Learn Semantic Release - Pre-Requisites Skill & Environment Setup

#Introduction

Welcome to the Learn Semantic Release series! This series covers modern release automation: versions, changelogs, and tags are derived automatically from commit history instead of being guessed manually by humans. But before touching your first release.config.cjs file, there are four foundations you must master: Git & GitHub, commit and changelog structure, CI/CD basics, and Node.js — because semantic-release is a Node.js-based tool.

Episode 0 is the foundation layer. We'll dig into all four skills, then set up a complete working environment: Git installed, Node.js and npm, VS Code with the GitHub/GitLens extensions, and an authenticated GitHub CLI (gh). By the end of the episode, your machine will be ready to run real release automation.

#Main Discussion

#Foundational Skill 1: Git & GitHub

Semantic-release works by reading commit history and creating version tags in the repository. Without Git mastery, this whole series would be like reading a cookbook without ever stepping into the kitchen.

git branch feature/login
git checkout feature/login
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add login page"
git checkout main
git merge feature/login
git push origin main

The most important mental model: a commit is a checkpoint, and a branch is a way to develop without breaking the main line. In this series, commit history is not just a record — it is the source of truth that determines whether a new release is created and how large the version bump is.

#Foundational Skill 2: Commit & Changelog Structure

Before automation, changelogs were written by hand: collecting the list of changes, tidying up categories, then assembling release notes. The problem is that this process forces someone to remember everything that changed since the last release.

$ git log --oneline -5
e7b2c9d fix: fix login email validation
a31f8b0 feat: add login page
5c9d1a4 chore: update security dependencies
2b4f0e1 feat: dashboard page

#Foundational Skill 3: CI/CD Basics & GitHub Actions

Semantic-release usually runs from a CI pipeline, most commonly GitHub Actions. You don't need to be a YAML master, but you must understand the core concepts: a workflow is triggered by events (a commit pushed, a pull request opened), contains jobs, and each job contains steps that execute shell commands.

• Trigger: the event that starts a workflow, for example a push to a specific branch.
• Job: a collection of steps that run on a runner.
• Step: a command or action executed sequentially.
• Secrets: sensitive values such as tokens, never hardcoded in YAML.

The learn-github-actions series on this blog is a highly recommended companion before moving on to episode 6.

#Foundational Skill 4: Node.js & Package Manager

Semantic-release is a Node.js CLI tool. That means you need Node.js (version 18 or higher, stable at 20 or 22) and one of the package managers: npm, yarn, pnpm, or Bun. You don't need to be skilled at JavaScript programming — you just need to understand how to install dependencies and run CLIs via npx.

#Setup 1: Git & GitHub Repository

Make sure Git is installed and the repository is ready. Use a new learning repository — ideally not a production repository that is actually used.

git --version
mkdir belajar-semantic-release
cd belajar-semantic-release
git init
git remote add origin git@github.com:kalian/belajar-semantic-release.git

#Setup 2: Node.js & npm

Download Node.js LTS from nodejs.org or use your favorite package manager. Make sure the Node version is at least 18:

$ node --version
v22.22.0
$ npm --version
10.9.4

#Setup 3: VS Code with the GitHub & GitLens Extensions

A comfortable editor speeds up your workflow. In VS Code, install the two most useful extensions for this series:

• GitHub Pull Requests and Issues — create and review PRs directly from the editor.
• GitLens — view blame, file history, and code evolution in a few clicks.

To install them: open VS Code, press Ctrl+Shift+X, search for the extension name, then click Install. These two extensions won't write commits for you, but they give visual context to the history that semantic-release will later read.

#Setup 4: GitHub CLI (Optional)

gh makes authentication and repository operations faster from the terminal.

gh auth login
gh auth status

The gh auth login command guides you through choosing a host (GitHub.com), an HTTPS or SSH protocol, then logging in through the browser with a one-time code. The expected output:

$ gh auth status
github.com
  ✓ Logged in to github.com as arman-dp
  ✓ Git operations for github.com configured to use ssh

Frequently used gh commands:

#Context of This Repository

The blog you are reading right now (the devvnull.vercel.app repository) is a real-world example of semantic-release in action. Its configuration lives in the release.config.cjs file at the repository root, with:

• The main branch for stable releases.
• The staging branch as a prerelease with an rc suffix.
• A tagFormat of v followed by the semver version.
• A plugin pipeline from commit-analyzer through github.

We'll dig into this file in more depth in episode 5.

#Conclusion

In episode 0 you set up a complete foundation:

• Four prerequisite skills: Git & GitHub, commit and changelog structure, CI/CD and GitHub Actions basics, and Node.js familiarity.
• Git and a sample repository ready to use.
• Node.js and npm with verified versions.
• VS Code with the GitHub and GitLens extensions, plus an authenticated GitHub CLI.

Your environment is now ready. In episode 1 we'll pause for a moment to understand the history and why semantic-release was born — from the error-prone problems of manual release, to how Conventional Commits make commit history machine-analyzable. See you in episode 1!