Cull Release Prepare skill

Cull Release Prepare

Principle

Prepare one reproducible release commit.

Preparation cannot tag, push, dispatch workflows, publish, or update Homebrew.

Required inputs

• An explicit patch|minor|major; never infer the bump.
• Green cull-release-check evidence bound to expectedSource and expectedVersion.
• Curated release notes and compatibility-review JSON matching Cull's CLI schema.

Prepare

1. Fetch origin/main and create a dedicated clean worktree from it. Preserve unrelated dirty worktrees.
2. Confirm the check evidence still matches HEAD and the expected next version.
3. Store curated notes in a safely quoted path. Use argument arrays or separately quoted variables; never evaluate a concatenated command.
4. Run the dry run first: npm run release:cull -- prepare ... --dry-run --json.
5. Parse exactly one JSON envelope. Continue only when it lists exactly the configured version, changelog, compatibility, and state files.
6. Run the same prepare command without --dry-run.
7. Verify one chore(release): vX.Y.Z commit, state prepared, the declared file set, no tag, and no remote mutation.

Pre-prepare checklist (learned the hard way)

• Free regenerable target/ dirs first: the gate needs ≥15 GiB and cargo targets regrow 7–11 GB per build.
• Wait out the dependabot auto-merge queue (gh pr list --state open); queued merges advance main between prepare and tag and burn tags later.
• On minor/major bumps, land the new X.Y.x row in SECURITY.md's supported-versions table before preparing (HYG-006 contract test fails inside the gate otherwise).
• Curated release notes are end-user release notes: they must cover the full delta since the last public release (not the last tag), lead with features, and stay readable for non-technical users. Internal recovery story goes in a short under-the-hood paragraph. Error codes, bd ids, and tool names stay out of user-facing notes.

On failure, show diagnostics and changed files. Never reset, discard, or overwrite work outside the release-owned file set.