Add Release github action #6434

TomSweeneyRedHat · 2025-10-17T00:06:16Z

I was asked to create a GitHub action for the mono repo, and I thought I would create one that could be used for Buildah too. I don't think we will need this for container-libs after all, we'll just be tagging there I think.

So I have decided to add this here. I originally created https://github.com/TomSweeneyRedHat/ActionJackson/blob/main/.github/workflows/action_release.yml.finalhold which is based off the release GitHub action that Podman uses, but a little lighter weight. As Buildah doesn't use a RELEASE_NOTES.md like Podman does, I removed that logic from this version of the script.

This will create a Release when a tag is pushed upstream, and will generate the release notes in the same way that "Generate release notes" button on the GitHub web interface does, including recognizing new contributors. That is is I did the action correctly!

It also has the ability to be run fron the Actions menu, so if you ever want to redo a release, or test creating one without actually creating one, you can do so.

What type of PR is this?

/kind api-change
/kind bug
/kind cleanup
/kind deprecation
/kind design
/kind documentation
/kind failing-test
/kind feature
/kind flake
/kind other

What this PR does / why we need it:

How to verify it

Which issue(s) this PR fixes:

Special notes for your reviewer:

Does this PR introduce a user-facing change?

None

openshift-ci · 2025-10-17T00:06:21Z

[APPROVALNOTIFIER] This PR is APPROVED

This pull-request has been approved by: TomSweeneyRedHat

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TomSweeneyRedHat · 2025-10-17T00:06:28Z

@ashley-cui PTAL

ashley-cui · 2025-10-17T14:56:57Z

.github/workflows/action_release.yml

+    - name: Checkout the main branch of this repository
+      uses: actions/checkout@v5
+      with:
+        ref: ${{needs.check.outputs.version}}


this is duplicated in the step below

Ouch, you're right!

ashley-cui · 2025-10-17T14:59:36Z

.github/workflows/action_release.yml

+    - name: Touch release notes file
+      run: |
+        touch $VERSION-release-notes.md


I don't think you need this if you're using the changelog action below

I don't need it if they're generating the release note, but I do need it if they decide to pull the release notes from file instead.

ashley-cui · 2025-10-17T15:03:49Z

.github/workflows/README.md

+      contents: write # REQUIRED to create the release and fetch content
+    steps:
+      # ...
+🧩 Key Actions Used (Inferred)


this is inside the code block, probably need to move it out

ashley-cui · 2025-10-17T15:07:21Z

.github/workflows/README.md

+the "release" workflow in the left windowpane.  Once selected, a new window will come up with a `Run workflow` button.  Click on this, and answer
+the following questions in the form:
+
+  * **Branch:** Select the branch of the project that you want to create the release from.


I think this is gone from the workflow

Cut/paste error, TY for picking that up, now gone.

ashley-cui · 2025-10-17T15:07:55Z

.github/workflows/README.md

+Action Name	Purpose
+actions/checkout@v4	Downloads a copy of the repository code to the runner.
+gableroux/[email protected]	Generates the Markdown content for the release notes based on the commit history and merged PRs between tags.
+softprops/action-gh-release@v1	Creates the final GitHub Release, publishing the generated notes using the pushed tag name.


This also looks wrong, we're using the gh CLI

Yeah, that's gone, and I neglected to tweak checkout, which is not v5. Fixed.

ashley-cui · 2025-10-17T15:09:27Z

.github/workflows/README.md

+Export to Sheets
+🛑 Troubleshooting
+If the workflow fails with an error, such as the AxiosError: Request failed with status code 404 (a common GitHub API error in release actions), consider the following:
+
+Check Permissions: Ensure your workflow or specific job has explicitly set permissions: contents: write to allow the default GITHUB_TOKEN to create the release.
+
+Verify Tags: Confirm that the tag you pushed exactly matches the pattern the workflow is listening for (e.g., v*).
+
+Previous Tag Existence: For release note generation to work correctly, a previous tag must exist to define the change range. Ensure your repository has at least one prior version tag.


This doesn't apply, we guarantee buildah has prev versions :)

This I'm going to keep. We check for the previous version and it's not happy if it doesn't find it.

ashley-cui · 2025-10-17T15:10:06Z

.github/workflows/README.md

+gableroux/[email protected]	Generates the Markdown content for the release notes based on the commit history and merged PRs between tags.
+softprops/action-gh-release@v1	Creates the final GitHub Release, publishing the generated notes using the pushed tag name.
+
+Export to Sheets


Suggested change

Export to Sheets

I was asked to create a GitHub action for the mono repo, and I thought I would create one that could be used for Buildah too. I don't think we will need this for container-libs after all, we'll just be tagging there I think. So I have decided to add this here. I originally created https://github.com/TomSweeneyRedHat/ActionJackson/blob/main/.github/workflows/action_release.yml.finalhold which is based off the release GitHub action that Podman uses, but a little lighter weight. As Buildah doesn't use a RELEASE_NOTES.md like Podman does, I removed that logic from this version of the script. This will create a Release when a tag is pushed upstream, and will generate the release notes in the same way that "Generate release notes" button on the GitHub web interface does, including recognizing new contributors. That is is I did the action correctly! It also has the ability to be run fron the Actions menu, so if you ever want to redo a release, or test creating one without actually creating one, you can do so. Signed-off-by: tomsweeneyredhat <[email protected]>

TomSweeneyRedHat · 2025-10-28T22:35:54Z

@ashley-cui PTA(nother)L. Thanks for the review, and I completely missed it.

ashley-cui · 2025-10-29T13:01:34Z

LGTM! :)

TomSweeneyRedHat · 2025-11-05T16:18:49Z

@containers/buildah-maintainers need some more loving on this one.

flouthoc · 2025-11-05T16:21:22Z

.github/workflows/action_release.yml

+
+      # If the job fails, permit the operator to observe the contents if helpful.
+      - name: Provide release e-mail contents for examination
+        run: cat email_body.txt


Where is email_body.txt file ? I cannot see it in this PR

TomSweeneyRedHat added the No New Tests Allow PR to proceed without adding regression tests label Oct 17, 2025

openshift-ci bot added the approved label Oct 17, 2025

ashley-cui reviewed Oct 17, 2025

View reviewed changes

TomSweeneyRedHat force-pushed the dev/tsweeney/autorelase branch from eb19647 to bccdcf4 Compare October 28, 2025 22:35

flouthoc reviewed Nov 5, 2025

View reviewed changes

Add Release github action #6434

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TomSweeneyRedHat commented Oct 17, 2025

What type of PR is this?

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openshift-ci bot commented Oct 17, 2025

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TomSweeneyRedHat commented Oct 28, 2025

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ashley-cui commented Oct 29, 2025

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