Add release-it

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-# Changelog
 
 # 1.1.0 (2023-09-22)
 
@@ -10,4 +9,4 @@
 
 # 1.0.0 (2023-07-18)
 
-Initial release.
+Initial release.

RELEASE.md

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+# Release Process
+
+Updating the Changelog and the Cargo.toml version are mostly automated using [release-it](https://github.com/release-it/release-it/) and [lerna-changelog](https://github.com/lerna/lerna-changelog/).
+
+The deployment to npm is **automatic** and will happen when you push a tag to GitHub.
+
+## Preparation
+
+Since the majority of the actual release process is automated, the primary
+remaining task prior to releasing is confirming that all pull requests that
+have been merged since the last release have been labeled with the appropriate
+`lerna-changelog` labels and the titles have been updated to ensure they
+represent something that would make sense to our users. Some great information
+on why this is important can be found at
+[keepachangelog.com](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/), but the overall
+guiding principle here is that changelogs are for humans, not machines.
+
+When reviewing merged PR's the labels to be used are:
+
+* breaking - Used when the PR is considered a breaking change.
+* enhancement - Used when the PR adds a new feature or enhancement.
+* bug - Used when the PR fixes a bug included in a previous release.
+* documentation - Used when the PR adds or updates documentation.
+* internal - Used for internal changes that still require a mention in the
+  changelog/release notes.
+
+## Prepare the changelog
+
+Once the prep work is completed, the actual release is straight forward:
+
+* Make sure that you are on a branch other than `main`. The changelog and version bump should be done as a PR, reviewed, and merged before the tag is created and the release is pushed to npm.
+
+* ensure that you have installed your projects dependencies:
+
+```sh
+npm install
+```
+
+* ensure that you have obtained a
+  [GitHub personal access token][generate-token] with the `repo` scope (no
+  other permissions are needed). Make sure the token is available as the
+  `GITHUB_AUTH` environment variable.
+
+  For instance:
+
+  ```bash
+  export GITHUB_AUTH=abc123def456
+  ```
+
+[generate-token]: https://github.com/settings/tokens/new?scopes=repo&description=GITHUB_AUTH+env+variable
+
+* Update the changelog and bump the version:
+
+```sh
+npx release-it
+```
+
+[release-it](https://github.com/release-it/release-it/) manages the actual
+release process. It will prompt you to to choose the version number after which
+you will have the chance to hand tweak the changelog to be used.
+
+## Tag and Release
+
+Once your PR that updates the Changelog and bumps the version is released you need to tag that commit and push that tag to github.
+
+```sh
+git checkout main
+git pull
+git tag v[version-number]
+```
+
+remember to replace `[version-number]` with the release you are doing.
+
+then push that tag: 
+
+```sh
+git push --tags
+```