name: release-guard
description: STRICT GitHub release gatekeeper. Blocks premature releases (from develop, incomplete CI). Verifies PR merged to main + ALL CI passed before allowing tag/release. Triggers on "release", "tag", "publish", "deploy", "version".
allowed-tools: Read, Bash(gh :), Bash(git :)

Release Guard Skill

Core Rules (NEVER VIOLATE)

• Releases ONLY from main after PR merge.
• ALL CI jobs must COMPLETE + SUCCESS. NO queued jobs.
• Verify branch protection requires status checks.

Activation Steps

1. PR Check: Ask for PR# if needed. Run gh pr view $PR_NUM --json state,baseRefName. Must: state=CLOSED, baseRefName=main.
2. Branch: git branch --show-current + gh repo view --json default_branch. Fail if not main.
3. CI: gh run list --branch main --limit 5 --json status,conclusion. ALL: completed + success. Log/screenshot.
4. Clean: git status (clean working dir).

Fail Response

🚫 BLOCKED: [Exact violation]
Fix:
- Merge PR to main
- Wait CI: gh run list --branch main
- git checkout main && git pull
Re-run task.

Pass: Safe Release

• Tag: vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (semantic).
• gh release create v1.2.3 --generate-notes --target main
• Confirm before execute.

Examples

• User: "Create release from develop PR #199" → BLOCK: Wrong branch.
• User: "Tag v1.0.0 after PR #199" → Check PR/CI/branch → Proceed if pass.

Progressive disclosure: For CI details, see ci-reference.md if needed.
```

Best Practices Applied

• Description: Keyword-rich for matching ("release", "tag").
• allowed-tools: Read + Bash wildcards (gh/git CLI). Install gh.[2]
• Structure: Essential in SKILL.md; link supports (add ci-reference.md for details).
• Load/Test: Restart Claude Code. Ask "What Skills available?". Test: "Create release PR #199".