Version Bump & Release Workflow

IMPORTANT: Plan and write detailed release notes before starting.

CRITICAL: Commit EVERYTHING (including build artifacts). At the end of this workflow, NOTHING should be left uncommitted or unpushed. Run git status at the end to verify.

Preparation

1. Analyze: Determine if the change is PATCH (bug fixes), MINOR (features), or MAJOR (breaking).

2. Environment: Identify repository owner/name from git remote -v.

3. Paths — every file that carries the version string:

   • package.json — the npm/npx-published version (npx claude-mem@X.Y.Z resolves from this)
   • plugin/package.json — bundled plugin runtime deps
   • .claude-plugin/marketplace.json — version inside plugins[0].version
   • .claude-plugin/plugin.json — top-level Claude-plugin manifest
   • plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json — bundled Claude-plugin manifest
   • .codex-plugin/plugin.json — Codex-plugin manifest
   • plugin/.codex-plugin/plugin.json — bundled Codex-plugin manifest
   • openclaw/openclaw.plugin.json — OpenClaw plugin manifest
   • .grok-plugin/plugin.json — Grok plugin manifest
   • claude-mem-cursor/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json — Cursor plugin manifest
   • claude-mem-grok-bot/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json — Grok Bot Cursor plugin manifest
   • dsh/package.json — bundled DSH plugin package
   • README.md — the version badge (version-X.Y.Z-green), not a "version" key

   Verify coverage before editing: git grep -l "\"version\": \"<OLD>\"" should list the twelve JSON files above, and git grep -n "version-<OLD>-green" the README badge. If a new manifest has been added since this doc was last updated, update this list.

Workflow

1. Update: Increment the version string in every path above. Do NOT touch CHANGELOG.md — it's regenerated.
2. Verify: git grep -n "\"version\": \"<NEW>\"" — confirm all twelve JSON files match, and the README badge reads version-<NEW>-green. git grep -n "\"version\": \"<OLD>\"" — should return zero hits.
3. Build and sync: npm run build-and-sync to regenerate artifacts, sync the local marketplace copy, restart the worker, and clear the queue. Do not use plain npm run build for release validation because it can leave the local marketplace/worker out of sync.
4. Commit: git add -A && git commit -m "chore: bump version to X.Y.Z".
5. Tag: git tag -a vX.Y.Z -m "Version X.Y.Z".
6. Push: git push origin main && git push origin vX.Y.Z.
7. GitHub release: gh release create vX.Y.Z --title "vX.Y.Z" --notes "RELEASE_NOTES".
8. Changelog: Regenerate via the project's changelog script:

   npm run changelog:generate
   

   (Runs node scripts/generate-changelog.js, which pulls releases from the GitHub API and rewrites CHANGELOG.md.)
9. Sync changelog: Commit and push the updated CHANGELOG.md.
10. Pre-publish audit: Verify the release commit, tag, GitHub release, and changelog are pushed; confirm the release worktree has no pending tracked changes; and ensure its build dependencies are present because prepublishOnly rebuilds the package. If npm view claude-mem@X.Y.Z version already resolves, skip the publish and continue with post-publish checks.
11. Publish to npm — the agent runs it. The old "human handoff" rule is obsolete: the maintainer allows agents to publish. The token is a 30-day granular npm token (read/write on claude-mem only, bypass 2FA) in the maintainer's Mac ~/.npmrc; he issues a new one every month. It is deliberately NOT in any backup (grok-bot-backups excludes secrets), so do not go looking for it elsewhere. Publish from a clean worktree of the tag (inside the project's .scratch/) so uncommitted edits never ship:

    git worktree add --detach .scratch/release-X.Y.Z vX.Y.Z
    cd .scratch/release-X.Y.Z && npm install --ignore-scripts
    npm whoami                    # must print thedotmack; 401 = token expired
    npm publish --access public   # prepublishOnly rebuilds the package
    

    If npm whoami fails, the monthly token has expired. Finish every other step, then: open https://www.npmjs.com/settings/thedotmack/tokens/granular-access-tokens/new for the maintainer (open <url>), replace the token value in ~/.npmrc with PASTE_NEW_TOKEN_HERE, and open -e ~/.npmrc so he can paste the new token there. Never ask for the token in chat. Re-run npm whoami, then publish. Do not wait on .github/workflows/npm-publish.yml — its NPM_TOKEN secret has failed every tag since v13.26.1 (E404 ... PUT https://registry.npmjs.org/claude-mem). The publish rebuild rewrites plugin/scripts/*.cjs with minifier-name churn only; discard it with the worktree (git worktree remove --force).
12. Post-publish verification and notification: After publishing, verify both the exact version and the latest dist-tag:

    npm view claude-mem@X.Y.Z version
    npm view claude-mem version
    

    If the publish build touched tracked artifacts, run npm run build-and-sync, review the result, and commit/push any legitimate changes. Then run the Discord notification from ~/Scripts/claude-mem/, where the .env with webhook details lives:

    cd ~/Scripts/claude-mem/ && npm run discord:notify vX.Y.Z
    

    Do this only after npm verification, and even when the release worktree does not have a local .env.
13. Finalize: git status — working tree must be clean and everything must be pushed.

Checklist

• All thirteen version files (twelve JSON manifests and the README badge) have matching versions
• git grep for old version returns zero hits
• npm run build-and-sync succeeded
• Git tag created and pushed
• GitHub release created with notes
• CHANGELOG.md updated and pushed
• Pre-publish audit passed
• npm whoami succeeded and the agent ran npm publish --access public
• Exact npm version and latest both verified after publishing
• Discord notification run from ~/Scripts/claude-mem/ only after npm verification
• git status shows clean tree