JavaScript API

Discontinuation Notice

This documentation site is no longer maintained and has been discontinued. The latest and official semantic-release documentation is now at semantic-release.org

For the latest version of this content, go to: Read the current page

Usage

const semanticRelease = require("semantic-release");
const { WritableStreamBuffer } = require("stream-buffers");

const stdoutBuffer = new WritableStreamBuffer();
const stderrBuffer = new WritableStreamBuffer();

try {
  const result = await semanticRelease(
    {
      // Core options
      branches: [
        "+([0-9])?(.{+([0-9]),x}).x",
        "master",
        "main",
        "next",
        "next-major",
        { name: "beta", prerelease: true },
        { name: "alpha", prerelease: true },
      ],
      repositoryUrl: "https://github.com/me/my-package.git",
      // Shareable config
      extends: "my-shareable-config",
      // Plugin options
      githubUrl: "https://my-ghe.com",
      githubApiPathPrefix: "/api-prefix",
    },
    {
      // Run semantic-release from `/path/to/git/repo/root` without having to change local process `cwd` with `process.chdir()`
      cwd: "/path/to/git/repo/root",
      // Pass the variable `MY_ENV_VAR` to semantic-release without having to modify the local `process.env`
      env: { ...process.env, MY_ENV_VAR: "MY_ENV_VAR_VALUE" },
      // Store stdout and stderr to use later instead of writing to `process.stdout` and `process.stderr`
      stdout: stdoutBuffer,
      stderr: stderrBuffer,
    }
  );

  if (result) {
    const { lastRelease, commits, nextRelease, releases } = result;

    console.log(
      `Published ${nextRelease.type} release version ${nextRelease.version} containing ${commits.length} commits.`
    );

    if (lastRelease.version) {
      console.log(`The last release was "${lastRelease.version}".`);
    }

    for (const release of releases) {
      console.log(`The release was published with plugin "${release.pluginName}".`);
    }
  } else {
    console.log("No release published.");
  }

  // Get stdout and stderr content
  const logs = stdoutBuffer.getContentsAsString("utf8");
  const errors = stderrBuffer.getContentsAsString("utf8");
} catch (err) {
  console.error("The automated release failed with %O", err);
}

API

semanticRelease([options], [config]) => Promise

Run semantic-release and returns a Promise that resolves to a Result object.

options

Type: Object

semantic-release options.

Can be used to set any core option or plugin options.

Each option, will take precedence over options configured in the configuration file and shareable configurations.

config

Type: Object

semantic-release configuration specific for API usage.

cwd

Type: String Default: process.cwd()

The current working directory to use. It should be configured to the root of the Git repository to release from.

It allows to run semantic-release from a specific path without having to change the local process cwd with process.chdir().

env

Type: Object Default: process.env

The environment variables to use.

It allows to run semantic-release with specific environment variables without having to modify the local process.env.

stdout

Type: stream.Writable Default: process.stdout

The writable stream used to log information.

It allows to configure semantic-release to write logs to a specific stream rather than the local process.stdout.

stderr

Type: stream.Writable Default: process.stderr

The writable stream used to log errors.

It allows to configure semantic-release to write errors to a specific stream rather than the local process.stderr.

Result

Type: Object Boolean

An object with lastRelease, nextRelease, commits and releases if a release is published or false if no release was published.

lastRelease

Type: Object

Information related to the last release found:

Name	Type	Description
version	String	The version of the last release.
gitHead	String	The sha of the last commit being part of the last release.
gitTag	String	The Git tag associated with the last release.
channel	String	The distribution channel on which the last release was initially made available (undefined for the default distribution channel).

Note: If no previous release is found, lastRelease will be an empty Object.

Example:

commits

Type: Array<Object>

The list of commit(s) included in the new release. Each commit object has the following properties:

Name	Type	Description
commit	Object	The commit abbreviated and full hash.
commit.long	String	The commit hash.
commit.short	String	The commit abbreviated hash.
tree	Object	The commit abbreviated and full tree hash.
tree.long	String	The commit tree hash.
tree.short	String	The commit abbreviated tree hash.
author	Object	The commit author information.
author.name	String	The commit author name.
author.email	String	The commit author email.
author.short	String	The commit author date.
committer	Object	The committer information.
committer.name	String	The committer name.
committer.email	String	The committer email.
committer.short	String	The committer date.
subject	String	The commit subject.
body	String	The commit body.
message	String	The commit full message (subject and body).
hash	String	The commit hash.
committerDate	String	The committer date.

Example:

nextRelease

Type: Object

Information related to the newly published release:

Name	Type	Description
type	String	The semver type of the release (patch, minor or major).
version	String	The version of the new release.
gitHead	String	The sha of the last commit being part of the new release.
gitTag	String	The Git tag associated with the new release.
notes	String	The release notes for the new release.
channel	String	The distribution channel on which the next release will be made available (undefined for the default distribution channel).

Example:

releases

Type: Array<Object>

The list of releases published or made available to a distribution channel. Each release object has the following properties:

Name	Type	Description
name	String	Optional. The release name, only if set by the corresponding publish plugin.
url	String	Optional. The release URL, only if set by the corresponding publish plugin.
type	String	The semver type of the release (patch, minor or major).
version	String	The version of the release.
gitHead	String	The sha of the last commit being part of the release.
gitTag	String	The Git tag associated with the release.
notes	String	The release notes for the release.
pluginName	String	The name of the plugin that published the release.
channel	String	The distribution channel on which the release is available (undefined for the default distribution channel).

Example: