From ca22c78066f761896f7f4b5fc20b843dce679377 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2023 14:51:55 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 01/37] What happens if we comment out the runtime crate
 version from gradle.properties?

---
 gradle.properties | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 7ffa3792ec..42d6f38271 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ rust.msrv=1.62.1
 org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx1024M
 
 # Version number to use for the generated runtime crates
-smithy.rs.runtime.crate.version=0.54.1
+#smithy.rs.runtime.crate.version=0.54.1
 
 kotlin.code.style=official
 

From 1d045ea5dbf4f7749ccbbb46de57957f8591f6ee Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:42:51 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 02/37] Allow running the release and the CI workflows from an
 arbitrary commit.

---
 .github/workflows/ci.yml      | 15 +++++++++++++++
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 34 ++++++++++++++++------------------
 2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 94c0ed4681..143e4b5919 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ on:
         required: false
         default: false
         type: boolean
+      git_ref:
+        description: | 
+          The git reference that all checks should be run against. It can be a branch, a tag or a commit SHA.
+          If unspecified, it will default to the git reference that triggered the execution of this workflow.
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: ""
 
 env:
   rust_version: 1.62.1
@@ -39,6 +46,7 @@ jobs:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
         path: smithy-rs
+        ref: ${{ inputs.git_ref }}
     # The models from aws-sdk-rust are needed to generate the full SDK for CI
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
@@ -84,6 +92,7 @@ jobs:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
         path: smithy-rs
+        ref: ${{ inputs.git_ref }}
     - name: Run ${{ matrix.test.action }}
       uses: ./smithy-rs/.github/actions/docker-build
       with:
@@ -113,6 +122,7 @@ jobs:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
         path: smithy-rs
+        ref: ${{ inputs.git_ref }}
     - name: Run ${{ matrix.test.action }}
       uses: ./smithy-rs/.github/actions/docker-build
       with:
@@ -128,6 +138,8 @@ jobs:
       RUSTFLAGS: -D warnings
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      with:
+        ref: ${{ inputs.git_ref }}
       # Pinned to the commit hash of v2.1.0
     - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@b894d59a8d236e2979b247b80dac8d053ab340dd
       with:
@@ -190,6 +202,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - name: Checkout
       uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      with:
+        ref: ${{ inputs.git_ref }}
       # Pinned to the commit hash of v2.1.0
     - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@b894d59a8d236e2979b247b80dac8d053ab340dd
       with:
@@ -258,6 +272,7 @@ jobs:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
         path: smithy-rs
+        ref: ${{ inputs.git_ref }}
     - name: Run ${{ matrix.actions.action }}
       uses: ./smithy-rs/.github/actions/docker-build
       with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index b4ac6c289c..66909c4146 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -13,10 +13,18 @@ env:
   rust_version: 1.62.1
 
 name: Release smithy-rs
-run-name: ${{ github.workflow }} - ${{ inputs.dry_run && 'Dry run' || 'Production run' }}
+run-name: ${{ github.workflow }} ${{ inputs.semantic_version }} (${{ inputs.commit_sha }}) - ${{ inputs.dry_run && 'Dry run' || 'Production run' }}
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
+      commit_sha:
+        description: The SHA of the git commit that you want to release (e.g. b2318b0)
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      semantic_version:
+        description: The semver tag that you want to release (e.g. 0.52.1)
+        required: true
+        type: string
       dry_run:
         description: Dry runs will only produce release artifacts, but will not cut a release tag in GitHub nor publish to crates.io
         required: true
@@ -24,30 +32,18 @@ on:
         default: true
 
 jobs:
-  main-branch-check:
-    name: Check that workflow is running in main
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-    - name: Main branch check
-      if: ${{ github.ref_name != 'main' }}
-      uses: actions/github-script@v6
-      with:
-        script: |
-          core.setFailed("The release workflow can only be ran on main (current branch: ${{ github.ref_name }})")
-
-  # If a release is kicked off before an image is built after push to main,
-  # or if a dry-run release is kicked off against a non-main branch to test
-  # automation changes, we'll need to build a base image to work against.
-  # This job will be a no-op if an image was already built on main.
+  # We'll need to build a base image to work against if:
+  # - a release was kicked off before the image build step triggered by a push to the release branch/main completed
+  # - a dry-run release was kicked off against a feature branch to test automation changes
+  # This job will be a no-op if an image had already been built.
   acquire-base-image:
     name: Acquire Base Image
-    needs:
-    - main-branch-check
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
         path: smithy-rs
+        ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
         fetch-depth: 0
     - name: Acquire base image
       id: acquire
@@ -61,6 +57,7 @@ jobs:
 
   release-ci:
     name: Prerelease checks
+    if: inputs.dry_run == false
     needs:
     - acquire-base-image
     uses: ./.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -81,6 +78,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Checkout smithy-rs
       uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
+        ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
         path: smithy-rs
         token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_AUTOMATION_BOT_PAT }}
     - name: Generate release artifacts

From 37bc560c742f2a3f20477a827c8f262d0c01e4a1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:43:50 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 03/37] Does a fake version work?

