Create Release Checklist

Create an R Package Release Checklist

Generate a release checklist for an R package and create the corresponding GitHub issue.

Overview

This skill guides you through creating a R package release checklist issue on GitHub by:

• Determining the current version and prompting for release type.
• Generating an initial checklist.
• Prompting the user for additional customization.
• Creating a GitHub issue from the final checklist.

Prerequisites

• The working directory must be an R package with a DESCRIPTION file at the root.
• The usethis R package must be available.

And to enable automatic issue creation:

• The gh CLI must be installed and authenticated.
• The R package must be associated with a GitHub repository.

Workflow

Step 1: Validation

First, check that the prerequisites are available (in this order for efficiency):

1. Check that the working directory contains a file called DESCRIPTION. If not, inform the user that this must be run from an R package root directory and stop.
2. Use Rscript -e 'utils::packageVersion("usethis")' to check if the usethis package is installed. If not, instruct the user to install it with install.packages("usethis"), then stop.
3. Determine the GitHub URL for the repository, if one exists. First try gh repo view --json url. If that fails, diagnose the error:
   • If gh is not installed, try running git remote -v to find a GitHub URL.
   • If the local repo does not have a GitHub remote, suggest the user connect the package to GitHub using usethis::use_github(). Offer to run this command for the user; if they decline, continue without a GitHub URL.
   • If gh is installed but not authenticated and the repo has a GitHub remote, suggest that the user run gh auth login.

If any check fails, inform the user of the specific issue with clear instructions on how to fix it, then stop the workflow. Do not proceed to the next step until all prerequisites are met.

Step 2: Initialization

Next, you need to determine the current package's name and version. Read the DESCRIPTION file and extract the Version: and Package: fields from it.

Then, check if a NEWS.md file exists. If it does, read the first section (typically the most recent unreleased changes) to understand what kind of changes have been made. Use this to suggest an appropriate release type:

• If the NEWS mentions "breaking changes", "breaking", "BREAKING", or similar language, suggest a Major release.
• If the NEWS mentions only "bug fixes", "fixes", "patch", or similar language with no new features, suggest a Patch release.
• Otherwise (new features, improvements, enhancements), suggest a Minor release.

Display the current version to the user and ask them what type of release this should be using the AskUserQuestion tool. Make the suggested release type the first option with "(Recommended)" appended to the label:

Question: "What type of release is this?" Header: "Release type" Options (with recommended option first):

• Major (X.0.0) - Breaking changes (add "(Recommended)" if suggested)
• Minor (x.X.0) - New features but without breaking changes (add "(Recommended)" if suggested)
• Patch (x.x.X) - Bug fixes only (add "(Recommended)" if suggested)

Calculate the new version by manipulating the current version according to the user's answer. For example:

• Current version 1.2.3 + Major release → 2.0.0
• Current version 1.2.3 + Minor release → 1.3.0
• Current version 1.2.3 + Patch release → 1.2.4
• Current version 0.2.1.9000 + Patch release → 0.2.2
• Current version 0.2.1.9003 + Minor release → 0.3.0

Note: If the current version ends in .9xxx (R-style development versions), strip that suffix before calculating the new version.

Display: "Preparing release checklist for ${PACKAGE_NAME} ${CURRENT_VERSION} → ${NEW_VERSION}".

Step 3: Checklist Generation

Generate an initial checklist using the scripts/generate_checklist.R script included with this skill:

# If the GitHub URL is known:
Rscript "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate_checklist.R" "${NEW_VERSION}" "${GITHUB_URL}"

# Otherwise:
Rscript "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate_checklist.R" "${NEW_VERSION}"

(Where ${SKILL_DIR} represents the directory where this skill is installed.)

Ignore any "Setting active project..." lines in the output.

Read the generated checklist (which is Markdown) and display it to the user.