Load this skill when you need to compute the next semantic version and a
suggested release tag from the commit history of a git repository that
follows Conventional Commits.
It is the release-pipeline counterpart of commit-message-writer (writes the
commits) and changelog-generator (renders the changelog): this skill decides
what version number the changelog and the release tag should carry.
The tool is read-only and offline: it never creates tags, never writes
files, and makes no network calls. It reads git log subjects, classifies
each commit by type, and prints the current version, the next version and a
suggested tag. For testability the commit list can be fed from the COMMITS
environment variable or a file (--commits FILE, one subject per line) — no
git repository required.
scripts/bumper.py — pure Python 3 stdlib (no dependencies).
| Source of commits | Command |
|---|---|
| Git repository (default) | python3 bumper.py --path /path/to/repo |
| Explicit current version | python3 bumper.py --path . --current 1.2.3 |
| Latest semver tag | python3 bumper.py --path . --from-tags |
| File (no git needed) | python3 bumper.py --commits commits.txt --current 1.2.3 |
| Environment (no git needed) | COMMITS='feat: a\nfix: b' python3 bumper.py --current 1.2.3 |
| Signal | Bump | Example |
|---|---|---|
Breaking (! or BREAKING CHANGE: footer) |
MAJOR | feat!: drop python 3.7 |
feat |
MINOR | feat: add widget |
fix, perf, refactor |
PATCH | fix: repair crash |
docs, style, test, chore, build, ci, revert, unknown |
no bump | docs: readme |
Type matching is case-insensitive (Feat: counts as feat). Unknown types
are counted as other and never trigger a bump.
latest_tag: v1.0.0
current_version: 1.0.0
next_version: 1.5.0
suggested_tag: v1.5.0
bump: minor
commits_analyzed: 14
counts: feat=1, fix=8, perf=2, refactor=1, docs=1, style=1, test=2, chore=1, build=0, ci=0, revert=0, breaking=1, other=0
--current X.Y.Z — baseline version; skips tag lookup--from-tags — take the baseline from the highest semver tag (v1.2.3,
1.2.3); falls back to 0.0.0 with a warning when no tags exist--commits FILE — read commit subjects from a file (one per line) instead
of git log; useful for tests and for repos without git--dry-run — accepted for pipeline compatibility; the tool is read-only, so
this is the default behavior-s / --stable — deterministic output: sorts the analyzed commits and
guarantees the same next_version for the same input# Before a release: what version should the next tag carry?
python3 skills/version-bumper/scripts/bumper.py --path . --from-tags
# Pin the baseline explicitly (no tag lookup)
python3 skills/version-bumper/scripts/bumper.py --path . --current 1.2.3
# Deterministic output for CI / release pipeline
python3 skills/version-bumper/scripts/bumper.py --path . --from-tags -s
# Test the classifier without a git repo
python3 skills/version-bumper/scripts/bumper.py --commits commits.txt --current 1.2.3
bump: major — at least one breaking commit (! or BREAKING CHANGE:
footer). Review the breaking changes before tagging; MAJOR signals a
compatibility break to consumers.bump: minor — new features present, no breaking changes.bump: patch — only fixes/refactors/perf; no features.bump: none — only docs/chore/style/test/build/ci/revert commits. Do
not create a release tag; the version stays unchanged.latest_tag: none — no semver tags found; the tool started from
0.0.0. For a first release, decide whether v0.1.0 (first feature) or
v1.0.0 (first stable API) is appropriate.changelog-generator with the
suggested version, then tag manually.other and the suggestion meaningless.1.2.3-rc.1,
1.2.3+build.5) — the parser accepts only plain X.Y.Z / vX.Y.Z.Full source depth — in references/canonical-patterns.md. Backbone:
| Analog | What we borrow |
|---|---|
| Conventional Commits spec | Type taxonomy, `!` marker, `BREAKING CHANGE:` footer, bump semantics |
| python-semantic-release | Version-from-tags, bump-level resolution, deterministic output |
| semantic-release | Commit-driven release decision, no-release-when-no-release-commits |
| bump-my-version | Strict semver parsing, tag prefix handling |
| commitizen | Commit classification, changelog+version coupling |
| git-cliff | Conventional-Commits parsing, tag-range analysis |
# For opencode
cp -r skills/version-bumper ~/.config/opencode/skills/
# For other agents
# Copy the skill folder to your skills directory; requires Python 3.
# git is optional — --commits FILE mode works without it.
Note: the tool suggests a version; it never tags, never commits and never pushes. Wire it into the release pipeline as the version source for
changelog-generator, then create the tag yourself.
Run the documented command against the user’s actual input. Report the command, exit status, files changed or produced, and relevant stdout/stderr. Separate blocked or pre-existing failures from failures introduced by the current work. Do not call the result complete when the script was only described or when an artifact was not reopened and checked.