---
 gradle.properties | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 42d6f38271..98994d3771 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ rust.msrv=1.62.1
 org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx1024M
 
 # Version number to use for the generated runtime crates
-#smithy.rs.runtime.crate.version=0.54.1
+smithy.rs.runtime.crate.version=head
 
 kotlin.code.style=official
 

From a8a6ff2e2179a91705034dce7acd33b8c2f3b409 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:44:26 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 04/37] Pass `git_ref` from the release workflow.

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 66909c4146..032b0ce30e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/ci.yml
     with:
       run_sdk_examples: false
+      git_ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
 
   release:
     name: Release

From 219f125a7fc90edd1bd512525f56164da5d97a78 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:51:27 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 05/37] It needs to be a valid semver version.

---
 gradle.properties | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 98994d3771..9857dcc895 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ rust.msrv=1.62.1
 org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx1024M
 
 # Version number to use for the generated runtime crates
-smithy.rs.runtime.crate.version=head
+smithy.rs.runtime.crate.version=0.0.0-smithy-rs-head
 
 kotlin.code.style=official
 

From 9394c6b1285ae4d6c217cc922dbb730538a9eff6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2023 18:14:17 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 06/37] Sketch new command to upgrade version in
 gradle.properties

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml         |  2 +-
 tools/publisher/src/fs.rs             |  2 +-
 tools/publisher/src/main.rs           | 10 ++++++++++
 tools/publisher/src/subcommand/mod.rs |  1 +
 4 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 032b0ce30e..839d9b0014 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ on:
         required: true
         type: string
       dry_run:
-        description: Dry runs will only produce release artifacts, but will not cut a release tag in GitHub nor publish to crates.io
+        description: Dry runs will only produce release artifacts, but they will not cut a release tag in GitHub nor publish to crates.io
         required: true
         type: boolean
         default: true
diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/fs.rs b/tools/publisher/src/fs.rs
index c2b529c738..1ab53fa778 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/fs.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/fs.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use tokio::fs::File;
 use tokio::io::{AsyncReadExt, AsyncWriteExt};
 
 /// Abstraction of the filesystem to allow for more tests to be added in the future.
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, Copy)]
 pub enum Fs {
     Real,
 }
diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/main.rs b/tools/publisher/src/main.rs
index 273601a3c6..176f04a9ce 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/main.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/main.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ use publisher::subcommand::publish::subcommand_publish;
 use publisher::subcommand::publish::PublishArgs;
 use publisher::subcommand::tag_versions_manifest::subcommand_tag_versions_manifest;
 use publisher::subcommand::tag_versions_manifest::TagVersionsManifestArgs;
+use publisher::subcommand::upgrade_runtime_crates_version::subcommand_upgrade_runtime_crates_version;
+use publisher::subcommand::upgrade_runtime_crates_version::UpgradeRuntimeCratesVersionArgs;
 use publisher::subcommand::yank_release::{subcommand_yank_release, YankReleaseArgs};
 use tracing_subscriber::fmt::format::FmtSpan;
 
@@ -24,6 +26,11 @@ use tracing_subscriber::fmt::format::FmtSpan;
 enum Args {
     /// Fixes path dependencies in manifests to also have version numbers
     FixManifests(FixManifestsArgs),
+    /// Upgrade the version of the runtime crates used by the code generator (via `gradle.properties`).
+    ///
+    /// The command will fail if you try to perform a downgrade - e.g. change the version from
+    /// `0.53.1` to `0.52.0` or `0.53.0`.
+    UpgradeRuntimeCratesVersion(UpgradeRuntimeCratesVersionArgs),
     /// Publishes crates to crates.io
     Publish(PublishArgs),
     /// Publishes an empty library crate to crates.io when a new runtime crate is introduced.
@@ -52,6 +59,9 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
 
     match Args::parse() {
         Args::ClaimCrateNames(args) => subcommand_claim_crate_names(&args).await?,
+        Args::UpgradeRuntimeCratesVersion(args) => {
+            subcommand_upgrade_runtime_crates_version(&args).await?
+        }
         Args::Publish(args) => subcommand_publish(&args).await?,
         Args::FixManifests(args) => subcommand_fix_manifests(&args).await?,
         Args::YankRelease(args) => subcommand_yank_release(&args).await?,
diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/mod.rs b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/mod.rs
index 9462cf58ca..256993e7b0 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/mod.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/mod.rs
@@ -9,4 +9,5 @@ pub mod generate_version_manifest;
 pub mod hydrate_readme;
 pub mod publish;
 pub mod tag_versions_manifest;
+pub mod upgrade_runtime_crates_version;
 pub mod yank_release;

From 6ee191db470a75f2c319a840766cf920bc03882b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2023 18:14:34 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 07/37] Command implementation

