202 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
202 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
# Frequently Asked Questions
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## Why is the `package.json`’s version not updated in my repository?
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**semantic-release** takes care of updating the `package.json`’s version before publishing to [npm](https://www.npmjs.com).
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By default, only the published package will contains the version, which is the only place where it is *really* required, but the updated `package.json` will not be pushed to the Git repository
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However, the [`@semantic-release/git`](https://github.com/semantic-release/git) plugin can be used to push the updated `package.json` as well as other files to the Git repository.
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## How can I use a npm build script that requires the `package.json`’s version ?
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The `package.json`’s version will be updated by the `semantic-release` command just before publishing to [npm](https://www.npmjs.com), therefore it won't be available for scripts ran before the `semantic-release` command.
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As semantic-release uses the [npm CLI](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/npm) to publish, all [npm hook scripts](https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/scripts#hook-scripts) will be executed. Therefore you can run your build script in the [`prepublishOnly`](https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/scripts#prepublish-and-prepare) hook. It will be executed after the `semantic-release` command update the `package.json`’s version and before publishing.
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## Is there a way to preview which version would currently get published?
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Yes with the [dry-run options](../usage/configuration.md#dryrun) which prints to the console the next version to be published and the release notes.
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## Can I use semantic-release with Yarn?
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If you are using a [local](../usage/installation.md#local-installation) **semantic-release** installation and run multiple CI jobs with different versions, the `yarn install` command will fail on jobs running with Node < 8 as **semantic-release** requires [Node >= 8.3](#why-does-semantic-release-require-node-version--83) and specifies it in its `package.json`s [`engines`](https://docs.npmjs.com/files/package.json#engines) key.
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The recommended solution is to use the [Yarn](https://yarnpkg.com) [--ignore-engines](https://yarnpkg.com/en/docs/cli/install#toc-yarn-install-ignore-engines) option to install the project dependencies on the CI environment, so Yarn will ignore the **semantic-release**'s `engines` key:
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```bash
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$ yarn install --ignore-engines
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```
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**Note**: Several CI services use Yarn by default if your repository contains a `yarn.lock` file. So you should override the install step to specify `yarn install --ignore-engines`.
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Alternatively you can use a [global](../usage/installation.md#global-installation) **semantic-release** installation and make sure to install and run the `semantic-release` command only in a CI jobs running with Node >= 8.3.
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If your CI environment provides [nvm](https://github.com/creationix/nvm) you can switch to Node 8 before installing and running the `semantic-release` command:
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```bash
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$ nvm install 8 && yarn global add semantic-release && semantic-release
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```
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See the [CI configuration recipes](../recipes/README.md#ci-configurations) for more details on specific CI environments.
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As `semantic-release` is recommended to be executed with [`npx`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/npx) an alternative is required for usage with Yarn. Even though it is possible to install npx with Yarn, it's not recommended. Yarn and npx would be using different cache locations.
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For [local installation](../usage/installation.md#local-installation) replace
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`npx semantic-release` with `yarn run semantic-release`.
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For [global installation](../usage/installation.md#global-installation) replace
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`npx semantic-release` with `yarn global add semantic-release && semantic-release`.
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## Can I use semantic-release to publish non-JavaScript packages?
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Yes, **semantic-release** is a Node CLI application but it can be used to publish any type of packages.
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To publish a non-Node package (without a `package.json`) you would need to:
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- Use a [global](../usage/installation.md#global-installation) **semantic-release** installation
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- Set **semantic-release** [options](../usage/configuration.md#options) via [CLI arguments or rc file](../usage/configuration.md#configuration)
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- Make sure your CI job executing the `semantic-release` command has access to [Node >= 8](#why-does-semantic-release-require-node-version--83) to execute the `semantic-release` command
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See the [CI configuration recipes](../recipes/README.md#ci-configurations) for more details on specific CI environments.
