Refactor release process in order to include changelog in release files

.github/workflows/bump-changelog.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+name: Bump changelog before release
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: 'Version to be released'
+        required: true
+        type: string
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+env:
+  default-python: "3.12"
+  minimum-supported-python: "3.8"
+
+jobs:
+  bump-changelog:
+    name: Bump changelog
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout ${{ github.ref }}
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ env.default-python }}
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ env.default-python }}
+          cache: "pip"
+      - name: Get release version and construct PR branch
+        run: |
+          echo "RELEASE_VERSION=${{ inputs.version }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "PR_BRANCH=bump-changelog-for-${{ inputs.version }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+      - name: Create pull request branch
+        run: git switch -c $PR_BRANCH
+      - name: Install nox
+        run: python -m pip install nox
+      - name: Update changelog
+        run: nox --error-on-missing-interpreters --non-interactive --session build_changelog -- $RELEASE_VERSION
+      - name: Commit and push change
+        run: |
+          git config --global user.name 'github-actions[bot]'
+          git config --global user.email '41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com'
+          git commit -am "$RELEASE_VERSION: Bump changelog"
+          git fetch origin
+          git push origin $PR_BRANCH
+      - name: Create pull request
+        run: |
+          git fetch origin
+          gh pr create --base main --fill --label release-version
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+name: Release
+
+on:
+  pull_request_target:
+    types:
+      - closed
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+env:
+  default-python: "3.12"
+
+jobs:
+  pypi-publish:
+    name: Publish pipx to PyPI
+    if: >-
+      github.event.pull_request.merged == true
+      && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'release-version')
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    environment:
+      name: release
+      url: https://pypi.org/p/pipx
+    permissions:
+      id-token: write
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout ${{ github.ref }}
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ env.default-python }}
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ env.default-python }}
+          cache: "pip"
+      - name: Install nox
+        run: pip install nox
+      - name: Build  sdist and wheel
+        run: nox --error-on-missing-interpreters --non-interactive --session build
+      - name: Publish to PyPi
+        uses: pypa/[email protected]
+
+  create-release:
+    name: Create a release on GitHub's UI
+    needs: pypi-publish
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      release-tag: ${{ steps.get-version.outputs.version }}
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Extract version to be released
+        id: get-version
+        env:
+          TITLE: ${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}
+        run: |
+          echo "version=${TITLE/: [[:alnum:]]*} }" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+      - name: Create release
+        uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1
+        with:
+          generateReleaseNotes: true
+          tag: "${{ steps.get-version.outputs.version }}"
+          commit: ${{ github.event.pull_request.merge_commit_sha }}
+
+  upload-zipapp:
+    name: Upload zipapp to GitHub Release
+    needs: create-release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: dawidd6/action-download-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: pipx.pyz
+          workflow: tests.yml
+          workflow_conclusion: success
+          pr: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+      - name: Upload to release
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
+        with:
+          files: pipx.pyz
+          tag_name: "${{ needs.create-release.outputs.release-tag }}"

.github/workflows/tests.yml

@@ -85,79 +85,3 @@ jobs:
           name: pipx.pyz
           path: pipx.pyz
           retention-days: 3
-
-  pypi-publish:
-    name: Publish pipx to PyPI on release
-    if: github.event_name == 'push' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags')
-    needs: [tests, man, zipapp]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    environment:
-      name: release
-      url: https://pypi.org/p/pipx
-    permissions:
-      id-token: write
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout ${{ github.ref }}
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Set up Python ${{ env.default-python }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-        with:
-          python-version: ${{ env.default-python }}
-          cache: "pip"
-      - name: Install nox
-        run: pip install nox
-      - name: Build  sdist and wheel
-        run: nox --error-on-missing-interpreters --non-interactive --session build
-      - name: Publish to PyPi
-        uses: pypa/[email protected]
-
-  upload-zipapp:
-    name: Upload zipapp to GitHub Release on release
-    if: github.event_name == 'push' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags')
-    needs: [tests, man, zipapp]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: pipx.pyz
-      - name: Upload to release
-        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
-        with:
-          files: pipx.pyz
-
-  bump-changelog:
-    name: Bump changelog on release
-    if: github.event_name == 'push' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags')
-    needs: [pypi-publish, upload-zipapp]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-      pull-requests: write
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout ${{ github.ref }}
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Set up Python ${{ env.default-python }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-        with:
-          python-version: ${{ env.default-python }}
-          cache: "pip"
-      - name: Extract release tag
-        run: echo "RELEASE_VERSION=${GITHUB_REF#refs/*/}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-      - name: Create pull request branch
-        run: git switch -c "bump-changelog-for-${RELEASE_VERSION}"
-      - name: Install nox
-        run: python -m pip install nox
-      - name: Update changelog
-        run: nox --error-on-missing-interpreters --non-interactive --session build_changelog -- $RELEASE_VERSION
-      - name: Commit and push change
-        run: |
-          git config --global user.name 'github-actions[bot]'
-          git config --global user.email '41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com'
-          git commit -am "Bump changelog for $RELEASE_VERSION"
-          git push origin "bump-changelog-for-${RELEASE_VERSION}"
-      - name: Create pull request
-        run: |
-          git fetch origin
-          gh pr create --base main --fill
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -220,10 +220,15 @@ nox -s watch_docs
 
 ## Releasing New `pipx` Versions
 
-To publish to PyPI simply create a "published" release on GitHub. This will trigger GitHub workflows that publishes:
+To release a new version, manually run the `bump-changelog` action under the *"Actions"* tab, passing it the version to be released. This will create a pull request updating the changelog for the upcoming version, with the `release-version` label. Merging this PR will automatically trigger the release workflows.
+
+Attaching this label to any pull request of which the title follows the format `<Version>: Description` and merging it will trigger the release workflows as well.
+
+The release workflow consists of publishing:
 
 - the pipx version to PyPI,
-- the documentation to readthedocs,
+- the documentation to ReadTheDocs,
+- a GitHub release,
 - the `zipapp` to the GitHub release created.
 
 No need for any other pre or post publish steps.