---
 .../upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs         | 67 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 67 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs

diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c6abcbaff7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+use crate::fs::Fs;
+use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, Context};
+use clap::Parser;
+use regex::Regex;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+
+#[derive(Parser, Debug)]
+pub struct UpgradeRuntimeCratesVersionArgs {
+    /// The version of runtime crates you want the code generator to use (e.g. `0.52.0`).
+    #[clap(long)]
+    version: String,
+    /// The path to the `gradle.properties` file. It will default to `gradle.properties` if
+    /// left unspecified.
+    #[clap(long, default_value = "gradle.properties")]
+    gradle_properties_path: PathBuf,
+}
+
+pub async fn subcommand_upgrade_runtime_crates_version(
+    args: &UpgradeRuntimeCratesVersionArgs,
+) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
+    let upgraded_version = semver::Version::parse(args.version.as_str())
+        .with_context(|| format!("{} is not a valid semver version", &args.version))?;
+    let fs = Fs::Real;
+    let gradle_properties = read_gradle_properties(fs, &args.gradle_properties_path).await?;
+    let version_regex =
+        Regex::new(r"(?P<field>smithy\.rs\.runtime\.crate\.version=)(?P<version>\d+\.\d+\.\d+-.*)")
+            .unwrap();
+    let current_version = version_regex.captures(&gradle_properties).ok_or_else(|| {
+        anyhow!("Failed to extract the expected runtime crates version from gradle.properties")
+    })?;
+    let current_version = current_version.name("version").unwrap();
+    let current_version = semver::Version::parse(current_version.as_str())
+        .with_context(|| format!("{} is not a valid semver version", current_version.as_str()))?;
+    if current_version > upgraded_version
+        // Special version tag used on the `main` branch
+        && current_version != semver::Version::parse("0.0.0-smithy-rs-head").unwrap()
+    {
+        bail!("Moving from {current_version} to {upgraded_version} would be a *downgrade*. This command doesn't allow it!");
+    }
+    let updated_gradle_properties = version_regex.replace(
+        &gradle_properties,
+        format!("${{field}}{}", upgraded_version.to_string()),
+    );
+    update_gradle_properties(
+        fs,
+        &args.gradle_properties_path,
+        updated_gradle_properties.as_ref(),
+    )
+    .await?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+async fn read_gradle_properties(fs: Fs, path: &Path) -> Result<String, anyhow::Error> {
+    let bytes = fs.read_file(path).await?;
+    let contents =
+        String::from_utf8(bytes).context("The gradle.properties file contained non-UTF8 data")?;
+    Ok(contents)
+}
+
+async fn update_gradle_properties(
+    fs: Fs,
+    path: &Path,
+    contents: &str,
+) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
+    fs.write_file(path, contents.as_bytes()).await?;
+    Ok(())
+}

From 9d997d1cf2f5b5980287413aabd840228c3761f7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2023 12:27:17 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 08/37] Plug the new publisher command into the `release`
 action.

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml                 | 62 ++++++++++++++++++-
 .../scripts/upgrade-gradle-properties         |  9 +++
 2 files changed, 69 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100755 tools/ci-build/scripts/upgrade-gradle-properties

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 839d9b0014..092c527834 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -65,11 +65,69 @@ jobs:
       run_sdk_examples: false
       git_ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
 
+  upgrade-gradle-properties:
+    name: Prerelease checks
+    if: inputs.dry_run == false
+    needs:
+      - release-ci
+      - acquire-base-image
+    outputs:
+      commit_sha: ${{ steps.gradle-push.outputs.commit_sha }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_AUTOMATION_BOT_PAT }}
+      - name: Upgrade gradle.properties
+        uses: ./smithy-rs/.github/actions/docker-build
+        with:
+          action: upgrade-gradle-smithy-rs-release ${{ inputs.semantic_version }}
+      - name: Push gradle.properties changes
+        id: gradle-push
+        shell: bash
+        env:
+          SEMANTIC_VERSION: ${{ inputs.semantic_version }}
+        run: |
+          if [[ git status --porcelain ]]; then
+            git commit gradle.properties -m "Upgrade the smithy-rs runtime crates version to ${SEMANTIC_VERSION}"
+            if [[ "${{ inputs.dry_run }}" == "true" ]]; then
+              echo "Pushing a preview of the release to the smithy-rs-release-preview branch"
+              git push --force origin HEAD:smithy-rs-release-preview
+            else 
+              echo "Pushing upgraded gradle.properties commits..."
+              git push origin
+            fi
+          fi
+          echo "commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+  # We'll need to build a base image again if the previous job upgraded the gradle.properties file.
+  # This job will be a no-op if the version in gradle.properties had already been upgraded.
+  acquire-base-image-2:
+    name: Acquire Base Image
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs:
+      - upgrade-gradle-properties
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          path: smithy-rs
+          # The ref for the commit after the gradle.properties upgrade
+          ref: ${{ needs.upgrade-gradle-properties.outputs.commit_sha }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Acquire base image
+        id: acquire
+        run: ./smithy-rs/tools/ci-build/acquire-build-image
+      - name: Upload base image
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: smithy-rs-base-image
+          path: smithy-rs-base-image
+          retention-days: 1
+
   release:
     name: Release
     needs:
-    - acquire-base-image
-    - release-ci
+    - acquire-base-image-2
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
     - name: Install Rust
diff --git a/tools/ci-build/scripts/upgrade-gradle-properties b/tools/ci-build/scripts/upgrade-gradle-properties
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..3402ae23e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ci-build/scripts/upgrade-gradle-properties
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+
+set -eux
+
+publisher upgrade-runtime-crates-version --version ${1}