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In addition you will need to configure the **semantic-release** [plugins](../usage/plugins.md#plugins) to:
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- Disable the [`@semantic-release/npm`](https://github.com/semantic-release/npm) plugin
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- Define plugins for the [verifyConditions](../usage/plugins.md#verifyconditions-plugin), [prepare](../usage/plugins.md#prepare-plugin) and [publish](../usage/plugins.md#publish-plugin) steps to release on your package registry. The [`@semantic-release/exec`](https://github.com/semantic-release/exec) plugin is recommended for situation where a release can be done with a shell command.
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Here is a basic example to create [GitHub releases](https://help.github.com/articles/about-releases) and use shell command to publish:
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```json
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{
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"verifyConditions": ["@semantic-release/github"],
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"prepare": [
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{
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"path": "@semantic-release/exec",
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"cmd": "set-version ${nextRelease.version}"
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}
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],
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"publish": [
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"@semantic-release/github",
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{
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"path": "@semantic-release/exec",
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"cmd": "publish-package"
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}
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],
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}
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```
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**Note**: This is a theoretical example where the command `set-version` update the project version with the value passed as its first argument and `publish-package` publishes the package to a registry.
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See the [package managers and languages recipes](../recipes/README.md#package-managers-and-languages) for more details on specific project types.
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## Can I use semantic-release with any CI service?
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Yes, **semantic-release** can be used with any CI service, as long as it provides:
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- A way to set [authentication](../usage/ci-configuration.md#authentication) via environment variables
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- A way to guarantee that the `semantic-release` command is [executed only after all the tests of all the jobs in the CI build pass](../usage/ci-configuration.md#run-semantic-release-only-after-all-tests-succeeded)
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See the [CI configuration recipes](../recipes/README.md#ci-configurations) for more details on specific CI environments.
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## Can I run semantic-release on my local machine rather than on a CI server?
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Yes, you can by explicitly setting the [`--no-ci` CLI option](../usage/configuration.md#options) option. You will also have to set the required [authentication](../usage/ci-configuration.md#authentication) via environment variables on your local machine, for example:
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```bash
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$ NPM_TOKEN=<your_npm_token> GH_TOKEN=<your_github_token> npx semantic-release --no-ci
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```
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However this is not the recommended approach, as running unit and integration tests on an independent machine before publishing software is a crucial part of the release workflow.
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## Can I use semantic-release with GitLab?
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Yes, with the [`@semantic-release/gitlab-config`](https://github.com/semantic-release/gitlab-config) shareable configuration.
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See the [GitLab CI recipes](../recipes/gitlab-ci.md#using-semantic-release-with-gitlab-ci) for the CI configuration.
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## Can I use semantic-release with any Git hosted environment?
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By default **semantic-release** uses the [`@semantic-release/github`](https://github.com/semantic-release/github) plugin to publish a [GitHub release](https://help.github.com/articles/about-releases). For other Git hosted environment the [`@semantic-release/git`](https://github.com/semantic-release/git) and [`@semantic-release/changelog`](https://github.com/semantic-release/changelog) plugins can be used via [plugins configuration](../usage/plugins.md#configuration).
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See the [`@semantic-release/git`](https://github.com/semantic-release/git#semantic-releasegit) [`@semantic-release/changelog`](https://github.com/semantic-release/changelog#semantic-releasechangelog) plugins documentation for more details.
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## Can I skip the release to the npm registry?
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Yes, the publishing to the npm registry can be disabled with the [`npmPublish`](https://github.com/semantic-release/npm#options) option of the [`@semantic-release/npm`](https://github.com/semantic-release/npm) plugin. In addition the [`tarballDir`](https://github.com/semantic-release/npm#options) option allow to generate the package tarball in order to publish it to your repository with the [`@semantic-release/git`](https://github.com/semantic-release/git) or to a [GitHub release](https://help.github.com/articles/about-releases) with the [`@semantic-release/github`](https://github.com/semantic-release/github) plugin.
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See the [`@semantic-release/npm`](https://github.com/semantic-release/npm#semantic-releasenpm) plugin documentation for more details.
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## Can I use `.npmrc` options?
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Yes, all the [npm configuration options](https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/config) are supported via the [`.npmrc`](https://docs.npmjs.com/files/npmrc) file at the root of your repository.
