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Official agent skill

Release

by microsoft in microsoft/DirectXTK12

Guide for performing the DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 12 release process.

OfficialMITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Release

skills CLI
$ npx skills add microsoft/DirectXTK12 --skill release -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install microsoft/DirectXTK12 release --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/DirectXTK12.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/release .claude/skills/release && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
release
GitHub stars
1.8k
Token cost
~1.2k tokens
SKILL.md length
668 words
Files
2 (incl. assets)
Skills in repo
3
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Guide for performing the DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 12 release process.

  • Works in 7 steps: Prepare the Release → Tag and Create GitHub Release → MSCodeHub and Signed Binaries → …
  • Asked to help with releasing a new version
  • SKILL.md covers Prerequisites, Steps and Key Scripts
  • Runs Batch scripts from its folder

What it does

Release is an agent skill from microsoft/DirectXTK12, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Guide for performing the DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 12 release process. Use this skill when asked to help with releasing a new version, publishing packages, or updating ports.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including assets.

It sits in Development, covering Deployment. It works with Azure DevOps and GitHub. The repository describes itself as: The DirectX Tool Kit (aka DirectXTK12) is a collection of helper classes for writing DirectX 12 code in C++. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Asked to help with releasing a new version
  • Publishing packages

Example prompts

  • “/release”

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Prepare the Release
  2. Tag and Create GitHub Release
  3. MSCodeHub and Signed Binaries
  4. Source Archive Signing
  5. NuGet Validation and Publishing
  6. VCPKG Port Update
  7. Finalize

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 2f7b07a. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Ships script files (Batch), which the agent can run.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • github.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Release loads about 1.2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 46 tokens; SKILL.md has 668 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~46
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from microsoft/DirectXTK12 at commit 2f7b07a, republished under its MIT licence (© microsoft). 668 words, ~1,174 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/release/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
release
description
Guide for performing the DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 12 release process. Use this skill when asked to help with releasing a new version, publishing packages, or updating ports.

Release Process

Prerequisites

  • All changes merged into the main branch with all tests passing.
  • GPG signing configured for your GitHub account (for verified tags).
  • Access to the MSCodeHub mirror repository and Azure DevOps pipelines.
  • Local repository:
    • VCPKG at d:\vcpkg (synced with main branch)
  • PATs will be needed for scripts that access GitHub and ADO.
<!-- markdownlint-disable MD029 -->

Steps

Phase 1: Prepare the Release
  1. Git pull the local repository to ensure it is up to date with the main branch.
  2. Run the PowerShell script build\preparerelease.ps1 which will generate a topic branch for the release, update the version number in CMakeLists.txt, the README.md file, the release notes in the nuspec files, and create a stub in the CHANGELOG.md file for the new release.
  3. Edit the CHANGELOG.md file to update it with a summary of changes.
  4. Submit the topic branch for review and merge into main once approved. Allow the GitHub Actions workflows and the Azure DevOps pipelines to complete successfully before proceeding.
Phase 2: Tag and Create GitHub Release
  1. Run the PowerShell script build\completerelease.ps1 which will set a tag on the project repo and the test repo, and create a release on GitHub with the release notes from CHANGELOG.md. Ensure you have set up GPG signing for your GitHub account so that the tags will be verified.
  2. Git pull the local repository to ensure it is up to date with the main branch. Be sure to include --tags.
Phase 3: MSCodeHub and Signed Binaries
  1. Push the main branch to the MSCodeHub mirror repository. Be sure to include --tags.
  2. Create a PR on MSCodeHub from the main branch to the release branch.
  3. Merge the PR on MSCodeHub to update the release branch, which will trigger the Azure DevOps pipeline to build the NuGet packages.
  4. Edit the GitHub release and upload the signed binaries from the matching DirectXTK release to the release assets (xwbtool.exe, xwbtool_arm64.exe, and MakeSpriteFont.exe).
Phase 4: Source Archive Signing
  1. Download the GitHub source .zip archive from the release. Unzip and compare to the local repo to ensure it matches — keep in mind there may be some CR/LF differences.
  2. Run minisign on the .zip to generate a signature file, and upload the signature file to the release assets.
Show full SKILL.md (293 more words)Show less
Phase 5: NuGet Validation and Publishing
  1. Validate the NuGet packages with https://github.com/walbourn/directxtk-tutorials by pushing the NuGet packages to a local Packages Source folder, and refreshing the NuGet packages from that folder. Then build using BuildAllSolutions.targets.
  2. Run the PowerShell script build\promotenuget.ps1 -Version <version> -Release to promote the version to the Release view on the project-scoped ADO feed. The -Version parameter is required and should match the NuGet package version (e.g., 2026.6.2.1).
  3. Run the MSCodeHub pipeline to publish the NuGet packages to nuget.org. The pipeline will automatically push the most recent package promoted to the Release view to nuget.org.
Phase 6: VCPKG Port Update
  1. Git pull a local repository of VCPKG to d:\vcpkg in sync with the main branch of the VCPKG repository.
  2. Run the PowerShell script build\updatevcpkg.ps1 to update the DirectXTK12 port in VCPKG with the new release version. This will edit the files in ports\directxtk12.
  3. Test the VCPKG port using the script at assets/vcpkgdxtk12.cmd (in this skill folder). Copy it to d:\vcpkg and run from there after bootstrapping VCPKG.
  4. Run .\vcpkg x-add-version directxtk12 to update the VCPKG versioning history.
  5. Submit a PR to the VCPKG repository to update the DirectXTK12 port back to the main GitHub repo. The PR will be reviewed and merged by the VCPKG maintainers.
Phase 7: Finalize

