• This is a GitHub Action that automates the process of creating the next release tag version for your repository. Note: it generates a new release version, but it does not create a new release.
• The action sets an output variable named next_release_tag, which can be used to create the next release.
• It uses the previous release tag and increments it based on the year, month, date, and iteration count.
• The action supports creating release tags based on the template given to the action. Refer to the Templating System section for more information.
• This action is recommended to be used with softprops/action-gh-release or ncipollo/release-action to create the release.
• The minimum supported Node.js version is v20.

github_token: The Github Secret GITHUB_TOKEN or Personal Access Token. This is a required input.

tag_prefix: The prefix to be added to the generated release tag. Pass as '' to remove prefix in the generated output. This is a required input.

tag_template: A preconfigured static template based on which the new release tag will be generated. Please check the Templating System section for more information. This is a required input.

previous_tag: Pass this to override previous tag value and not fetch previous release tag. This is an optional input.

next_release_tag: This output variable contains the next release version and is set by the action. You can access it via step.<id>.outputs.next_release_tag.

prev_release_tag: Additionally, the action also sets this output variable, which contains the previous release version. You can access it via step.<id>.outputs.prev_release_tag.

name: Create Release

on: push

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout branch
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Generate release tag
        id: generate_release_tag
        uses: amitsingh-007/next-release-tag@v6.0.0
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          tag_prefix: 'v'
          tag_template: 'yyyy.mm.dd.i'

      - name: Create Release
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        with:
          name: Release ${{ steps.generate_release_tag.outputs.next_release_tag }}
          tag_name: ${{ steps.generate_release_tag.outputs.next_release_tag }}
          token: ${{secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN}}
          generate_release_notes: true

This action supports a flexible templating system with a few constraints. Users must pass the tag_template option in the action, and the action will fill in the corresponding values based on the template to generate a new release tag. The following are the rules and constraints:

• The template represents the final release tag's format without the tag prefix. You must pass the tag prefix separately.
• The allowed template tokens are: yyyy (full year), yy (short year), mm (month), dd (date), i (iteration count).
• Each of these tokens must be combined with a separator to form the template (e.g., yyyy.mm.i).
• Separators cannot be at the beginning or end of the template (e.g., .yy.mm.i. is not allowed).
• A separator can be any string, but it cannot contain the above-mentioned tokens.
• Only a single kind of separator is allowed in the string (e.g., yy-mm-dd.i is not allowed).
• The iteration count resets to 01 when any of the year, month, or date is changed between the last release and the current release.
• The final generated release tag will be in the format: <tag_prefix><filled-in tag_template> (e.g., if the tag_prefix is v and the tag_template is yyyy.mm.dd.i, then the second release on June 21, 2024, will be v2024.06.21.02).