javachanges Command Cookbook

1. Overview

This page is the practical companion to the CLI reference.

Use it when you do not want to piece together commands from multiple pages and instead want one copy-ready sequence for a common workflow.

The recipes below assume:

• javachanges is run from source with Maven
• your target repository has either a Maven pom.xml or a Gradle gradle.properties
• Maven repositories use root <revision>; Gradle repositories use version or revision in gradle.properties

2. Shared setup

Set a reusable repository path first:

export REPO=/path/to/your/repo

Then reuse "$REPO" in the recipes below.

If you are testing against the checked-in sample repository:

export REPO=examples/basic-monorepo

3. Recipe: single-module repository

Use this when the repository publishes one Maven artifact from the root project.

3.1 Add a patch changeset

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="add --directory $REPO --summary 'fix release note rendering' --release patch"

3.2 Inspect the pending release

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="status --directory $REPO"
mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="plan --directory $REPO"

3.3 Apply the release plan

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="plan --directory $REPO --apply true"

3.4 Read the generated release version

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="manifest-field --directory $REPO --field releaseVersion"

Expected outputs after plan --apply true:

• pom.xml revision advances to the next snapshot
• CHANGELOG.md gets a new release section
• .changesets/release-plan.json is written
• .changesets/release-plan.md is written

4. Recipe: Maven monorepo

Use this when one repository contains multiple Maven modules and you want one reviewed release plan across them.

4.1 Add one changeset affecting multiple packages

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="add --directory $REPO --summary 'add release notes workflow' --release minor --modules core,api"

4.2 Check the affected packages

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="status --directory $REPO"

Look for:

• Affected packages
• Release type
• the pending changeset filename and summary

4.3 Apply the plan and inspect the manifest

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="plan --directory $REPO --apply true"
mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="manifest-field --directory $REPO --field releaseLevel"

4.4 Restrict later publish work to one module

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="module-selector-args --directory $REPO --module core"

That is useful when a downstream workflow needs Maven -pl arguments for one package.

5. Recipe: prepare CI variables from an env file

Use this when you want to standardize repository publishing variables before enabling GitHub Actions or GitLab CI/CD.

5.1 Initialize a local env file

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="init-env --target env/release.env.local"

5.2 Preview required GitHub variables and secrets

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="render-vars --directory $REPO --env-file env/release.env.local --platform github"

5.3 Preview required GitLab variables

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="render-vars --directory $REPO --env-file env/release.env.local --platform gitlab"

5.4 Validate local release inputs

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="doctor-local --directory $REPO --env-file env/release.env.local"

Use doctor-platform after syncing real repository variables.

5.5 Emit machine-readable diagnostics for CI glue

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="render-vars --directory $REPO --env-file env/release.env.local --platform github --format json"
mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="doctor-local --directory $REPO --env-file env/release.env.local --format json"
mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="audit-vars --directory $REPO --env-file env/release.env.local --platform github --github-repo owner/repo --format json"

Use these when a shell step needs structured diagnostics instead of parsing aligned terminal columns.

6. Recipe: Gradle release planning

Use this when the target repository is a Gradle single-project or multi-project build.

6.1 Minimal Gradle setup

# gradle.properties
version=1.1.0-SNAPSHOT

// settings.gradle.kts
rootProject.name = "sample-gradle-library"
include(":core", ":api")

6.2 Run the released CLI jar

mvn -q dependency:copy -Dartifact=io.github.sonofmagic:javachanges:1.12.2 -DoutputDirectory=.javachanges
export JAVACHANGES="java -jar .javachanges/javachanges-1.12.2.jar"

6.3 Add, inspect, and apply a Gradle changeset

$JAVACHANGES add --directory $REPO --summary "add retry metadata" --release minor --modules core,api
$JAVACHANGES status --directory $REPO
$JAVACHANGES plan --directory $REPO --apply true

Expected outputs after plan --apply true:

• gradle.properties version advances to the next snapshot
• CHANGELOG.md gets a new release section
• .changesets/release-plan.json is written
• .changesets/release-plan.md is written

6.4 Hand off to Gradle publishing

$JAVACHANGES gradle-publish --directory $REPO --tag v1.2.3
$JAVACHANGES gradle-publish --directory $REPO --tag v1.2.3 --execute true

See Gradle Usage Guide for the full Gradle workflow and limitations.

7. Recipe: GitHub Actions release PR flow

Use this when main accumulates .changesets/*.md files and a workflow should open one reviewed release PR.

7.1 Local dry-run before CI

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="status --directory $REPO"
mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="plan --directory $REPO --apply true"

7.2 Fields commonly consumed in GitHub Actions

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="manifest-field --directory $REPO --field releaseVersion --fresh true"
# releaseLevel is available from the compatibility manifest when plan files were written.
mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="manifest-field --directory $REPO --field releaseLevel"

7.3 What the workflow usually commits

Commit only these generated files:

• pom.xml
• or gradle.properties
• CHANGELOG.md
• generated release-plan files only when compatibility output is enabled

For a full workflow file, see GitHub Actions Usage Guide and Examples Guide.

8. Recipe: GitLab release MR and tag flow

Use this when GitLab should manage the release branch, merge request, and final tag from changesets.

8.1 Create or update the release MR

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="gitlab-release-plan --directory $REPO --project-id 12345 --write-plan-files false --execute true"

8.2 Create the final tag from the applied plan

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="gitlab-tag-from-plan --directory $REPO --fresh true --before-sha <before-sha> --current-sha <current-sha> --execute true"

Typical CI variable mapping:

Input	Common source
--project-id	CI_PROJECT_ID
--before-sha	CI_COMMIT_BEFORE_SHA
--current-sha	CI_COMMIT_SHA

For the full pipeline layout, see GitLab CI/CD Usage Guide.

9. Recipe: safe local publish dry-run

Use this before enabling real publish execution.

This recipe is Maven-specific. For Gradle artifact publishing, use Gradle's publish task and consume the release-plan manifest as shown in Section 6.

9.1 Validate snapshot publishing

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="preflight --directory $REPO --snapshot"

9.2 Validate a tagged release publish

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="preflight --directory $REPO --tag v1.2.3"

9.3 Render the actual publish command without executing it

mvn -q -DskipTests compile exec:java -Dexec.args="publish --directory $REPO --tag v1.2.3"

Only add --execute true after the printed command, generated settings, and credentials all look correct.

10. Recipe: this repository publishing to Maven Central

This recipe is specific to the javachanges repository itself, not every downstream repository.

10.1 Verify Central publishing prerequisites

mvn -Pcentral-publish -Dgpg.skip=true verify

10.2 Run the real deployment

mvn -Pcentral-publish clean deploy

10.3 Publish a repository-local snapshot through Central

pnpm snapshot:publish:local

If you only need the generic repository publish helper instead of Sonatype Central publishing, use the preflight and publish recipes above.

11. Quick decision map

Goal	Start here
One root artifact, local release plan	Section 3
Monorepo package release planning	Section 4
CI variable preparation	Section 5
Gradle release planning	Section 6
GitHub release PR automation	Section 7
GitLab release MR and tag automation	Section 8
Safe publish rehearsal	Section 8
This repository's Central release	Section 9

11. Related guides

Need	Document
Full command catalog	CLI Reference
Maven command flow	Maven Usage Guide
Gradle command flow	Gradle Usage Guide
Example repository structure	Examples Guide
Variable catalog	Configuration Reference
Applied manifest fields	Release Plan Manifest
Failure diagnosis	Troubleshooting Guide