Release Kotlin Library

Release Kotlin library

Core principle

Publish the prepared, validated, user-approved release commit and call the release complete only after verifying its artifacts and Git state.

Prerequisite

This skill relies on gradle-maven-publish-plugin (com.vanniktech.maven.publish) for library publication, whether run locally or through tag-triggered CI. API snapshot support assumes Metalava-generated api/api.txt files; disable snapshots when the repository does not maintain them.

Procedure

1. Establish scope and inspect repository instructions, Git state, release history, version properties, publishing configuration and required checks. Confirm published modules apply com.vanniktech.maven.publish directly or via a convention plugin; declaration alone is insufficient. If absent or unverified, report it and stop before release mutations; do not install or migrate publishing plugins. Distinguish readiness review, preparation and explicit release authorization; select the matching finish path before proceeding. For recovery or recovery review, select and read the recovery answer form before analysis. For changelog-related review, also read the changelog procedure. For preparation or changelog-only work, read the preparation answer form alone in a standalone command before analysis. Check that the returned output contains the complete form, from its heading through its final sentence; if not, stop and recover that read before proceeding. Keep reviews read-only, including credentials. Follow the existing local or CI publishing mechanism; do not migrate it. Read the helper contract before configuring the bundled script. Stop before mutation on unsupported layouts or ambiguous destinations.
2. Before preparation, read the changelog procedure completely; resolve baseline, version and coverage ambiguity. Do not guess or create a changelog.
3. Identify repository release checks, including tests and Metalava API generation and compatibility checks where configured. Confirm that API files are current before snapshotting; the helper copies them without running Metalava. Do not treat other API dump formats as Metalava snapshots. Require passing evidence for the release code; a green parent commit is insufficient after relevant changes. For Gradle execution, use gradle-run, with --no-scan unless a scan is explicitly authorized. Fix failed checks within authorized scope; otherwise stop with the failing gate and next action.
4. Configure and preflight the helper with explicit versions, paths, heading style, API snapshot applicability, branch, remote, tag and command arguments. Keep configuration and evidence outside tracked release files. Check the index, snapshot collisions and local/remote destinations before writes. Load ~/.env for local publication as data, never by shell sourcing or printing it. Preserve explicit process environment values. Missing required credentials block local publication; do not request or log their values. For tag-triggered CI, use existing Git authentication and CI-managed publishing secrets without loading or requiring local dotenv values.
5. Prepare the release: update the version, finalize the changelog heading and applicable published-module API snapshots, run configured checks, and commit only release files. When finalizing a stable release entry, draft the stable summary from every surviving coverage-ledger row in final-behavior wording before grouping that cycle's original prerelease entries beneath it in a <details> block with <summary>Prerelease history</summary>. Move the original prerelease entries as one block without reordering them. Preserve their headings, anchors, dates and text, with blank lines around the enclosed Markdown. Leave older stable releases outside the block. If the renderer lacks collapsible HTML, retain expanded entries. Before handing off, compare the actual stable summary against every surviving row in the coverage ledger; confirm each appears outside prerelease history and add any missing surviving change to the stable summary. Compare the grouped history against the source to verify its original entry order. Inspect the resulting commit. Bind validation to this state and invalidate it if relevant code changes. The helper must not publish during preparation.
6. Present the prepared release for explicit user approval before publication: release version and tag, finalized changelog (or its absence), next development version, release commit, artifact coordinates and destination, publishing mechanism, and validation results. Provide the actual notes or a directly reviewable diff, not just a claim that they are ready. Explain that this approval gate is required by this skill and wait for the user's decision; a general request to release does not approve unseen release details. Reuse approval already given for this exact prepared release. If the code, versions, notes or publishing scope change, prepare and validate the revised release and obtain approval again. Preparation-only and readiness requests stop at their requested scope without soliciting publication approval.
7. Once the prepared release is approved and all gates pass, publish from that commit via the repository's selected mechanism. Local publication and tag-triggered CI are alternatives; do not run both. Do not publish artifacts, push a release tag or trigger publishing CI before approval.
8. Verify all expected artifact coordinates and versions at the configured destination, along with CI completion when applicable. Verify the remote tag resolves to the prepared commit. A successful command or tag alone is not artifact evidence. Only then advance, commit, push and verify the agreed next development version. Create and read back a GitHub Release only when repository conventions call for it, using the finalized release notes.
9. On partial or uncertain success, stop dependent mutations and report verified, failed and unknown stages without secrets. Inspect live artifact, workflow, tag and branch state before recovery; never blindly repeat publication, overwrite remote tags, delete published artifacts or claim rollback. Resume only a proven remaining action within existing authorization.