Version Bump Workflow

By Amr

Guide to the automated version bump workflow for managing semantic versioning and releases.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

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Table of Contents

Version Bump Workflow

The Zer0-Mistakes theme includes an automated version bump workflow that handles semantic versioning, changelog updates, and release preparation.

Overview

The workflow supports two trigger modes:

1. Manual: Select version type via GitHub Actions UI
2. Automatic: Analyze commits to determine version bump type

Manual Version Bump

Using GitHub Actions UI

1. Go to Actions tab in GitHub
2. Select Version Bump workflow
3. Click Run workflow
4. Choose options:
   • Version type: patch, minor, major, or auto
   • Skip tests: Optional, for faster releases
   • Dry run: Preview changes without committing

Using Command Line

# Bump patch version (bug fixes)
./scripts/version.sh patch

# Bump minor version (new features)
./scripts/version.sh minor

# Bump major version (breaking changes)
./scripts/version.sh major

# Push with tags
git push origin main --tags

Automatic Version Detection

When triggered by a push to main, the workflow analyzes commit messages:

Commit Pattern	Version Bump
BREAKING CHANGE: or !:	Major
feat: or feature:	Minor
fix:, docs:, chore:	Patch

Commit Message Examples

# Major bump (breaking change)
git commit -m "feat!: remove deprecated API endpoints"
git commit -m "refactor: new auth system

BREAKING CHANGE: authentication tokens now required"

# Minor bump (new feature)
git commit -m "feat: add dark mode toggle"
git commit -m "feature: implement search functionality"

# Patch bump (fix/maintenance)
git commit -m "fix: resolve navigation bug on mobile"
git commit -m "docs: update installation guide"
git commit -m "chore: update dependencies"

Workflow Configuration

Triggers

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
    paths-ignore:
      - 'CHANGELOG.md'
      - 'lib/jekyll-theme-zer0/version.rb'
      - '*.gem'
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      version_type:
        type: choice
        options: [patch, minor, major, auto]

Inputs

Input	Description	Default
version_type	Type of version bump	patch
skip_tests	Skip test execution	false
dry_run	Preview changes only	false

What the Workflow Does

1. Analyze Changes

• Determines appropriate version bump type
• Counts commits since last release
• Identifies breaking changes

2. Run Tests (Optional)

• Executes full test suite
• Validates Jekyll build
• Checks gem packaging

3. Bump Version

Updates version in:

• lib/jekyll-theme-zer0/version.rb
• package.json

4. Update Changelog

• Extracts commit messages
• Categorizes changes (Added, Changed, Fixed)
• Updates CHANGELOG.md

5. Create Release

• Commits version changes
• Creates git tag
• Triggers downstream release workflows

Workflow Outputs

Output	Description
bump_type	Detected version bump type
commit_count	Number of commits analyzed
should_release	Whether release should proceed
new_version	New version number

Best Practices

Commit Message Guidelines

Follow Conventional Commits:

<type>[optional scope]: <description>

[optional body]

[optional footer(s)]

Types

• feat: New feature
• fix: Bug fix
• docs: Documentation only
• style: Formatting, missing semicolons
• refactor: Code change (no feature/fix)
• test: Adding tests
• chore: Maintenance

Breaking Changes

Indicate breaking changes with:

• ! after type: feat!: new API
• Footer: BREAKING CHANGE: description

Troubleshooting

Workflow Not Triggering

Check that commit doesn’t modify ignored paths:

• CHANGELOG.md
• lib/jekyll-theme-zer0/version.rb
• *.gem

Infinite Loop Prevention

The workflow skips if:

• Commit message contains chore: bump version
• Author is github-actions

Version Already Exists

If version tag already exists:

1. Delete the tag locally and remotely
2. Re-run the workflow

git tag -d v1.2.3
git push origin :refs/tags/v1.2.3

Related

• Release Management
• CI/CD Pipeline
• Testing Guide