VerBump

A plain-bash release tool for any Git repo.

• Suggests the right bump — reads your Conventional Commits to propose the next SemVer, prereleases included
• Writes the changelog — flat or grouped by commit type, with commit / PR / compare links
• Bumps any file — package.json, pyproject.toml, Chart.yaml, a Go const, any {{version}} text pattern
• Three workflows — tag in place, cut a release branch, or open a GitHub PR
• Safe by default — preflight checks, --dry-run previews every side-effect, --undo rolls back
• Nothing to install but bash — git and jq are the only runtime dependencies

Quickstart

Install with curl (no Node required):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jv-k/VerBump/main/install.sh | bash

Install from a registry (npm / pnpm):

pnpm add -g @jv-k/verbump

or

npm install -g @jv-k/verbump

The npm package is @jv-k/verbump (npm reserves the bare name verbump); it installs the verbump command.

Install with Homebrew:

brew install jv-k/tap/verbump

Use it in your repo folder:

cd your-repo
verbump --dry-run   # preview a release end-to-end, changes nothing
verbump             # cut it: reads commits, suggests a bump, prompts before pushing

Demo

Documentation

Full docs live at verbump.jvk.to — the canonical guide to installing, configuring, and releasing with VerBump:

• Quickstart — install and cut your first release
• Workflows — tag in place, release branch, or release PR
• Version suggestion — how commits pick the next SemVer
• Bump targets — non-Node projects and extra files
• CLI options — every flag, grouped like verbump --help
• Configuration — .verbumprc, every key
• Migrating — from 1.x or the old ver-bump

Requirements

Bash 3.2+, a Git repository, and git + jq on your PATH. The gh CLI is optional, used only by --pr and --release. GitHub is supported today; GitLab and Bitbucket support is coming soon. Linux and macOS are tested in CI; see platform support.

Development

Contributions are welcome — start with CONTRIBUTING.md, then open an issue or pull request. Coding standards, commit conventions, and the test/lint workflow live in docs/CODE_STYLE.md; the sandbox harness and test suite are described there too:

pnpm dev             # exercise VerBump against a throwaway sandbox repo
pnpm lint            # shellcheck
pnpm tests:install   # one-time: vendors bats-core + helpers
pnpm tests:run       # run the full bats suite

License

The scripts and documentation in this project are released under the MIT license.