chore(ci): Updated release please configuration (#1787)

This PR contains further configuration changes and documentation for our
usage of release please

# Checklist:
Remove the checklist to signal you've completed it. Enable auto-merge if
the PR is ready to merge.
- [ ] If the pull request requires a cryptography review (e.g.
cryptographic algorithm implementations) I have added the 'crypto' tag.
- [ ] I have reviewed my diff in github, line by line and removed
unexpected formatting changes, testing logs, or commented-out code.
- [ ] Every change is related to the PR description.
- [ ] I have
[linked](https://docs.github.com/en/issues/tracking-your-work-with-issues/linking-a-pull-request-to-an-issue)
this pull request to relevant issues (if any exist).

.github/workflows/release_please.yml

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 name: release-please
 
+# Trigger on merges to 'master' branch
 on:
   push:
     branches:
@@ -15,11 +16,31 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: google-github-actions/release-please-action@v3
         with:
+          # Our release type is simple as all we really want is to update the changelog and trigger a github release
           release-type: simple
+          # Self explanatory
           package-name: aztec-packages
+          # Marks github releases as 'Pre-Release'
           prerelease: true
+          # Our default branch
           default-branch: master
+          # Uses the 'prerelease' versioning strategy to update the pre-release number only e.g. 0.1.0-alpha23 -> 0.1.0-alpha24
           versioning-strategy: prerelease
+          # Don't include the component name in the tag name
           include-component-in-tag: false
+          # Influences the versioning strategy to only update the pre-release number
+          bump-minor-pre-major: true
+          # Influences the versioning strategy to only update the pre-release number
+          bump-patch-for-minor-pre-major: true
+          # Just a bit of test at the top of the 'Release PR'
           pull-request-header: ":robot: I have created a new Aztec Packages release"
-          changelog-types: '[{"type":"feat","section":"Features","hidden":false},{"type":"fix","section":"Bug Fixes","hidden":false},{"type":"chore","section":"Miscellaneous","hidden":false},{"type":"test","section":"Miscellaneous","hidden":false},{"type":"refactor","section":"Miscellaneous","hidden":false},{"type":"docs","section":"Documentation","hidden":false}]'
+          # The sections into which changes are grouped on the github release notes
+          changelog-types: >
+            [
+              {"type":"feat","section":"Features","hidden":false},
+              {"type":"fix","section":"Bug Fixes","hidden":false},
+              {"type":"chore","section":"Miscellaneous","hidden":false},
+              {"type":"test","section":"Miscellaneous","hidden":false},
+              {"type":"refactor","section":"Miscellaneous","hidden":false},
+              {"type":"docs","section":"Documentation","hidden":false}
+            ]

README.md

@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ All packages need to be included in the [build manifest](`build_manifest.json`),
 
 Logging goes through the [`info` and `debug`](circuits/cpp/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.hpp) functions in C++, and through the [DebugLogger](yarn-project/foundation/src/log/debug.ts) module in Typescript. To see the log output, set a `DEBUG` environment variable to the name of the module you want to debug, to `aztec:*`, or to `*` to see all logs.
 
+## Releases
+
+Releases are driven by [release-please](https://github.com/googleapis/release-please), which maintains a 'Release PR' containing an updated CHANGELOG.md since the last release. Triggering a new release is simply a case of merging this PR to master. A [github workflow](./.github/workflows/release_please.yml) will create the tagged release triggering CircleCI to build and deploy the version at that tag.
 
 ## Contribute