From 8a8713a662445931dfdb4a1717558fc96a7609c4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2023 13:16:02 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 09/37] Plumb end-to-end

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 94 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------
 1 file changed, 73 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 092c527834..4705ac7cfe 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 # Allow only one release to run at a time
 concurrency:
-  group: release-smithy-rs
+  group: release-smithy-rs-${{ inputs.dry_run }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 env:
@@ -65,18 +65,70 @@ jobs:
       run_sdk_examples: false
       git_ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
 
+  get-or-create-release-branch:
+    name: Get or create a release branch
+    needs:
+      - release-ci
+    outputs:
+      release_branch: ${{ steps.branch-push.outputs.release_branch }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_AUTOMATION_BOT_PAT }}
+      - name: Get or create release branch
+        id: branch-push
+        shell: bash
+        env:
+          SEMANTIC_VERSION: ${{ inputs.semantic_version }}
+          DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dry_run }}
+        run: |
+          # Split on the dots
+          version_array=( ${SEMANTIC_VERSION//./ } ) 
+          major=version_array[0]
+          if [[ major == 0 ]]; then
+            minor=version_array[1]
+            branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.${minor}.x"
+          else 
+            branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.x.y"
+          fi
+          if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
+            branch_name="${branch_name}-preview"
+          fi
+          echo "branch_name=${branch_name}" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          
+          if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
+            git push -f origin HEAD:${branch_name}
+          else 
+            if [[ git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin ${branch_name} ]]; then
+              # The release branch already exists, we need to make sure that our commit is its current tip
+              branch_head_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short refs/heads/patches)
+              commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)
+              if [[ branch_head_sha != commit_sha ]]; then
+                echo "The release branch - ${branch_name} - already exists. ${commit_sha}, the commit you chose when "
+                echo "launching this release, is not its current HEAD (${branch_head_sha}). This is not allowed: you "
+                echo "MUST release from the HEAD of the release branch if it already exists."
+                exit 1
+              fi
+            else
+              # The release branch does not exist, we create it and set the current commit as its tip
+              git checkout -b ${branch_name} 
+              git push origin ${branch_name}
+            fi
+          fi
+
   upgrade-gradle-properties:
-    name: Prerelease checks
+    name: Upgrade gradle.properties
     if: inputs.dry_run == false
     needs:
-      - release-ci
-      - acquire-base-image
+      - get-or-create-release-branch
     outputs:
       commit_sha: ${{ steps.gradle-push.outputs.commit_sha }}
+      release_branch: ${{ needs.get-or-create-release-branch.outputs.release_branch }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
-          ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
+          ref: ${{ inputs.release_branch }}
           token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_AUTOMATION_BOT_PAT }}
       - name: Upgrade gradle.properties
         uses: ./smithy-rs/.github/actions/docker-build
@@ -87,16 +139,13 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         env:
           SEMANTIC_VERSION: ${{ inputs.semantic_version }}
+          DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dry_run }}
         run: |
-          if [[ git status --porcelain ]]; then
+          if [[ git diff-index --quiet HEAD ]]; then
+            # The file was actually changed, we need to commit and push the changes
             git commit gradle.properties -m "Upgrade the smithy-rs runtime crates version to ${SEMANTIC_VERSION}"
-            if [[ "${{ inputs.dry_run }}" == "true" ]]; then
-              echo "Pushing a preview of the release to the smithy-rs-release-preview branch"
-              git push --force origin HEAD:smithy-rs-release-preview
-            else 
-              echo "Pushing upgraded gradle.properties commits..."
-              git push origin
-            fi
+            echo "Pushing upgraded gradle.properties commits..."
+            git push origin
           fi
           echo "commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
@@ -107,6 +156,9 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
       - upgrade-gradle-properties
+    outputs:
+      commit_sha: ${{ steps.output.outputs.commit_sha }}
+      release_branch: ${{ needs.upgrade-gradle-properties.outputs.release_branch }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
@@ -123,6 +175,11 @@ jobs:
           name: smithy-rs-base-image
           path: smithy-rs-base-image
           retention-days: 1
+      - name: Persist the SHA we used to build the Docker image
+        id: output
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          echo "commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
   release:
     name: Release
@@ -137,7 +194,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Checkout smithy-rs
       uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
-        ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
+        ref: ${{ needs.acquire-base-image-2.outputs.release_branch }}
         path: smithy-rs
         token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_AUTOMATION_BOT_PAT }}
     - name: Generate release artifacts
@@ -150,13 +207,8 @@ jobs:
       shell: bash
       working-directory: smithy-rs-release/smithy-rs
       run: |
-        if [[ "${{ inputs.dry_run }}" == "true" ]]; then
-          echo "Pushing a preview of the release to the smithy-rs-release-preview branch"
-          git push --force origin HEAD:smithy-rs-release-preview
-        else
-          echo "Pushing release commits..."
-          git push origin
-        fi
+        echo "Pushing release commits..."
+        git push origin
     - name: Tag release
       uses: actions/github-script@v6
       with:

From 9cadab2f7b9ab739f189d201a71f4fc847a46feb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2023 13:20:02 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 10/37] Fix copyright header.

