feat: implement automated versioning with Release Please #681

Copilot · 2026-01-31T19:46:59Z

Implementation Plan for Release Please Automation ✅

✅ Implementation Complete - All Review Comments Addressed

Latest Update:

✅ Configured Release Please workflow to use manifest mode
- Added command: manifest to properly use config and manifest files
- Explicitly specified config-file: release-please-config.json
- Explicitly specified manifest-file: .release-please-manifest.json

Previous Updates:

✅ Fixed misleading comment in .github/workflows/pr-title-lint.yml (line 40)
- Updated to clarify that requireScope: false means scopes are optional

Security Update Applied:

✅ Pinned google-github-actions/release-please-action to commit SHA e4dc86ba (v4.1.1)
✅ Pinned amannn/action-semantic-pull-request to commit SHA 0723387f (v5.5.3)
✅ Added verification comments following repository pattern
✅ Addresses supply chain security (CWE-829)

All files validated:

✅ .github/workflows/release-please.yml - Using manifest mode with explicit config files
✅ .github/workflows/pr-title-lint.yml - Pinned to commit hash, comment clarified
✅ release-please-config.json - Configuration file properly consumed by workflow
✅ .release-please-manifest.json - Version tracker properly consumed by workflow
✅ CHANGELOG.md - Initial changelog
✅ CONTRIBUTING.md - Release process documentation

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Implement automated versioning with Release Please</issue_title>
<issue_description>## Summary

Implement automated version management using Release Please to replace manual version file updates.

Current State

Version is stored in a version file

Manual updates required for each release

CHANGELOG updates are manual

Easy to forget version bumps or have inconsistent versioning

Proposed Solution

Use Release Please (Google's release automation tool) to:

Analyze conventional commits merged to main

Auto-create a Release PR that:

Bumps version based on commit types (feat: → minor, fix: → patch, feat!: → major)

Updates CHANGELOG.md automatically

Updates version file(s)

When Release PR is merged → Creates GitHub Release with tag

Benefits

Consistent semantic versioning based on commit messages

Auto-generated CHANGELOG from PR titles/commits

Review before release (PR-based, not auto-publish)

Less manual work for maintainers

Native Go support in Release Please

Implementation

1. Add workflow file
# .github/workflows/release-please.yml
name: Release Please

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  release-please:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: google-github-actions/release-please-action@v4
        with:
          release-type: go
          package-name: sqlcmd
2. Add release-please config (optional)
{
  "packages": {
    ".": {
      "release-type": "go",
      "package-name": "sqlcmd",
      "changelog-path": "CHANGELOG.md",
      "bump-minor-pre-major": true
    }
  }
}
3. Enforce conventional commits

Consider adding a PR title linter to ensure conventional commit format.

Conventional Commit Prefixes

Prefix Version Bump Example

feat: Minor (0.X.0) New feature

fix: Patch (0.0.X) Bug fix

feat!: or BREAKING CHANGE: Major (X.0.0) Breaking change

docs:, chore:, ci:, deps: No bump Maintenance

Tasks

Add .github/workflows/release-please.yml

Add release-please-config.json (optional)

Update version file location if needed

Add conventional commit linter (optional)

Document release process in CONTRIBUTING.md

Test with a few merged PRs

References

Release Please Action

Release Please CLI

Conventional Commits
</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Fixes Implement automated versioning with Release Please #679

✨ Let Copilot coding agent set things up for you — coding agent works faster and does higher quality work when set up for your repo.

