Fork-Version

Fork-Version automates version control tasks such as determining, updating, and committing versions, files, and changelogs, simplifying the versioning process when adhering to the conventional commit standard.

This project is essentially a complete re-write of standard-version following on from its deprecation in May 2022.

Although there are many alternatives such as release-please. This project aims to continue focusing on just the versioning and changelog generation aspect of the process for use in other Git hosts outside of Github.

What Does Fork-Version Do?

By following the conventional commit standard Fork-Version can automate the following tasks for you:

1. Determine the current and next version
2. Update the version in the selected files (View the supported files)
3. Update your changelog
4. Commit the changed files
5. Create a tag for the new version

Fork-Version won't attempt to push changes to git or to a package manager, this allows you to decide how you publish your changes.

Using Fork-Version

Primarily designed to be used with npx, Fork-Version can also be installed globally or directly to the node package you're working on. The only software prerequisites you need are git and node.

Fork-Version can be configured either through a config file or by passing options to the tool when ran, see the Configuration File and Command Line Options sections below for details on the supported options.

Note

Command line options get merged with config file options, any options that are declared through the cli will override options that are also in the config file (Except for the list of files which get merged).

Using npx (Recommended)

To use Fork-Version without installation you can use npx:

npx fork-version

npx is a package runner which allows you to execute npm packages without installation, this can be useful when working on projects outside of the Node ecosystem.

Note

By default npx will use the latest release, if you want to use a specific version you can add a version tag to the end of the name.

Example: npx [email protected]

The version tag needs to match against one of the published versions on npm.

Alternatively you can use other npm compatible javascript runtime's:

Runner	Command
bun	bunx fork-version
deno	deno -A npm:fork-version

Install Locally

To install the package locally to your project you can use one of the following commands:

Package Manager	Install Command
npm	npm install fork-version --save-dev
yarn	yarn add fork-version --dev
pnpm	pnpm add fork-version --save-dev
bun	bun install fork-version --dev

You can then add the following entry to your package.json scripts section and use it like any other script you already use in your project.

// package.json
{
  "scripts": {
    "release": "fork-version"
  }
}

For example if you use npm you can now use npm run release to run Fork-Version.

Exit Codes

When ran as a cli tool Fork-Version will exit with one of the following exit codes:

Exit Code	Description
0	Success
1	General Error
3	Config File Validation Error

Command Line Options

The following help text can be viewed by running the following command: npx fork-version --help

Usage:
  $ fork-version [options]

Commands:
  --help                           Show this help message.
  --version                        Show the current version of Fork-Version.
  --inspect-version                If set, Fork-Version will print the current project version and exit.

Options:
  --file, -F                       List of the files to be updated. [Default: ["bower.json", "deno.json", "deno.jsonc", "jsr.json", "jsr.jsonc", "manifest.json", "npm-shrinkwrap.json", "package-lock.json", "package.json"]]
  --glob, -G                       Glob pattern to match files to be updated.
  --path, -P                       The path Fork-Version will run from. [Default: process.cwd()]
  --changelog                      Name of the changelog file. [Default: "CHANGELOG.md"]
  --header                         The header text for the changelog.
  --tag-prefix                     Specify a prefix for the created tag. [Default: "v"]
  --pre-release                    Mark this release as a pre-release.
  --pre-release-tag                Mark this release with a tagged pre-release. [Example: "alpha", "beta", "rc"]
  --current-version                If set, Fork-Version will use this version instead of trying to determine one.
  --next-version                   If set, Fork-Version will attempt to update to this version, instead of incrementing using "conventional-commit".
  --release-as                     Release as increments the version by the specified level. [Choices: "major", "minor", "patch"]

Flags:
  --allow-multiple-versions        Don't throw an error if multiple versions are found in the given files. [Default: true]
  --commit-all                     Commit all changes, not just files updated by Fork-Version.
  --changelog-all                  If this flag is set, all default commit types will be added to the changelog.
  --debug                          Output debug information.
  --dry-run                        No output will be written to disk or committed.
  --silent                         Run without logging to the terminal.
  --git-tag-fallback               If unable to find a version in the given files, fallback and attempt to use the latest git tag. [Default: true]
  --sign                           If true, git will sign the commit with the systems GPG key.
  --verify                         If true, git will run user defined git hooks before committing.

  To negate a flag you can prefix it with "no-", for example "--no-git-tag-fallback" will not fallback to the latest git tag.

Skip Steps:
  --skip-bump                      Skip the version bump step.
  --skip-changelog                 Skip updating the changelog.
  --skip-commit                    Skip committing the changes.
  --skip-tag                       Skip tagging the commit.