---
 .../src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs         | 5 +++++
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
index c6abcbaff7..e2c51b3fa4 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
 use crate::fs::Fs;
 use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, Context};
 use clap::Parser;

From 93dcf7bd8d73b409308902b0de7d037c89f7caac Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2023 13:20:30 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 11/37] Fix lint.

---
 .../publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs  | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
index e2c51b3fa4..3fa73cd439 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ pub async fn subcommand_upgrade_runtime_crates_version(
     }
     let updated_gradle_properties = version_regex.replace(
         &gradle_properties,
-        format!("${{field}}{}", upgraded_version.to_string()),
+        format!("${{field}}{}", upgraded_version),
     );
     update_gradle_properties(
         fs,

From d1632646e578a0da0f400d9934cedd35e339b212 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2023 13:26:19 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 12/37] Temporarily comment out the sanity check.

---
 .../src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs  | 16 ++++++++--------
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs
index be2d791599..44c1fb9982 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs
@@ -143,14 +143,14 @@ fn find_released_versions(
             let unrecent_version = parse_version(crate_name, &unrecent_version.version)?;
             if unrecent_version != recent_version {
                 // Sanity check: version numbers shouldn't decrease
-                if unrecent_version > recent_version {
-                    bail!(
-                        "Version number for `{}` decreased between releases (from `{}` to `{}`)",
-                        crate_name,
-                        unrecent_version,
-                        recent_version
-                    );
-                }
+                // if unrecent_version > recent_version {
+                //     bail!(
+                //         "Version number for `{}` decreased between releases (from `{}` to `{}`)",
+                //         crate_name,
+                //         unrecent_version,
+                //         recent_version
+                //     );
+                // }
 
                 // If the crate is in both version manifests with differing version
                 // numbers, then it is part of the release

From 91b2978550a087cca93fdee2da53e4e85c7461c1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:18:06 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 13/37] Ignore sanity check

---
 tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs
index 44c1fb9982..68fc146007 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs
@@ -319,6 +319,7 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
+    #[ignore]
     fn test_find_released_versions_decreased_version_number_sanity_check() {
         let result = find_released_versions(
             &fake_manifest(

From 63b3a568c9292752233ca50f65df78c4cd882a2d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2023 11:40:54 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 14/37] Add a command that prints out the template for
 CHANGELOG.next.toml

---
 tools/changelogger/src/init.rs | 11 +++++++++++
 tools/changelogger/src/lib.rs  |  1 +
 tools/changelogger/src/main.rs | 16 ++++++++--------
 3 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 tools/changelogger/src/init.rs

diff --git a/tools/changelogger/src/init.rs b/tools/changelogger/src/init.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8578149d48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/changelogger/src/init.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+use crate::render::EXAMPLE_ENTRY;
+use clap::Parser;
+use std::io::Write;
+
+#[derive(Parser, Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
+pub struct InitArgs {}
+
+pub fn subcommand_init(_args: &InitArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    writeln!(std::io::stdout(), "{}", EXAMPLE_ENTRY)?;
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/tools/changelogger/src/lib.rs b/tools/changelogger/src/lib.rs
index 8eb12613f0..483dfd2013 100644
--- a/tools/changelogger/src/lib.rs
+++ b/tools/changelogger/src/lib.rs
@@ -4,5 +4,6 @@
  */
 
 pub mod entry;
+pub mod init;
 pub mod render;
 pub mod split;
diff --git a/tools/changelogger/src/main.rs b/tools/changelogger/src/main.rs
index 5e3655ad67..2143b608fe 100644
--- a/tools/changelogger/src/main.rs
+++ b/tools/changelogger/src/main.rs
@@ -4,27 +4,27 @@
  */
 
 use anyhow::Result;
+use changelogger::init::subcommand_init;
+use changelogger::render::subcommand_render;
+use changelogger::split::subcommand_split;
 use clap::Parser;
-use render::subcommand_render;
-use split::subcommand_split;
-
-mod entry;
-mod render;
-mod split;
 
 #[derive(Parser, Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
 #[clap(name = "changelogger", author, version, about)]
 pub enum Args {
     /// Split SDK changelog entries into a separate file
-    Split(split::SplitArgs),
+    Split(changelogger::split::SplitArgs),
     /// Render a TOML/JSON changelog into GitHub-flavored Markdown
-    Render(render::RenderArgs),
+    Render(changelogger::render::RenderArgs),
+    /// Print to stdout the empty "next" CHANGELOG template.
+    Init(changelogger::init::InitArgs),
 }
 
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
     match Args::parse() {
         Args::Split(split) => subcommand_split(&split),
         Args::Render(render) => subcommand_render(&render),
+        Args::Init(init) => subcommand_init(&init),
     }
 }
 

From aa2a7eb34299ca0ba85b05b6847f5f24100a1f57 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2023 12:10:01 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 15/37] Add branch check + empty TOML generation.

