design: per-lexicon independent versioning & publish (republish one lexicon without a monorepo release)

[lex00]

Follow-up to #523. The spec-upgrade epic can open a validated PR that bumps a single lexicon, but "republish as ready" is blocked by the monorepo-wide release model. This issue scopes decoupling publish so one lexicon can ship independently.

Current state

• All packages are version-locked (packages/core, every lexicons/* at 0.13.1); root is a 0.0.0 workspace.
• Publish is triggered by a single chant-v* tag; publish.yml runs every lexicon's prepack then publishes each.
• Enabler already present: each publish step is per-package idempotent — it compares the local version to the npm-published version and skips when equal ([ "$V" = "$P" ] && skip || npm publish --provenance). So if only one package's version changed, only that one publishes today. The missing piece is independent versioning and a trigger that isn't one monorepo tag.

Problem

A lexicon spec upgrade (#523) that validates clean should be able to bump and republish just that lexicon on its own cadence, without forcing a lockstep bump of core and the other nine lexicons.

Options

1. Independent semver per package (changesets-style). Each package versions on its own; a merged upgrade PR bumps only its lexicon; publish runs on merge/tag and the existing skip-if-unchanged logic ships only what moved. Needs a compatibility story between lexicon versions and @intentius/chant core (peer range, not exact pin).
2. Per-lexicon release tags. e.g. chant-lexicon-aws-v* triggers a publish of just that package. Minimal change to the model; more tags to manage.
3. Keep lockstep, batch upgrades. Do nothing here; upgrade PRs (epic: scheduled lexicon spec upgrades (auto-PR from latest upstream specs) #523) merge and ride the next monorepo release. Simplest; the default if this is deprioritized.

Considerations

• Dependency ranges. For a lexicon to move independently, consumers must depend on it (and it on core) via a compatible range, not an exact pinned version. Audit dependencies / peerDependencies across packages.
• Compatibility matrix. Independent versions raise "does lexicon-aws@X work with chant@Y?" — needs a documented peer range and CI that tests the supported combinations.
• Provenance & trusted publisher. Preserve npm provenance and the trusted-publisher setup already in publish.yml.

Acceptance criteria (if pursued)

• A single lexicon can be versioned and published without bumping core or other lexicons.
• A epic: scheduled lexicon spec upgrades (auto-PR from latest upstream specs) #523 upgrade PR, on merge, results in exactly that lexicon republishing.
• Documented compatibility range between each lexicon and core, enforced in CI.
• No regression to provenance / trusted-publisher publishing.

Related

• epic: scheduled lexicon spec upgrades (auto-PR from latest upstream specs) #523 (driver — scheduled lexicon spec upgrades)