Continuous integration

smif ci is the recommended release entry point for repositories that selected GitHub Actions during smif init. It refuses to run outside GitHub Actions and skips branches other than the configured base branch.

smif ci

When changesets are present

On the base branch, ci computes the version operation, renders the configured release branch, commit message, and pull request title, applies the version files, force-updates that branch, and creates or refreshes its pull request back to the base branch. The commit message and pull request title both default to chore(release): bump versions; optionally customize them under [release] with the same strict release.* context used by the branch template.

Contributors therefore only need to commit a changeset with their code and merge that pull request. Maintainers review versions and changelogs in the generated release pull request.

When no changesets remain

After the release pull request is merged, the next base-branch run sees no pending changesets and calls the publish operation with GitHub Release handling enabled. Packages are checked and published in dependency order.

1. 01Code and changeset reach the base branch
   →
2. 02Automation maintains the release pull request
   →
3. 03The release pull request returns to the base branch
   →
4. 04Packages publish in dependency order

Environment and outputs

The command relies on GITHUB_ACTIONS, GITHUB_REF_NAME, GITHUB_REPOSITORY, and GITHUB_TOKEN. The generated workflow uses the stable step ID semifold. The branch that actually runs writes either the semifold-version or semifold-publish step output key, and the job maps them to version and publish:

jobs:
  release:
    outputs:
      version: ${{ steps.semifold.outputs['semifold-version'] }}
      publish: ${{ steps.semifold.outputs['semifold-publish'] }}
    steps:
      - id: semifold
        run: smif ci

Downstream jobs read needs.release.outputs.version or needs.release.outputs.publish. The branch that did not run produces an empty string. On a partial publish failure, Semifold tries to write publish JSON with recovery states before returning a non-zero status.

--dry-run prepares the selected branch behavior without pushing a branch, creating a pull request, or publishing. Use the generated workflow as the supported baseline instead of reconstructing permissions from a minimal snippet.