Releasing

Versioning and changelogs are managed with Changesets.

Published packages

Package	Folder
`nextjs-cms`	`packages/nextjs-cms`
`create-nextjs-cms`	`packages/create-nextjs-cms`
`@nextjscms/translations`	`packages/translations`
`@nextjscms/plugin-*`	`plugins/*`

nextjs-cms-app (apps/cms) is ignored by Changesets; it ships to users through create-nextjs-cms's generated template.

1. Every PR adds a changeset

Terminal

pnpm changeset

This writes a Markdown file in .changeset/ naming the packages, the bump, and a summary:

.changeset/brave-otters-sing.md

---
'nextjs-cms': minor
---

Add `allowInlineColors` to `richTextField` to keep body text on the site's theme.

Write the summary for users: what changed and what they need to do. It goes straight into CHANGELOG.md.

Bump	When
`patch`	Bug fixes, internal changes, docs in the package
`minor`	New options, fields, commands, backwards-compatible features
`major`	Removed or renamed options, changed defaults, anything requiring user changes

Internal dependents are bumped automatically (updateInternalDependencies: "patch").

2. CI checks it

The Changeset Check workflow runs pnpm changeset status --since origin/main on pull requests to main.

3. Merging to `main` opens a release PR

The Release workflow (.github/workflows/release.yml) runs on every push to main:

Installs, tests, lints, and type-checks.
Runs changesets/action:
- If there are pending changesets, it opens (or updates) a "Version Packages" pull request that runs pnpm changeset version: bumps versions, writes changelogs, and deletes the consumed changesets.
- If that PR was just merged (no pending changesets, versions changed), it runs the publish command (pnpm release) to publish to npm.

Review the Version Packages PR like any other: the changelog is user-facing.

Building for release

Terminal

pnpm build:release   # nextjs-cms, create-nextjs-cms, @nextjscms/translations
pnpm build:plugins

create-nextjs-cms's build regenerates its templates/ from apps/cms (scripts/build.ts), replacing workspace:* dependencies with the published versions, so the scaffolded app always matches the released core.

Warning:

The Release workflow publishes with pnpm release. Make sure a release script exists in the root package.json (building the packages and running changeset publish) before relying on automated publishing.

Versioning policy

The CLI checks that the project's nextjs-cms version matches what the CLI expects before running commands, so core and CLI stay in lockstep (they're the same package).
Keep create-nextjs-cms and nextjs-cms releases aligned when the template changes.
Breaking changes need a migration section in the changeset summary and, for larger ones, a guide in the developer docs.