Auto-publish release feature

[rnorth]

Since #91 we've been able to get many of our repos using release drafter, with a nice Releases page and automatic patch version bumps. Thanks again for this tool!

One additional feature that we'd be really interested in contributing is automatic publication of releases. For many of our repos we typically want to release a new version after each PR is merged.

I thought of creating a separate probot to do this in the spirit of separation of concerns. However there is no hook for 'draft release created'; Release Drafter, as the creator of the draft release, is really in a unique position of being able to do this.

So I'd like to propose adding a feature that would:

• be opt-in via a new config flag
• require a template for release tag and name
• automatically publish a release after it has been created
• ... if/unless some configurable label is present on the just-merged PR

I'd be keen to get your thoughts on this!

[toolmantim]

Oh gosh, then we’re going to have to rename it 😁

I think it’s worth a spike to see what it’d take to make it happen! And see how it affects the config, readme and code?

[ostrolucky]

Yes please!

[JimNero009]

Always been quite interested in this, and have started work here: #304

[TimonVS]

Awesome idea!

I thought of creating a separate probot to do this in the spirit of separation of concerns. However there is no hook for 'draft release created'; Release Drafter, as the creator of the draft release, is really in a unique position of being able to do this.

It's been awhile since this issue was opened, in the meantime GitHub Actions has been released which makes it possible to execute logic after Release Drafter is done creating or updating a draft. The next release will include a fix for #326 which should make it possible to create this in a separate Action. If someone were to create such an Action, we'd be more than happy to promote it in the README :)

[orcutt989]

Has the publish functionality been implemented?

[jetersen]

Should be doable with both #513 and #424
Though #472 might be needed in some cases.

[jetersen]

There is still work to do for auto release as we currently do not work on tags.

Version-resolver and publish gets really close but can only be done on the branches config. Which is a huge limiting factor.
I'll do my best to resolve the current issue.

[jetersen]

@rnorth how do you vision the release workflow from release-drafter?

Would it be based on a certain label like #519 ?
Or is it when you push a tag?
Or when you create a release from GitHub?

I would be open to a video discussion to ping-pong ideas faster :)

[jetersen]

Properly best off waiting for #546 it should allow any desired release workflow from GitHub action.