README.md

Get Next Version Action

A GitHub action that calculates the next semantic version number based on existing GitHub releases.

Features

• 🏷️ Release-based versioning: Uses GitHub releases (not git tags) to determine current version
• 📈 Semantic versioning: Supports major.minor.patch version bumping
• 🔧 Flexible prefixes: Optional version prefixes (like 'v1.0.0')
• 🚀 Zero setup: Works out of the box with GitHub CLI
• ✨ Smart defaults: Handles edge cases like no existing releases or invalid version formats

Usage

Basic Usage

- name: Get next version
  id: version
  uses: eveenendaal/github-actions/actions/get-next-version@master

- name: Show version info
  run: |
    echo "Current version: ${{ steps.version.outputs.current-version }}"
    echo "Next version: ${{ steps.version.outputs.next-version }}"

With Version Prefix

- name: Get next version with 'v' prefix
  id: version
  uses: eveenendaal/github-actions/actions/get-next-version@master
  with:
    version-prefix: 'v'
    bump-type: 'minor'

- name: Create release
  run: |
    gh release create "v${{ steps.version.outputs.next-version }}" \
      --title "Release v${{ steps.version.outputs.next-version }}" \
      --notes "Automated release"

Bump Different Version Parts

# Bump patch version (default)
- uses: eveenendaal/github-actions/actions/get-next-version@master
  with:
    bump-type: 'patch'  # 1.0.0 -> 1.0.1

# Bump minor version
- uses: eveenendaal/github-actions/actions/get-next-version@master
  with:
    bump-type: 'minor'  # 1.0.0 -> 1.1.0

# Bump major version
- uses: eveenendaal/github-actions/actions/get-next-version@master
  with:
    bump-type: 'major'  # 1.0.0 -> 2.0.0

Inputs

Input	Description	Required	Default
version-prefix	Prefix for version tags (e.g., 'v'). Leave empty for no prefix.	No	''
bump-type	Which part to bump: major, minor, or patch	No	patch

Outputs

Output	Description
next-version	The calculated next version number (without prefix)
current-version	The current/latest version found (empty if no releases exist)

How It Works

1. Fetches releases: Uses GitHub CLI to get the latest release from your repository
2. Parses version: Extracts semantic version from the release tag (supports optional prefix)
3. Calculates next: Increments the appropriate version part based on bump-type
4. Handles edge cases:
   • No releases → starts with appropriate initial version (0.0.1, 0.1.0, or 1.0.0)
   • Invalid format → resets to initial version
   • Respects version prefixes in input but outputs clean version numbers

Version Logic

Initial Versions (No Releases)

• patch bump → 0.0.1
• minor bump → 0.1.0
• major bump → 1.0.0

Version Bumping (With Existing Releases)

• patch: 1.2.3 → 1.2.4
• minor: 1.2.3 → 1.3.0
• major: 1.2.3 → 2.0.0

Requirements

• GitHub CLI (gh) must be available (standard in GitHub Actions runners)
• Repository must have appropriate permissions to read releases

Example Workflow

name: Release

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Calculate next version
        id: version
        uses: eveenendaal/github-actions/actions/get-next-version@master
        with:
          version-prefix: 'v'
          bump-type: 'patch'
      
      - name: Update package.json
        run: |
          npm version ${{ steps.version.outputs.next-version }} --no-git-tag-version
      
      - name: Commit version bump
        run: |
          git config --local user.email "action@github.com"
          git config --local user.name "GitHub Action"
          git add package.json
          git commit -m "Bump version to ${{ steps.version.outputs.next-version }}"
          git push
      
      - name: Create release
        run: |
          gh release create "v${{ steps.version.outputs.next-version }}" \
            --title "Release v${{ steps.version.outputs.next-version }}" \
            --generate-notes

Comparison with Similar Actions

This action differs from typical git tag-based versioning tools:

• ✅ Uses GitHub releases instead of git tags
• ✅ Read-only: Doesn't modify your repository files
• ✅ Flexible: Supports different bump types and prefixes
• ✅ Robust: Handles edge cases gracefully

Perfect for workflows where you want to calculate the next version before actually creating a release or updating files.