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See the [`@semantic-release/npm`](https://github.com/semantic-release/npm#npm-configuration) plugin documentation for more details.
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## How can I set the access level of the published npm package?
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The [npm `access` option](https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/config#access) can be set in the [`.npmrc`](https://docs.npmjs.com/files/npmrc) file at the root of your repository:
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```rc
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access=public
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```
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Or with the `publishConfig.access` key in your project's `package.json`:
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```json
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{
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"publishConfig": {
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"access": "public"
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}
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}
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```
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## Can I use semantic-release to publish a package on Artifactory?
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Any npm compatible registry is supported with the [`@semantic-release/npm`](https://github.com/semantic-release/npm) plugin. For Artifactory versions prior to 5.4, the legacy authentication has to be used (with `NPM_USERNAME`, `NPM_PASSWORD` and `NPM_EMAIL` [environment variables](https://github.com/semantic-release/npm#environment-variables)).
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See [npm registry authentication](https://github.com/semantic-release/npm#npm-registry-authentication) for more details.
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See [Artifactory - npm Registry](https://www.jfrog.com/confluence/display/RTF/Npm+Registry#NpmRegistry-AuthenticatingthenpmClient) documentation for Artifactiry configuration.
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## Can I manually trigger the release of a specific version?
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You can trigger a release by pushing to your Git repository. You deliberately cannot trigger a *specific* version release, because this is the whole point of semantic-release.
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## Can I exclude commits from the analysis?
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Yes, every commits that contains `[skip release]` or `[release skip]` in their message will be excluded from the commit analysis and won't participate in the release type determination.
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## Is it *really* a good idea to release on every push?
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It is indeed a great idea because it *forces* you to follow best practices. If you don’t feel comfortable releasing every feature or fix on your `master` you might not treat your `master` branch as intended.
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From [Understanding the GitHub Flow](https://guides.github.com/introduction/flow/index.html):
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> Branching is a core concept in Git, and the entire GitHub Flow is based upon it. There's only one rule: anything in the master branch is always deployable.
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If you need more control over the timing of releases, see [Triggering a release](../../README.md#triggering-a-release) for different options.
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## Can I set the initial release version of my package to `0.0.1`?
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This is not supported by **semantic-release** as it's not considered a good practice, mostly because [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org) rules applies differently to major version zero.
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In early development phase when your package is not ready for production yet we recommend to publish releases on a distribution channel (for example npm’s [dist-tags](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/dist-tag)) or to develop on a `dev` branch and merge it to `master` periodically. See [Triggering a release](../../README.md#triggering-a-release) for more details on those solutions.
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See [“Introduction to SemVer” - Irina Gebauer](https://blog.greenkeeper.io/introduction-to-semver-d272990c44f2) for more details on [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org) and the recommendation to start at version `1.0.0`.
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## Can I trust semantic-release with my releases?
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**semantic-release** has a full unit and integration test suite that tests `npm` publishes against the [npm-registry-couchapp](https://github.com/npm/npm-registry-couchapp).
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In addition the [verify conditions step](../../README.md#release-steps) verifies that all necessary conditions for proceeding with a release are met, and a new release will be performed [only if all your tests pass](../usage/ci-configuration.md#run-semantic-release-only-after-all-tests-succeeded).
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## Why does semantic-release require Node version >= 8.3?
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**semantic-release** is written using the latest [ECMAScript 2017](https://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm) features, without transpilation which **requires Node version 8.3 or higher**.
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See [Node version requirement](../support/node-version.md#node-version-requirement) for more details and solutions.
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## What is npx?
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[`npx`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/npx) – short for "npm exec" – is a CLI to find and execute npm binaries within the local `node_modules` folder or in the $PATH. If a binary can't be located npx will download the required package and execute it from its cache location.
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The tool is bundled with [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/npm) >= 5.2, or can be installed via `npm install -g npx`.
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For more details and motivation read the [introductory blog post](https://medium.com/@maybekatz/introducing-npx-an-npm-package-runner-55f7d4bd282b) by [@zkat](https://github.com/zkat).
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