Conventional Changelog Overrides:
  --commit-url-format              Override the default commit URL format.
  --compare-url-format             Override the default compare URL format.
  --issue-url-format               Override the default issue URL format.
  --user-url-format                Override the default user URL format.
  --release-commit-message-format  Override the default release commit message format.
  --release-message-suffix         Add a suffix to the end of the release message.

Exit Codes:
  0: Success
  1: General Error
  3: Config File Validation Error

Examples:
  $ fork-version
    Run fork-version in the current directory with default options.

  $ fork-version --path ./packages/my-package
    Run fork-version in the "./packages/my-package" directory.

  $ fork-version --file package.json --file MyApi.csproj
    Run fork-version and update the "package.json" and "MyApi.csproj" files.

  $ fork-version --glob "*/package.json"
    Run fork-version and update all "package.json" files in subdirectories.

Configuration File

You can configure Fork-Version using one of the following files:

• A javascript file:
  • fork.config.ts
  • fork.config.js
  • fork.config.cjs
  • fork.config.mjs
• A json file:
  • fork.config.json
  • package.json >> Key Name: "fork-version"

Javascript Config

Configuring using a javascript file is the most flexible option. You can use any javascript file type you prefer including typescript. Both commonjs and esm exports styles are supported. The defineConfig function in the following snippet is optional, using it will give you intellisense information in your code editor of choice.

// fork.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'fork-version';

export default defineConfig({
  header: `# My Changelog`,
  files: ["package.json", "package-lock.json"],
});

Alternatively you can use typescript type annotations in a typescript file:

// fork.config.ts
import type { Config } from 'fork-version';

const config: Config = {
  header: `# My Changelog`,
  files: ["package.json", "package-lock.json"],
};

export default config;

Or jsdocs in a javascript file:

// fork.config.js
/** @type {import("fork-version").Config} */
export default {
  header: `# My Changelog`,
  files: ["package.json", "package-lock.json"],
};

Or just raw dog it without type information. ಠ_ಠ

Json Config

Another way you can configure Fork-Version is by using a json file called fork.config.json. This is a good option if you're using Fork-Version on a non javascript project, or without installation.

If you still want intellisense information you can use the following schema in your json file, otherwise $schema is an optional key.

// fork.config.json
{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eglavin/fork-version/main/schema/latest.json",
  "header": "# My Changelog",
  "files": [
    "package.json",
    "package-lock.json"
  ]
}

Internally we're using zod-to-json-schema to generate the schema. Checkout the schema folder to see the current state.

Alternatively you can define your config using a key in your package.json file called fork-version:

// package.json
{
  "name": "my-js-project",
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "fork-version": {
    "header": "# My Changelog",
    "files": [
      "package.json",
      "package-lock.json"
    ]
  }
}

Config Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
inspectVersion	boolean	-	Print the current version and exits
files	Array<string>	["package.json", ...]	List of the files to be updated
glob	string	-	Glob pattern to match files to be updated
path	string	process.cwd()	The path Fork-Version will run from
changelog	string	CHANGELOG.md	Name of the changelog file
header	string	# Changelog...	The header text for the changelog
tagPrefix	string	v	Prefix for the created tag
preRelease	string / boolean	-	Make a pre-release with optional label if given value is a string
currentVersion	string	-	Use this version instead of trying to determine one
nextVersion	string	-	Attempt to update to this version, instead of incrementing using "conventional-commit"
releaseAs	string	-	Release as increments the version by the specified level. Overrides the default behaviour of "conventional-commit".
allowMultipleVersions	boolean	true	Don't throw an error if multiple versions are found in the given files.
commitAll	boolean	false	Commit all changes, not just files updated by Fork-Version
changelogAll	boolean	false	If this flag is set, all default commit types will be added to the changelog, not just feat and fix.
debug	boolean	false	Output debug information
dryRun	boolean	false	No output will be written to disk or committed
silent	boolean	false	Run without logging to the terminal
gitTagFallback	boolean	true	If unable to find a version in the given files, fallback and attempt to use the latest git tag
sign	boolean	false	Sign the commit with the systems GPG key
verify	boolean	false	Run user defined git hooks before committing
skipBump	boolean	false	Skip the bump step
skipChangelog	boolean	false	Skip the changelog step
skipCommit	boolean	false	Skip the commit step
skipTag	boolean	false	Skip the tag step
changelogPresetConfig	object	{}	Override defaults from the "conventional-changelog-conventionalcommits" preset configuration
releaseMessageSuffix	string	-	Add a suffix to the end of the release message

config.files

By default Fork-Version will attempt to read versions from and update these files, if you define your own list it will override the default list instead of merging.