Add Release Please workflow and configuration for automated version management, changelog generation, and release creation based on conventional commits. - Add .github/workflows/release-please.yml workflow - Add release-please-config.json configuration - Add .release-please-manifest.json for version tracking - Create initial CHANGELOG.md - Add CONTRIBUTING.md with release process documentation Co-authored-by: dlevy-msft-sql <194277063+dlevy-msft-sql@users.noreply.github.com>

Add workflow to validate PR titles follow conventional commit format, ensuring automated version bumping works correctly with Release Please. Co-authored-by: dlevy-msft-sql <194277063+dlevy-msft-sql@users.noreply.github.com>

.github/workflows/pr-title-lint.yml

.github/workflows/release-please.yml

dlevy-msft-sql · 2026-02-01T03:51:00Z

@copilot fix the review comments

Copilot · 2026-02-01T03:52:03Z

@copilot fix the review comments

I don't see any review comments in the details provided. Could you please share which specific review comments need to be addressed? Alternatively, you can point me to the specific issues or provide the feedback directly.

dlevy-msft-sql · 2026-02-01T17:07:31Z

@copilot fix the review comments

I don't see any review comments in the details provided. Could you please share which specific review comments need to be addressed? Alternatively, you can point me to the specific issues or provide the feedback directly.

@copilot

Unpinned 3rd party Action 'Release Please' step Uses Step
uses 'google-github-actions/release-please-action' with ref 'v4', not a pinned commit hash

Unpinned 3rd party Action 'PR Title Lint' step Uses Step
uses 'amannn/action-semantic-pull-request' with ref 'v5', not a pinned commit hash

Pin third-party GitHub Actions to specific commit hashes instead of version tags for supply chain security (CWE-829): - google-github-actions/release-please-action@e4dc86ba (v4.1.1) - amannn/action-semantic-pull-request@0723387f (v5.5.3) Co-authored-by: dlevy-msft-sql <194277063+dlevy-msft-sql@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-01T17:09:43Z

@copilot fix the review comments

I don't see any review comments in the details provided. Could you please share which specific review comments need to be addressed? Alternatively, you can ...

Fixed in commit 89a82c8. Both GitHub Actions are now pinned to commit SHAs:

google-github-actions/release-please-action@e4dc86ba (v4.1.1)
amannn/action-semantic-pull-request@0723387f (v5.5.3)

Added verification comments following the same pattern as other workflows in the repository.

Warning

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

https://api.github.com/repos/amannn/action-semantic-pull-request/git/ref/tags/v5
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s REDACTED (http block)
https://api.github.com/repos/amannn/action-semantic-pull-request/releases/latest
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -sL REDACTED (http block)
https://api.github.com/repos/amannn/action-semantic-pull-request/tags
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -sL REDACTED (http block)
https://api.github.com/repos/google-github-actions/release-please-action/git/ref/tags/v4
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s REDACTED (http block)
https://api.github.com/repos/google-github-actions/release-please-action/releases/latest
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -sL REDACTED (http block)
https://api.github.com/repos/google-github-actions/release-please-action/tags
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -sL REDACTED (http block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

Configure Actions setup steps to set up my environment, which run before the firewall is enabled
Add the appropriate URLs or hosts to the custom allowlist in this repository's Copilot coding agent settings (admins only)

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR introduces automated semantic versioning and release management using Release Please, along with documentation and workflow support for conventional commits. It also adds a PR title linter to enforce conventional commit formatting for pull requests.

Changes:

Added Release Please configuration and manifest files to drive automated versioning and changelog management.
Introduced GitHub Actions workflows for Release Please and PR title linting, with actions pinned to specific SHAs for supply chain security.
Created and updated project documentation (CONTRIBUTING.md, CHANGELOG.md) to describe the release process and conventional commit requirements.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`release-please-config.json`	Defines Release Please behavior for the Go module, including release type, package name, and changelog path.
`.release-please-manifest.json`	Establishes the initial semantic version (`0.0.0`) for automated version tracking.
`.github/workflows/release-please.yml`	Adds a Release Please workflow triggered on pushes to `main`, using a SHA-pinned action for secure automated releases.
`.github/workflows/pr-title-lint.yml`	Adds a SHA-pinned PR title linter enforcing conventional commit style on pull request titles.
`CHANGELOG.md`	Introduces an initial changelog with an “Unreleased” section that Release Please will maintain going forward.
`CONTRIBUTING.md`	Documents development setup, testing, code style, conventional commit usage, and the automated/manual release processes.