When fully completed, be sure to update the GitHub release with links to the matching NuGet packages, the VCPKG port, and the winget manifests for the tools.

Key Scripts

ScriptPurpose
build\preparerelease.ps1Creates topic branch, updates version numbers and changelog stub
build\completerelease.ps1Sets tags, creates GitHub release from changelog
build\promotenuget.ps1Promotes NuGet package to Release view on ADO feed
assets\vcpkgdxtk12.cmdTests VCPKG port across all triplets and features
build\updatevcpkg.ps1Updates DirectXTK12 VCPKG port files

© microsoft, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (assets) in .github/skills/release of microsoft/DirectXTK12.

  • SKILL.md
  • assets/vcpkgdxtk12.cmd

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 2f7b07a

Compare with similar skills

Release next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Release compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Release this skillmicrosoft/DirectXTK121.8k—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Sdaf Orientation And SurfaceAzure/sap-automation145—~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
EverOS Release WorkflowEverMind-AI/EverOS13k—~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Remotion Bits Releaseav/remotion-bits486—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Cline CLI Release Publishercline/cline70k—~3.4kAutomated safety check: WarnApache-2.0
ClawRouter Release ChecklistBlockRunAI/ClawRouter6.6k—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Release

What does Release do?

Guide for performing the DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 12 release process. Release is an agent skill from microsoft/DirectXTK12, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Guide for performing the DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 12 release process.

When should I use Release?

Release fits situations like: asked to help with releasing a new version; publishing packages.

How do I install Release in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add microsoft/DirectXTK12 --skill release -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.github/skills/release in microsoft/DirectXTK12) into .claude/skills/release in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Release in Codex?

Run `npx skills add microsoft/DirectXTK12 --skill release -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.github/skills/release in microsoft/DirectXTK12) into .agents/skills/release in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Release in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add microsoft/DirectXTK12 --skill release -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/release, .gemini/skills/release, .github/skills/release and .opencode/skills/release in your project.

What does Release need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Release needs Windows cmd for the scripts in its folder.

Does Release access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. As links in the text: github.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Release safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Release use?

Release is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Release use?

About 1.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Release?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Release: Sdaf Orientation And Surface (Azure/sap-automation, 145 stars), EverOS Release Workflow (EverMind-AI/EverOS, 13k stars), Remotion Bits Release (av/remotion-bits, 486 stars) and Cline CLI Release Publisher (cline/cline, 70k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Release?

microsoft (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in microsoft/DirectXTK12, which has 1,757 GitHub stars. The repository holds 3 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 6, 2026.

Source: microsoft/DirectXTK12 on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.