Extend CI Templates to include semantic-release

Problem to solve

Semantic versioning and release notes are best practices for a release manager. Today, we cannot automatically increment versions or generate releases. This would be especially helpful as an extension of all CI Templates.

Intended users

• Rachel (Release Manager)
• Sasha (Software Developer)

User experience goal

As a developer, I want my CICD templates to auto-increment versions and generate releases.

Proposal

Integrate Semantic Release (https://semantic-release.gitbook.io/semantic-release/recipes/recipes/gitlab-ci), into CI templates.

gitlab/ci/templates/Releases/Semantic-Release.yml

stages:
  - release

semantic-release:
  image: node:12
  stage: release
  before_script:
    - npm install -g semantic-release @semantic-release/gitlab @semantic-release/exec
    - |
    cat <<-EOF >> .releaserc.yml
      ---
      verifyConditions:
        - "@semantic-release/gitlab"
      prepare: false
      publish:
        - "@semantic-release/gitlab"
      success: false
      fail: false
      npmPublish: false
      plugins:
        - "@semantic-release/commit-analyzer"
        - "@semantic-release/release-notes-generator"
        - "@semantic-release/gitlab"
        - - "@semantic-release/exec"
          - prepareCmd: "set-version ${nextRelease.version}"
            publishCmd: "publish-package"      
    EOF
  script:
    - semantic-release
  only:
    refs:
      - master
      - beta
      - /^\d+.x$/
      - /^\d+.\d+.x$/

This allows users to quickly bootstrap release streamline with semantic-release, for example, they can include the template, like:

# .gitlab-ci.yml
include:
  template: Releases/Semantic-Release.yml

test:
  script: test

which starts creating releases according to https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0-beta.2/. Changelogs are also automatically generated according to the commit messages. Users should start following the convention in order to effectively use semantic-release

Buyer

GitLab Core