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml                 | 57 +++++++++++++++++--
 .../scripts/generate-new-changelog-next-toml  |  9 +++
 2 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
 create mode 100755 tools/ci-build/scripts/generate-new-changelog-next-toml

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 4705ac7cfe..a15e3fd347 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ jobs:
       - release-ci
     outputs:
       release_branch: ${{ steps.branch-push.outputs.release_branch }}
+      new_release_series: ${{ steps.branch-push.outputs.new_release_series }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
@@ -86,24 +87,32 @@ jobs:
           # Split on the dots
           version_array=( ${SEMANTIC_VERSION//./ } ) 
           major=version_array[0]
+          minor=version_array[1]
+          patch=version_array[2]
           if [[ major == 0 ]]; then
-            minor=version_array[1]
             branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.${minor}.x"
+            if [[ patch == 0 ]]; then
+              echo "new_release_series=true" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            fi
           else 
             branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.x.y"
+            if [[ minor == 0 && patch == 0 ]]; then
+              echo "new_release_series=true" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            fi
           fi
+          
           if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
             branch_name="${branch_name}-preview"
           fi
-          echo "branch_name=${branch_name}" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "release_branch=${branch_name}" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           
           if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
             git push -f origin HEAD:${branch_name}
           else 
+            commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)
             if [[ git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin ${branch_name} ]]; then
               # The release branch already exists, we need to make sure that our commit is its current tip
               branch_head_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short refs/heads/patches)
-              commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)
               if [[ branch_head_sha != commit_sha ]]; then
                 echo "The release branch - ${branch_name} - already exists. ${commit_sha}, the commit you chose when "
                 echo "launching this release, is not its current HEAD (${branch_head_sha}). This is not allowed: you "
@@ -111,9 +120,17 @@ jobs:
                 exit 1
               fi
             else
-              # The release branch does not exist, we create it and set the current commit as its tip
-              git checkout -b ${branch_name} 
-              git push origin ${branch_name}
+              # The release branch does not exist.
+              # We need to make sure that the commit SHA that we are releasing is on `main`.
+              git fetch origin main
+              if [[ git branch --contains ${commit_sha} | grep main ]]; then
+                # We can then create create the release branch and set the current commit as its tip
+                git checkout -b ${branch_name} 
+                git push origin ${branch_name}
+              else
+                echo "You must choose a commit from main to create a new release series!"
+                exit 1
+              fi
             fi
           fi
 
@@ -242,3 +259,31 @@ jobs:
         else
           publisher publish -y --location .
         fi
+
+  trim-changelog-next-on-main:
+    name: Remove released entries from CHANGELOG.next.toml on the main branch
+    if: inputs.dry_run == false && needs.get-or-create-release-branch.outputs.new_release_series == true
+    needs:
+      - get-or-create-release-branch
+      - release
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout smithy-rs
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.commit_sha }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_AUTOMATION_BOT_PAT }}
+      - name: Empty CHANGELOG.next.toml
+        uses: ./smithy-rs/.github/actions/docker-build
+        with:
+          action: generate-new-changelog-next-toml
+      - name: Push smithy-rs changes
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          # This will fail if other commits have been pushed to `main` after `commit_sha`
+          # In particular, this will ALWAYS fail if you are creating a new release series from
+          # a commit that is not the current tip of `main`.
+          # We can build more refined automation to handle this case in the future - until then, it'll require 
+          # a manual PR to edit the current CHANGELOG.next.toml file and remove the released entries.
+          git commit CHANGELOG.next.toml -m "Remove released entries from CHANGELOG.next.toml"
+          git push origin main
diff --git a/tools/ci-build/scripts/generate-new-changelog-next-toml b/tools/ci-build/scripts/generate-new-changelog-next-toml
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..e318c01e7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ci-build/scripts/generate-new-changelog-next-toml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+
+set -eux
+
+changelogger init > CHANGELOG.next.toml

From 14c4118e24d625f49b21cdfbcadc7502108bcf05 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2023 13:20:44 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 16/37] Add copyright headers.

---
 tools/changelogger/src/init.rs | 5 +++++
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tools/changelogger/src/init.rs b/tools/changelogger/src/init.rs
index 8578149d48..90377e4029 100644
--- a/tools/changelogger/src/init.rs
+++ b/tools/changelogger/src/init.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
 use crate::render::EXAMPLE_ENTRY;
 use clap::Parser;
 use std::io::Write;

From 99b6eced3541e069258c7cc25e8d99b45f7f029b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2023 13:21:30 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 17/37] Fix imports.

