 seconds? Only for significant releases; skip for small patches.

## [1.1.0] - 2026-03-01

QMD now runs on both Node.js and Bun, with up to 2.7x faster reranking
through parallel contexts. GPU auto-detection replaces the unreliable
`gpu: "auto"` with explicit CUDA/Metal/Vulkan probing.

2. Detailed changelog (

### Changes
and
### Fixes
)

### Changes

- Runtime: support Node.js (>=22) alongside Bun. The `qmd` wrapper
  auto-detects a suitable install via PATH. #149 (thanks @igrigorik)
- Performance: parallel embedding & reranking — up to 2.7x faster on
  multi-core machines.

### Fixes

- Prevent VRAM waste from duplicate context creation during concurrent
  `embedBatch` calls. #152 (thanks @jkrems)

Writing guidelines

  • Explain the why, not just the what. The changelog is for users.
  • Include numbers. "2.7x faster", "17x less memory".
  • Group by theme, not by file. "Performance" not "Changes to llm.ts".
  • Don't list every commit. Aggregate related changes.
  • Credit contributors: end bullets with
    #NNN (thanks @username)
    for external PRs. No need to credit the repo owner.

What not to include

  • Internal refactors with no user-visible effect
  • Dependency bumps (unless fixing a user-facing bug)
  • CI/tooling changes (unless affecting the release artifact)
  • Test additions (unless validating a fix worth mentioning)

GitHub Release Notes

Each GitHub release includes the full changelog for the minor series back to x.x.0. The

scripts/extract-changelog.sh
script handles this, and the publish workflow (
publish.yml
) calls it to populate the GitHub release.

Git Hooks

The pre-push hook (

scripts/pre-push
) blocks
v*
tag pushes unless:

  1. package.json
    version matches the tag
  2. CHANGELOG.md
    has a
    ## [X.Y.Z] - date
    entry for the version
  3. CI passed on GitHub (warns in non-interactive shells, blocks in terminals)

Hooks are installed silently by the context script. They can also be installed manually via

skills/release/scripts/install-hooks.sh
or automatically via
bun install
(prepare script).