release-it

release-it is a release orchestration CLI for source repositories that calculates the next version, shows changelog context, and runs the git, registry, and hosting steps around a release. It is most useful when you want one command to coordinate version bumps, tags, publishes, and hosted release creation from repo-local config.

• Preview the next version or release notes, then run version bumps, commits, tags, and pushes from repo state.
• Publish npm packages and create or update GitHub or GitLab releases, including release notes, assets, drafts, prereleases, and issue or PR comments.
• Customize the release pipeline with hooks and plugins to run build steps, alternate changelog generators, other registries, or custom version sources.

• --ci, --dry-run, --release-version, and --changelog make it workable in inspect/change/verify loops before mutating a repo.
• Most output is plain text and stdout previews rather than structured JSON, so downstream parsing is limited to exit status and a few printed values.
• Best for agents already operating inside a release repo with credentials and project config in place; otherwise the default prompt flow and side effects need careful staging.

• Default mode is interactive, and publish or release steps may require GitHub, GitLab, or npm credentials and sometimes OTP input.
• It is repo-local orchestration rather than a hosted release service, so correctness depends on tags, branch policy, and the target project's release-it configuration.