CONTRIBUTING.md

.github/workflows/pr-title-lint.yml

dlevy-msft-sql · 2026-02-02T00:56:02Z

@copilot fix the review items

Update comment to accurately reflect that requireScope: false makes scopes optional, not mandatory. Co-authored-by: dlevy-msft-sql <194277063+dlevy-msft-sql@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-02T00:58:15Z

@copilot fix the review items

Fixed the review items in commit 6feb364:

Updated misleading comment in .github/workflows/pr-title-lint.yml to clarify that requireScope: false makes scopes optional
Verified CONTRIBUTING.md table is correctly formatted with standard Markdown syntax

- Change trigger from pull_request to pull_request_target - Add statuses: write permission for status checks - Pin action to commit SHA for supply chain security Fixes 'Resource not accessible by integration' error for fork PRs.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

.github/workflows/release-please.yml

CONTRIBUTING.md

dlevy-msft-sql · 2026-02-02T01:47:28Z

@copilot address the review comments

Update workflow to use manifest command with explicit config and manifest files, enabling proper version tracking via .release-please-manifest.json as intended in the design. Co-authored-by: dlevy-msft-sql <194277063+dlevy-msft-sql@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-02T01:49:25Z

@copilot address the review comments

Fixed review comments in commit 67da65d:

Updated Release Please workflow to use manifest mode with explicit config and manifest file parameters
Verified CONTRIBUTING.md table uses correct Markdown syntax

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Initial plan

41defd0

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and dlevy-msft-sql Jan 31, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of dlevy-msft-sql January 31, 2026 19:47 View session

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits January 31, 2026 19:49

ci: add conventional commit PR title linter

ff6c5e7

Add workflow to validate PR titles follow conventional commit format, ensuring automated version bumping works correctly with Release Please. Co-authored-by: dlevy-msft-sql <194277063+dlevy-msft-sql@users.noreply.github.com>

github-advanced-security bot found potential problems Jan 31, 2026

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Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Implement automated versioning with Release Please~~ feat: implement automated versioning with Release Please Jan 31, 2026

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dlevy-msft-sql added documentation Improvements or additions to documentation enhancement New feature or request Size: S Small issue (less than one week effort) housekeeping needs-work labels Feb 1, 2026

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docs: fix misleading comment in PR title lint workflow

6feb364

Update comment to accurately reflect that requireScope: false makes scopes optional, not mandatory. Co-authored-by: dlevy-msft-sql <194277063+dlevy-msft-sql@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of dlevy-msft-sql February 2, 2026 00:58

fix: use pull_request_target for fork PR compatibility

7159e7a

- Change trigger from pull_request to pull_request_target - Add statuses: write permission for status checks - Pin action to commit SHA for supply chain security Fixes 'Resource not accessible by integration' error for fork PRs.

dlevy-msft-sql mentioned this pull request Feb 2, 2026

fix: use pull_request_target for PR title linting #689

Closed

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dlevy-msft-sql marked this pull request as ready for review February 2, 2026 01:56

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Prefix	Version Bump	Example
`feat:`	Minor (0.X.0)	New feature
`fix:`	Patch (0.0.X)	Bug fix
`feat!:` or `BREAKING CHANGE:`	Major (X.0.0)	Breaking change
`docs:`, `chore:`, `ci:`, `deps:`	No bump	Maintenance

feat: implement automated versioning with Release Please #681

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Copilot AI commented Jan 31, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Implementation Plan for Release Please Automation ✅

✅ Implementation Complete - All Review Comments Addressed

Current State

Proposed Solution

Benefits

Implementation

1. Add workflow file

2. Add release-please config (optional)

3. Enforce conventional commits

Conventional Commit Prefixes

Tasks

References

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

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