Release automation (all types)

Every project type, including basic, gets the same release automation. The type-specific pages list what is installed on top of it.

Workflows

Workflow	Trigger	What it does
PROJECT-COMMON-AUTO-CHANGELOG-CONTROL	PR from the development branch to the release branch	Confirms the version, writes release notes and CHANGELOG, automerges. pr-flow only.
PROJECT-COMMON-RELEASE-PUBLISH	Push to the release branch, workflow_dispatch	Tag vX.Y.Z and GitHub Release. In trunk-based mode it also bumps the version and writes the CHANGELOG.
PROJECT-COMMON-VERSION-CONTROL	Push to the release branch (skipped when only CHANGELOG.* or version.yml changed), workflow_dispatch	Safety-net patch bump for direct pushes. pr-flow only.
PROJECT-COMMON-RELEASE-PR-MERGED	Release PR merged into the release branch (pull_request_target)	Dispatches RELEASE-PUBLISH when a squash or rebase merge carried [skip ci] and skipped the push workflows. Never checks out PR code. pr-flow only.
PROJECT-COMMON-README-VERSION-UPDATE	Push to the release branch, workflow_dispatch	Rewrites the version line under <!-- AUTO-VERSION-SECTION --> in README.md.
PROJECT-COMMON-AI-PR-SUMMARY	PR to the release branch	Posts a summary comment. Skips release PRs.
PROJECT-COMMON-ISSUE-HELPER	Issue opened, or title edited	Comments a normalized branch name and commit message.

PROJECT-COMMON-ISSUE-HELPER can also create the branch: set ISSUE_HELPER_CREATE_BRANCH: "true" in its env section. It is "false" by default so opening an issue does not create a branch.

Scripts

Copied to .github/scripts/. Standard-library Python only.

Script	Role
version_manager.py	Reads and bumps the version, syncs it to each type’s version file
changelog_manager.py	Summary engine chain, CHANGELOG.json / CHANGELOG.md
truncate_release_notes.py	Trims release notes to a length limit (used by the Flutter store and Firebase workflows)
issue_helper.py	Branch name and commit message for issues

Secrets and variables

None are required. All of these are optional:

Name	Kind	Used for
WORKFLOW_PAT	Secret	Faster automerge → Release, and lets release: published trigger other workflows. Issue it from a bot or machine account (scopes: repo, workflow).
AI_API_KEY	Secret	Your OpenAI-compatible API (needs the two variables below as well)
AI_API_BASE_URL	Variable	Endpoint base URL
AI_MODEL	Variable	Model name

Copilot summaries need no secret; they use GITHUB_TOKEN when copilot_ai: true. See Summary engine.

Repository settings

• Allow merge commits. The release PR automerges with a merge commit.
• Workflow permissions can stay at Read. Every installed workflow declares its own permissions.

npx project-auto-wizard --mode doctor checks both. See doctor.