Release on Merge Action

Github action to create git tag and Github release on merge.

Usage

Example

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  release-on-merge:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
    env:
      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - uses: dexwritescode/release-on-merge-action@v1

The only permissions needed for GITHUB_TOKEN to create tags and releases is contents: write.

Inputs

version-increment-strategy

Optional The version number to increment. Default patch.

It can be one of: major, minor, patch, norelease

version-increment-strategy: major

initial-version

Optional If no previous release is found in the repo, the action will create the first release using this version. Default 0.1.0.

initial-version: '1.2.3'

tag-prefix

Optional Git tag prefix. Example the v in v1.2.3. Default v.

tag-prefix: v

body

Optional Body text to prepend to the auto-generated release notes.

body: 'Body text...'

generate-release-notes

Optional Whether to auto-generate Github release notes. Default true.

generate-release-notes: true

dry-run

Optional Log the version that would be created without actually creating the release. Default false.

dry-run: true

github-host

Optional GitHub API host. Override for GitHub Enterprise Server. Default https://api.github.com.

github-host: 'https://github.example.com/api/v3'

prerelease

Optional Create a pre-release instead of a stable release. The version will include a pre-release identifier and an auto-incrementing counter (e.g. v1.2.0-rc.1, v1.2.0-rc.2). Default false.

prerelease: true

When prerelease: true:

• If the latest release already has the same identifier, the counter is incremented (v1.2.0-rc.1 → v1.2.0-rc.2).
• Otherwise, version-increment-strategy is applied to the base version and the counter starts at .1.

prerelease-identifier

Optional The identifier to append when prerelease: true. Default rc.

prerelease-identifier: beta

Produces tags like v1.2.0-beta.1, v1.2.0-beta.2, etc.

use-label-strategy

Optional Derive the increment strategy from the merged PR's labels instead of version-increment-strategy. If no matching label is found, falls back to version-increment-strategy. Default false.

use-label-strategy: true

Default label names (all configurable — see below):

Label	Strategy
release:major	major
release:minor	minor
release:patch	patch
release:skip	norelease (no release created)

label-major

Optional PR label that triggers a major version bump. Default release:major.

label-major: 'bump:major'

label-minor

Optional PR label that triggers a minor version bump. Default release:minor.

label-minor: 'bump:minor'

label-patch

Optional PR label that triggers a patch version bump. Default release:patch.

label-patch: 'bump:patch'

label-skip

Optional PR label that skips release creation. Default release:skip.

label-skip: 'bump:skip'

Outputs

version

The version number that was created (without prefix), e.g. 1.2.3 or 1.2.3-rc.1.

tag

The full tag that was created (with prefix), e.g. v1.2.3 or v1.2.3-rc.1.

- uses: dexwritescode/release-on-merge-action@v1
  id: release
- run: echo "Created ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag }}"

Advanced examples

Label-driven strategy

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  release-on-merge:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
    env:
      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - uses: dexwritescode/release-on-merge-action@v1
        with:
          use-label-strategy: true

Label your PRs with release:major, release:minor, release:patch, or release:skip to control the release type per merge.

Pre-release workflow

- uses: dexwritescode/release-on-merge-action@v1
  with:
    prerelease: true
    prerelease-identifier: beta

This action uses release-on-merge-action-source

License

This Github Action is licensed under MIT license.