vaslv/composer-release

Interactive release helper: picks the next semver version from existing git tags, tags and pushes; bumps composer.json's version field only when the project already commits one. Available as `composer release`.

0.1.0 2026-07-17 17:41 UTC

Requires

• php: >=7.4
• composer-plugin-api: ^2.0

Requires (Dev)

• composer/composer: ^2.0
• phpstan/phpstan: ^2.0
• phpstan/phpstan-phpunit: ^2.0
• phpunit/phpunit: ^9.6

MIT

• Andrei Vasilev

• git
• version
• tag
• semver
• release
• composer-plugin

Published on Packagist.org on 2026-07-17 17:46 UTC

README

Interactive release helper for Composer projects. It looks at your existing git tags, offers the next patch / minor / major version, writes it to composer.json, then commits, tags and (optionally) pushes — so you never have to check what the last version was before cutting a release.

Current version: v1.4.2

Select next version:
  1) patch  → v1.4.3
  2) minor  → v1.5.0
  3) major  → v2.0.0
  4) custom
  q) quit

Requirements

• bash, git and composer available in PATH
• Composer 2.x

Installation

composer require --dev vaslv/composer-release

The package is a Composer plugin, so on first install Composer will ask whether you trust it. Answer y, or allow it up front:

composer config allow-plugins.vaslv/composer-release true

Usage

The plugin registers a native Composer command:

composer release

The script is also exposed through vendor/bin, so these work too:

vendor/bin/release
composer exec release

What it does

1. Refuses to run with a dirty working tree or on a detached HEAD; warns when you are not on main/master.
2. Fetches tags from origin (when the remote exists), then finds the latest semver tag — 1.2.3 and v1.2.3 styles are both supported, mixed styles compare correctly, and the existing prefix is preserved.
3. Lets you pick patch / minor / major / custom for the next version.
4. If composer.json already commits a version field, updates it and commits as chore(release): <tag> (restoring the file if the commit fails). Without the field — the Packagist-recommended setup — the release is tag-only.
5. Creates an annotated tag.
6. Asks whether to push the branch and the tag to origin in one atomic push.

Every destructive step asks for confirmation first; nothing is pushed without an explicit yes.

Development

composer install
composer analyse         # PHPStan, level max
composer test            # PHPUnit smoke tests for the plugin wiring
bats tests/release.bats  # end-to-end tests for the release script

License

MIT