# vercel/release

Generate changelogs with a single command

Repository: https://github.com/vercel/release
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/vercel-release
Homepage: https://npmjs.com/release
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: github, releases, npm, vercel
Last push: 2026-05-21T22:17:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 60/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 83, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3541, "days_push": 104, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3585, forks 117 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:11.072545+00:00)

## What it is
Release is a command-line tool by Vercel that automatically creates GitHub Releases populated with commits made since the last release. It supports SemVer version bumping (major, minor, patch) and pre-release suffixes, with customizable markdown output via a hook file.

## Use cases
- generate a github release from recent commits
- create changelogs with a single command
- automate semver version bumping and tagging
- publish pre-release versions like canary or beta
- customize release notes with a hook script
- exclude certain commits from release notes

## When to choose
- you want one-command GitHub Release creation from git commits
- you follow SemVer and want automated major/minor/patch bumps
- you need pre-release versioning with custom suffixes
- you want to predefine release types in commit messages

## When to avoid
- you need fully automated CI/CD publishing to npm or other registries
- you want conventional-changelog-style categorized changelogs
- you don't host your code on GitHub
- you need monorepo-aware multi-package releases

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: cli, developer-tools, version-control, documentation
- domain: developer-tools, version-control
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: github-releases, changelog-generation, semver, npm-package, release-automation, command-line, automation, nodejs

## Member repositories
- vercel/release (main) score 60

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:11.072545+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:33:55.925456+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/vercel/release (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:11.072545+00:00, sha bbbec45a2f3d)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/release (fetched 2026-08-29T09:27:38.488714+00:00, sha de4a440a4099)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.