• "package.json"
• "package-lock.json"
• "npm-shrinkwrap.json"
• "jsr.json"
• "jsr.jsonc"
• "deno.json"
• "deno.jsonc"
• "manifest.json"
• "bower.json"

See the Supported File Types section below to see the currently supported file types.

config.glob

An alternative to config.files, a glob allows you to search for files using wildcard characters.

For example if you have the following folder structure:

API/
- MyAPI.csproj
Library/
- MyLibrary.csproj
Web/
- package.json

Running npx fork-version -G "{*/*.csproj,*/package.json}" will update both csproj files and the package.json file.

Internally Fork-Version uses isaacs glob to match files. Read more about the pattern syntax here.

Warning

Ensure you wrap your glob pattern in quotes to prevent shell expansion.

config.tagPrefix

Allows you to control the prefix for the created tag. This is useful if your using a mono-repo in which you version multiple projects separately or simply want to use a different prefix for your tags.

Example Value	Tag Created
"v" (Default)	v1.2.3
""	1.2.3
"version/"	version/1.2.3
"@eglavin/fork-version-"	@eglavin/fork-version-1.2.3

config.preRelease

Marking a release as a pre-release allows you to define a change as a patch to a specific version. This allows you to mark a fix for a version or an alpha build for example.

Example Value	Version Created
true	1.2.3-0
alpha	1.2.3-alpha.0

Fork-Version uses meow to parse cli arguments which is unable to take a single argument and parse it as either a string and or a boolean. So to do the above through the cli interface you'll need to use two different arguments:

Example CLI Usage	Version Created
fork-version --pre-release	1.2.3-0
fork-version --pre-release-tag alpha	1.2.3-alpha.0

config.releaseAs

Allows you to override the default versioning behaviour of Fork-Version and increment by the specified level. For example if the current version is 1.2.3 and you run Fork-Version with one of the following arguments, the version will be incremented as shown below.

Example Value	Version Created
major	2.0.0
minor	1.3.0
patch	1.2.4

config.changelogPresetConfig

Fork-Version uses the conventional changelog config spec. The following is an excerpt of the configurable options.

Property	Type	Default	Description
types	Array<Type>	{}	List of explicitly supported commit message types
commitUrlFormat	string	{{host}}/{{owner}}/{{repository}}/commit/{{hash}}	A URL representing a specific commit at a hash
compareUrlFormat	string	{{host}}/{{owner}}/{{repository}}/compare/{{previousTag}}...{{currentTag}}	A URL representing the comparison between two git SHAs
issueUrlFormat	string	{{host}}/{{owner}}/{{repository}}/issues/{{id}}	A URL representing the issue format
userUrlFormat	string	{{host}}/{{user}}	A URL representing a user's profile
releaseCommitMessageFormat	string	chore(release): {{currentTag}}	A string to be used to format the auto-generated release commit message
issuePrefixes	Array<string>	["#"]	List of prefixes used to detect references to issues

config.changelogPresetConfig.types

By default only feat and fix commits are added to your changelog, you can configure extra sections to show by modifying this section.

Checkout the fork.config.js file here to see an example of modifying the types.

Property	Type	Description
type	string	The type of commit message. "feat", "fix", "chore", etc..
scope	string	The scope of the commit message.
section	string	The name of the section in the CHANGELOG the commit should show up in.
hidden	boolean	Should show in the generated changelog message?

config.releaseMessageSuffix

Adds a suffix to the end of the release message, useful to add a [skip ci] message to the end of the created commit.

• GitHub Actions - Skipping workflow runs
• Azure Devops - Skipping CI for individual pushes

Supported File Types

• Json Package
• Yaml Package
• Plain Text
• MS Build

Json Package

A json package is a json file which contains a version property, such as a npm package.json file.

{
  "name": "my-project",
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "private": false,
}

Yaml Package

A yaml package is a yaml file which contains a version property, such as a dart pubspec.yaml file.

name: wordionary
description: "My project"
publish_to: 'none'
version: 1.2.3

Note

If you're using Fork-Version for a flutter project, Fork-Version will split the version and the builder number on the "+" character, the version will be updated and the builder number will be left as is.

Plain Text

A plain text file is a file which contains just the version as the content. Files that end with version.txt will be treated as a plain text version file.

1.2.3

MS Build

A MS build project is an xml file with with a Version property under the Project > PropertyGroup node group.

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Version>1.2.3</Version>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Fork-Version currently supports reading and updating the following file extensions: .csproj .dbproj .esproj .fsproj .props .vbproj .vcxproj

Custom File Updater's

TODO add support for custom file readers and writers through config #5

Code Usage

Warning

Code usage is not recommended as the public api is not stable and may change between versions.

In the future the api may be stabilized and documented but this is not a focus at this time.