CI Outputs

After semrel runs, downstream jobs or steps often need the computed release information — the new version, tag, changelog — to build Docker images, deploy Helm charts, or send custom notifications.

semrel can export this data natively for GitHub Actions and GitLab CI.

Exported variables

Variable	Example	Description
version	1.4.0	Next version (without tag prefix)
tag	v1.4.0	Full tag name (with prefix)
bump	minor	Bump level: none, patch, minor, or major
previous_version	1.3.0	Previous version
released	true	Whether a release was actually created
dry_run	false	Whether this was a dry run
branch	main	Current git branch
ceiling_applied	false	Whether a version_ceiling clamped the bump
changelog	## What's Changed…	Generated changelog content (multiline)

When no release is made (released=false), version and tag are empty.

GitHub Actions

Use --github-output to write all variables to $GITHUB_OUTPUT. They become step outputs, usable in the same job or in downstream jobs via needs.

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      version: ${{ steps.semrel.outputs.version }}
      released: ${{ steps.semrel.outputs.released }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - name: Run semrel
        id: semrel
        run: semrel release --github-output
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

  deploy:
    needs: release
    if: needs.release.outputs.released == 'true'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Build Docker image
        run: docker build -t myapp:${{ needs.release.outputs.version }} .

      - name: Deploy Helm chart
        run: helm upgrade myapp ./chart --set image.tag=${{ needs.release.outputs.version }}

Tip

The changelog output uses the GitHub multiline format (value<<SEMREL_EOF … SEMREL_EOF) and is safe to pass to notification steps.

GitLab CI

Use --gitlab-dotenv <file> to write a dotenv artifact. Downstream jobs that declare needs: with the dotenv artifact can reference $VERSION, $TAG, etc. directly.

semrel:
  stage: release
  script:
    - semrel release --gitlab-dotenv semrel.env
  artifacts:
    reports:
      dotenv: semrel.env

docker-build:
  stage: deploy
  needs:
    - job: semrel
      artifacts: true
  rules:
    - if: '$RELEASED == "true"'
  script:
    - docker build -t myapp:$VERSION .
    - docker push myapp:$VERSION

helm-deploy:
  stage: deploy
  needs:
    - job: semrel
      artifacts: true
  rules:
    - if: '$RELEASED == "true"'
  script:
    - helm upgrade myapp ./chart --set image.tag=$VERSION

Note

GitLab dotenv artifacts do not support multiline values. The changelog is omitted from the dotenv output. Use --output-file release.json and read the JSON in your script if you need the full changelog.

Generic output file

Use --output-file <path> for any other use case:

# JSON output (detected by .json extension)
semrel release --output-file release.json

# dotenv output (any other extension)
semrel release --output-file release.env

JSON example (release.json):

{
  "released": true,
  "dry_run": false,
  "version": "1.4.0",
  "tag": "v1.4.0",
  "bump": "minor",
  "previous_version": "1.3.0",
  "branch": "main",
  "ceiling_applied": false,
  "changelog": "## What's Changed\n..."
}

Combining flags

All three output flags can be used together in the same run:

semrel release --github-output --output-file release.json

Dry-run behavior

Output flags work in dry-run mode. The exported released value will be false and dry_run will be true, letting you validate your pipeline integration without performing a real release.

semrel release --dry-run --github-output