---
 tools/changelogger/src/main.rs | 6 +++---
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/changelogger/src/main.rs b/tools/changelogger/src/main.rs
index 2143b608fe..db36023ff3 100644
--- a/tools/changelogger/src/main.rs
+++ b/tools/changelogger/src/main.rs
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::Args;
-    use crate::entry::ChangeSet;
-    use crate::render::RenderArgs;
-    use crate::split::SplitArgs;
+    use changelogger::entry::ChangeSet;
+    use changelogger::render::RenderArgs;
+    use changelogger::split::SplitArgs;
     use clap::Parser;
     use std::path::PathBuf;
 

From f8de00227858cef87c63cdb1603b92d755410444 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2023 11:29:45 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 18/37] Remove sanity check.

---
 .../subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs   | 40 -------------------
 1 file changed, 40 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs
index 68fc146007..719cb167f7 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/generate_version_manifest.rs
@@ -142,16 +142,6 @@ fn find_released_versions(
         if let Some(unrecent_version) = unrecent_versions.crates.get(crate_name) {
             let unrecent_version = parse_version(crate_name, &unrecent_version.version)?;
             if unrecent_version != recent_version {
-                // Sanity check: version numbers shouldn't decrease
-                // if unrecent_version > recent_version {
-                //     bail!(
-                //         "Version number for `{}` decreased between releases (from `{}` to `{}`)",
-                //         crate_name,
-                //         unrecent_version,
-                //         recent_version
-                //     );
-                // }
-
                 // If the crate is in both version manifests with differing version
                 // numbers, then it is part of the release
                 released_versions.insert(crate_name.clone(), recent_version.to_string());
@@ -318,36 +308,6 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(result.is_ok());
     }
 
-    #[test]
-    #[ignore]
-    fn test_find_released_versions_decreased_version_number_sanity_check() {
-        let result = find_released_versions(
-            &fake_manifest(
-                &[
-                    ("aws-config", "0.11.0"),
-                    ("aws-sdk-s3", "0.13.0"),
-                    ("aws-sdk-dynamodb", "0.12.0"),
-                ],
-                None,
-            ),
-            &fake_manifest(
-                &[
-                    ("aws-config", "0.11.0"),
-                    ("aws-sdk-s3", "0.12.0"), // oops, S3 went backwards
-                    ("aws-sdk-dynamodb", "0.12.0"),
-                ],
-                None,
-            ),
-        );
-        assert!(result.is_err());
-        let error = format!("{}", result.err().unwrap());
-        assert!(
-            error.starts_with("Version number for `aws-sdk-s3` decreased"),
-            "Unexpected error: {}",
-            error
-        );
-    }
-
     #[test]
     fn test_find_released_versions() {
         let result = find_released_versions(

From dd472e435caa69cc15f378c16bc46c964c9471e2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2023 11:38:28 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 19/37] Move script to a file.

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml         | 51 +------------------------
 tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 56 insertions(+), 50 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index a15e3fd347..d5f67cd309 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -83,56 +83,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           SEMANTIC_VERSION: ${{ inputs.semantic_version }}
           DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dry_run }}
-        run: |
-          # Split on the dots
-          version_array=( ${SEMANTIC_VERSION//./ } ) 
-          major=version_array[0]
-          minor=version_array[1]
-          patch=version_array[2]
-          if [[ major == 0 ]]; then
-            branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.${minor}.x"
-            if [[ patch == 0 ]]; then
-              echo "new_release_series=true" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            fi
-          else 
-            branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.x.y"
-            if [[ minor == 0 && patch == 0 ]]; then
-              echo "new_release_series=true" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            fi
-          fi
-          
-          if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
-            branch_name="${branch_name}-preview"
-          fi
-          echo "release_branch=${branch_name}" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          
-          if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
-            git push -f origin HEAD:${branch_name}
-          else 
-            commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)
-            if [[ git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin ${branch_name} ]]; then
-              # The release branch already exists, we need to make sure that our commit is its current tip
-              branch_head_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short refs/heads/patches)
-              if [[ branch_head_sha != commit_sha ]]; then
-                echo "The release branch - ${branch_name} - already exists. ${commit_sha}, the commit you chose when "
-                echo "launching this release, is not its current HEAD (${branch_head_sha}). This is not allowed: you "
-                echo "MUST release from the HEAD of the release branch if it already exists."
-                exit 1
-              fi
-            else
-              # The release branch does not exist.
-              # We need to make sure that the commit SHA that we are releasing is on `main`.
-              git fetch origin main
-              if [[ git branch --contains ${commit_sha} | grep main ]]; then
-                # We can then create create the release branch and set the current commit as its tip
-                git checkout -b ${branch_name} 
-                git push origin ${branch_name}
-              else
-                echo "You must choose a commit from main to create a new release series!"
-                exit 1
-              fi
-            fi
-          fi
+        run: ./tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
 
