nx release

Orchestrate versioning, changelog generation, and publishing of packages in the workspace.

nx release is a set of subcommands for managing the full release lifecycle: bumping versions, generating changelogs, and publishing to a registry.

nx release [specifier] [options]      # full release workflow
nx release version [specifier]        # version only
nx release changelog <version>        # changelog only
nx release publish                    # publish only
nx release plan [bump]                # create a version plan
nx release plan:check                 # verify version plans exist

Subcommands

nx release (full workflow)

Runs version bumping, changelog generation, and optionally publishing in a single command.

nx release
nx release minor
nx release --dry-run
nx release --first-release

Positional argument

specifier · string

Exact version or semver keyword to apply (e.g., major, minor, patch, prerelease, or 1.2.3).

Options

--preid · string

Prerelease identifier to append when using prerelease as the specifier, or when using conventional commits (e.g., alpha, beta).

--yes · boolean

Automatically answer yes to the publish confirmation prompt. Alias: -y. Mutually exclusive with --skip-publish.

--skip-publish · boolean

Skip publishing by automatically answering no to the publish confirmation. Mutually exclusive with --yes.

--otp · number

One-time password for publishing to a registry that requires 2FA.

--first-release · boolean

Indicates this is the first release for the selected release group. Uses the version on disk as a fallback when the current version cannot be determined, and skips checking for existing tags or packages.

nx release version

Bump the version of one or more projects without running changelog or publish steps.

nx release version minor
nx release version 2.0.0
nx release version --dry-run

Positional argument

specifier · string

Exact version or semver keyword (e.g., major, minor, patch, 1.2.3).

Options

--preid · string

Prerelease identifier (e.g., alpha, beta).

--stage-changes · boolean

Stage the changes made by this command. Useful when combining with changelog generation.

--git-commit · boolean

Automatically commit the changes made by this command.

--git-commit-message · string

Custom commit message. Use {version} as a placeholder for the version.

--git-commit-args · string

Additional arguments to pass to git commit.

--git-tag · boolean

Automatically create a git tag after versioning.

--git-tag-message · string

Custom message for the git tag.

--git-push · boolean

Automatically push commits and tags to the remote repository.

--git-remote · string · default: "origin"

The git remote to push to.

--first-release · boolean

Indicates this is the first release for the selected release group.

nx release changelog

Generate a changelog for one or more projects and optionally create a GitHub/GitLab release.

nx release changelog 2.0.0
nx release changelog 2.0.0 --from=v1.0.0
nx release changelog 2.0.0 --interactive=all

Positional argument

version · string · required

The version to generate the changelog for.

Options

--from · string

Git ref to use as the start of the changelog range. Defaults to the latest matching tag.

--to · string · default: "HEAD"

Git ref to use as the end of the changelog range.

--interactive · string

Open changelogs in your editor before applying. Choices: all, workspace, projects. Alias: -i.

--replace-existing-contents · boolean · default: "false"

Overwrite the existing changelog file contents instead of prepending to them.

--resolve-version-plans · string · default: "all"

How to resolve version plan files for changelog generation. Choices: all, using-from-and-to.

--first-release · boolean

Indicates this is the first release; skips checking for existing git tags.

nx release publish

Publish versioned projects to a package registry.

nx release publish
nx release publish --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org
nx release publish --tag=next
nx release publish --dry-run

Options

--registry · string

The registry URL to publish to.

--tag · string

The distribution tag to apply to the published package (e.g., latest, next, beta).

--access · string

Access level for the published package. Choices: public, restricted. Unscoped packages cannot be set to restricted.

--otp · number

One-time password for registries that require 2FA.

--first-release · boolean

Skip checking for the existence of the package before publishing.

nx release plan

Create a version plan file specifying the desired semver bump and a changelog entry for one or more projects or groups.

nx release plan minor
nx release plan patch --message="Fix memory leak in cache layer"

Positional argument

bump · string

Semver keyword. Choices: major, premajor, minor, preminor, patch, prepatch, prerelease.

Options

--message · string

Custom message to use as the changelog entry. Alias: -m.

--only-touched · boolean · default: "true"

Only include projects affected by current changes.

nx release plan:check

Verify that all touched projects have an applicable version plan file. Exits with a non-zero code if any are missing.

nx release plan:check
nx release plan:check --base=origin/main

Global release options

These options apply to all nx release subcommands.

--dry-run · boolean · default: "false"

Preview changes without updating files, creating releases, or publishing packages. Alias: -d.

--verbose · boolean

Print additional information about the release process.

--groups · string

One or more release groups to target (comma-separated). Defined in nx.json. Aliases: --group, -g. Mutually exclusive with --projects.

--projects · string

Comma or space-separated project names or patterns to target. Alias: -p. Mutually exclusive with --groups.

--print-config · string

Print the resolved nx release configuration for the current command and exit.

Examples

Full release workflow (dry run first)

nx release --dry-run
nx release

Release groups

Release groups let you version and publish different subsets of your workspace independently. Define groups in nx.json:

{
  "release": {
    "groups": {
      "frontend": {
        "projects": ["myapp", "ui-lib"]
      },
      "backend": {
        "projects": ["api", "data-access"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Then target a group with:

nx release version minor --groups=frontend