next-version

A CLI and GitHub Action to compute the next semantic version for your npm package using Conventional Commits, git tags, and the npm registry. Inspired by semantic-release, but focused on CI/CD and monorepo-friendly workflows.

Features

• Computes next version based on commit history and tags
• Supports prerelease channels (e.g. develop, beta)
• Usable as a CLI or as a GitHub Action
• Customizable branch/channel rules

Usage

CLI

Install globally or use via npx:

npx @rb-mwindh/next-version --branches main

Options

• --branches <branch...>: Branch rules in SemanticRelease format, e.g. "main", "develop;prerelease=true", "beta;prerelease=beta;channel=beta". Option can be specified multiple times.
• --tag-format <format>: Git tag format (optional)
• --preset <name>: Conventional Commit preset (default: "angular"). Supported: angular, atom, codemirror, conventionalcommits, ember, eslint, express, jquery, jshint.
• --create-tag: Whether to create a git tag for the computed version (default: false)
• --json: Output as JSON

Examples

# Compute next version for main branch
npx @rb-mwindh/next-version --branches main

# Custom branches config
npx @rb-mwindh/next-version --branches main --branches "develop;prerelease=dev;channel=develop"

# Output as JSON
npx @rb-mwindh/next-version --branches main --json

# Compute and create a git tag for the next version
npx @rb-mwindh/next-version --branches main --create-tag

GitHub Action

Add to your workflow:

- uses: rb-mwindh/next-version@main
  id: next-version
  with:
    branches: |
      main
      develop;prerelease=dev;channel=develop
    tagFormat: 'v${version}'
    preset: angular
    createTag: false
    relnotesArtifact: release-notes

- run: |
    echo "Next version: ${{ steps.next-version.outputs.version }}"
    echo "Release channel: ${{ steps.next-version.outputs.channel }}"
    echo "Bump type: ${{ steps.next-version.outputs.type }}"
    echo "Git tag: ${{ steps.next-version.outputs.gitTag }}"
    echo "Git head: ${{ steps.next-version.outputs.gitHead }}"
    echo "Package name: ${{ steps.next-version.outputs.name }}"
    echo "Release notes path: ${{ steps.next-version.outputs.relnotesPath }}"
    echo "Release notes: ${{ steps.next-version.outputs.notes }}"

Action Inputs

• branches: Branch rules as multiline string (SemanticRelease format)
• tagFormat: Git tag format (default: "v${version}")
• preset: Conventional Commit preset (default: "angular"). Supported: angular, atom, codemirror, conventionalcommits, ember, eslint, express, jquery, jshint.
• createTag: Whether to create a git tag for the computed version (default: false). If false, the action will only compute the next version without creating a git tag.
• relnotesArtifact: If set, upload the release notes file as an artifact with this name

Action Outputs

• version: computed next version
• channel: release channel / npm dist-tag
• type: bump type (major, minor, patch)
• gitTag: last computed git tag
• gitHead: commit hash
• name: package name
• relnotesPath: Path to the file containing the generated release notes. This can be controlled via the RELEASE_NOTES environment variable (see below).
• notes: The generated release notes as a string (if available).

Release Notes Path Logic

• If the RELEASE_NOTES environment variable is set to a path that points to an existing directory, a unique filename is appended and the file is created there.
• If the RELEASE_NOTES environment variable is set to any other path, it is treated as a file path and that path is used directly.
• If the variable is not set, a unique file is created in the directory specified by RUNNER_TEMP (if set) or the system temp directory.
• The directory in which the release notes file is written (either the directory from RELEASE_NOTES or the parent directory of the file path) is always created if it does not exist.

Preset Support

All conventional-changelog presets listed below are bundled with this tool and may be selected using the preset parameter (CLI) or input (GitHub Action):

• angular
• atom
• codemirror
• conventionalcommits
• ember
• eslint
• express
• jquery
• jshint

Example (CLI):

npx @rb-mwindh/next-version --branches main --preset codemirror

Example (GitHub Action):

- uses: rb-mwindh/next-version@main
  with:
    branches: main
    preset: codemirror

Development

Build

This project uses esbuild and esbuild-plugin-license for bundling and license generation.

npm ci
npm run build

• Bundles are generated in bin/cli.js and bin/action.js
• License files are automatically generated in bin/cli.js.LICENSES.txt and bin/action.js.LICENSES.txt and include all third-party licenses

License

MIT © Markus Windhager

The license files in the bin/ directory include the licenses of all used third-party dependencies.