From 27a3e831d873e509ee77d30df18d4572aeb45182 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Friedrich Gonzalez <1517449+friedrichg@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 14 May 2026 23:13:32 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Automate releases

Signed-off-by: Friedrich Gonzalez <1517449+friedrichg@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 49 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 RELEASE.md                    | 47 ++++++++++++++++++---------------
 2 files changed, 75 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 .github/workflows/release.yml

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e56d2cef6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+name: Release
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - 'v*'
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+jobs:
+  release:
+    name: Release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        with:
+          go-version: 1.25
+      - name: Login to Quay.io
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: quay.io
+          username: ${{ secrets.QUAY_USERNAME }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.QUAY_PASSWORD }}
+      - name: Prepare release notes
+        run: |
+          TAG=${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}
+          VERSION=${TAG#v}
+          NOTES_FILE=changelogs/${TAG}.md
+          if [ ! -f "${NOTES_FILE}" ]; then
+            echo "Release notes file ${NOTES_FILE} not found"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          cp "${NOTES_FILE}" /tmp/release-notes.md
+          cat >> /tmp/release-notes.md <<EOF
+
+
+          ## Docker images
+
+          - \`docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex-tools:${TAG}\`
+          - \`docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/benchtool:${TAG}\`
+          EOF
+      - name: Run GoReleaser
+        uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@v6
+        with:
+          version: v2.11.4
+          args: release --release-notes=/tmp/release-notes.md --clean
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
index 75d3c16b2..c40edd480 100644
--- a/RELEASE.md
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -1,29 +1,34 @@
-# Release processes
+# Release process
 
-## GoReleaser (`cortextool` only)
+Releases are automated via the `Release` GitHub Actions workflow (`.github/workflows/release.yml`). Pushing a tag matching `v*` triggers it: it builds binaries with goreleaser, pushes Docker images to quay.io, and publishes the GitHub release with notes from `changelogs/${tag}.md`.
 
-1. Create a changelog file in `changelog/` with the name of the tag e.g. `changelog/v0.3.0.md`. This will be used as the template for the release page in GitHub.
-2. Create a new tag that follows semantic versioning:
+## Steps
 
-```bash
-$ tag=v0.3.0
-$ git tag -s "${tag}" -m "${tag}"
-$ git push origin "${tag}"
-```
+1. **Open a PR** that adds:
+   - An entry in `CHANGELOG.md` for the new version
+   - A `changelogs/${tag}.md` file (used as the GitHub release body — see existing files for the format)
 
-3. Run `$ goreleaser release --release-notes=changelogs/v0.3.0.md --clean` where the changelog file is the one created as part of step 1.
-4. The docker image will be pushed automatically.
+2. **Once the PR is merged**, create a signed tag and push it:
 
+   ```bash
+   tag=v0.3.0
+   git checkout main && git pull origin main
+   git tag -s "${tag}" -m "${tag}"
+   git push origin "${tag}"
+   ```
 
-## Manual (all the other binaries)
+3. **Watch the workflow** at https://github.com/cortexproject/cortex-tools/actions
 
-1. Manually build and test the new additions
-2. Create a new tag based on:  
-    $ tag=v0.2.1  
-    $ git tag -s "${tag}" -m "${tag}"  
-    $ git push origin "${tag}"  
+   On success:
+   - Binaries for cortextool and benchtool (linux, mac-os, windows) are attached to the release
+   - Docker images are pushed to `quay.io/cortexproject/cortex-tools:${tag}` and `quay.io/cortexproject/benchtool:${tag}`
+   - The release notes include a Docker images section appended automatically
 
-3. Create the binaries with `make cross`, they are in dist/
-4. Create the GitHub release, copy the release notes from the previous ones, and adjust as necessary. Upload the binaries created and click publish on the release.
-5. The last step is creating and uploading the docker images. Use make image to create them and then tag them. Keep in mind that there is only 1 image for cortextool in Dockerhub at the moment.
-6. Make sure to update the latest tag to the most recent version.
+## Required secrets
+
+The workflow uses two repository secrets:
+
+- `QUAY_USERNAME`
+- `QUAY_PASSWORD`
+
+`GITHUB_TOKEN` is provided automatically by Actions.