release-it

Release It is a powerful automation tool that handles the entire release workflow for your projects. Whether you're managing npm packages, Git repositories, or both, it eliminates manual steps and reduces human error in the publishing process.

Key capabilities include version bumping across your project files, automated Git operations like committing, tagging, and pushing changes, and multi-platform publishing to npm, GitHub, and GitLab. The tool generates changelogs automatically from your Git history and creates release notes with a single command.

The platform excels with its flexible hook system that lets you execute custom commands at any stage—perfect for running tests, building assets, or triggering additional workflows. A robust plugin architecture extends functionality for specialized needs like conventional commits, calendar versioning, or custom version management.

Release It works seamlessly in interactive mode for local development with confirmation prompts, or CI/CD mode for fully automated releases in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and other environments. It supports pre-release management for alpha, beta, and RC versions, monorepo workflows, and can be installed globally, per-project, or even run in containers.

The tool provides sensible defaults out of the box while offering extensive configuration options through .release-it.json or package.json. With support for Trusted Publishing via OIDC tokens, semantic versioning, and the ability to update existing releases, Release It becomes the central hub for your project's release strategy.