   upgrade-gradle-properties:
     name: Upgrade gradle.properties
diff --git a/tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh b/tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3c74ffd6e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+
+# Split on the dots
+version_array=( ${SEMANTIC_VERSION//./ } )
+major=${version_array[0]}
+minor=${version_array[1]}
+patch=${version_array[2]}
+if [[ $major == 0 ]]; then
+  branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.${minor}.x"
+  if [[ $patch == 0 ]]; then
+    echo "new_release_series=true" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+  fi
+else
+  branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.x.y"
+  if [[ $minor == 0 && $patch == 0 ]]; then
+    echo "new_release_series=true" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+  fi
+fi
+
+if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
+  branch_name="${branch_name}-preview"
+fi
+echo "release_branch=${branch_name}" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
+  git push -f origin "HEAD:${branch_name}"
+else
+  commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)
+  if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin "${branch_name}"; then
+    # The release branch already exists, we need to make sure that our commit is its current tip
+    branch_head_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short refs/heads/patches)
+    if [[ "${branch_head_sha}" != "${commit_sha}" ]]; then
+      echo "The release branch - ${branch_name} - already exists. ${commit_sha}, the commit you chose when "
+      echo "launching this release, is not its current HEAD (${branch_head_sha}). This is not allowed: you "
+      echo "MUST release from the HEAD of the release branch if it already exists."
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  else
+    # The release branch does not exist.
+    # We need to make sure that the commit SHA that we are releasing is on `main`.
+    git fetch origin main
+    if git branch --contains "${commit_sha}" | grep main; then
+      # We can then create create the release branch and set the current commit as its tip
+      git checkout -b "${branch_name}"
+      git push origin "${branch_name}"
+    else
+      echo "You must choose a commit from main to create a new release series!"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  fi
+fi

From 7841f536c48edb4c2337a3d8f5789a51f7d55710 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2023 11:49:04 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 20/37] Add a check to validate the tag.

---
 tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh | 5 +++++
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)
 mode change 100644 => 100755 tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh

diff --git a/tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh b/tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 3c74ffd6e1..11149461cd
--- a/tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
+++ b/tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
@@ -3,12 +3,17 @@
 # Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 #
+set -e
 
 # Split on the dots
 version_array=( ${SEMANTIC_VERSION//./ } )
 major=${version_array[0]}
 minor=${version_array[1]}
 patch=${version_array[2]}
+if [[ "${major}" == "" || "${minor}" == "" || "${patch}" == "" ]]; then
+  echo "'${SEMANTIC_VERSION}' is not a valid semver tag"
+  exit 1
+fi
 if [[ $major == 0 ]]; then
   branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.${minor}.x"
   if [[ $patch == 0 ]]; then

From e07e0cdd702ac03c72df499dc86f284b493e2bc4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2023 17:44:33 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 21/37] Remove second build step.

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 36 ++---------------------------------
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index d5f67cd309..f063ba69de 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -117,42 +117,10 @@ jobs:
           fi
           echo "commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-  # We'll need to build a base image again if the previous job upgraded the gradle.properties file.
-  # This job will be a no-op if the version in gradle.properties had already been upgraded.
-  acquire-base-image-2:
-    name: Acquire Base Image
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs:
-      - upgrade-gradle-properties
-    outputs:
-      commit_sha: ${{ steps.output.outputs.commit_sha }}
-      release_branch: ${{ needs.upgrade-gradle-properties.outputs.release_branch }}
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          path: smithy-rs
-          # The ref for the commit after the gradle.properties upgrade
-          ref: ${{ needs.upgrade-gradle-properties.outputs.commit_sha }}
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      - name: Acquire base image
-        id: acquire
-        run: ./smithy-rs/tools/ci-build/acquire-build-image
-      - name: Upload base image
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
-        with:
-          name: smithy-rs-base-image
-          path: smithy-rs-base-image
-          retention-days: 1
-      - name: Persist the SHA we used to build the Docker image
-        id: output
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          echo "commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
   release:
     name: Release
     needs:
-    - acquire-base-image-2
+    - upgrade-gradle-properties
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
     - name: Install Rust
@@ -162,7 +130,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Checkout smithy-rs
       uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
-        ref: ${{ needs.acquire-base-image-2.outputs.release_branch }}
+        ref: ${{ needs.upgrade-gradle-properties.outputs.release_branch }}
         path: smithy-rs
         token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_AUTOMATION_BOT_PAT }}
     - name: Generate release artifacts

From 815ffc5305304ba84501fd681ef10a8555bbb6b9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 10:30:19 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 22/37] Move to .github/scripts folder.

---
 {tools => .github/scripts}/get-or-create-release-branch.sh | 0
 .github/workflows/release.yml                              | 2 +-
 2 files changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
 rename {tools => .github/scripts}/get-or-create-release-branch.sh (100%)

diff --git a/tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
rename to .github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index f063ba69de..04671c443e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           SEMANTIC_VERSION: ${{ inputs.semantic_version }}
           DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dry_run }}
-        run: ./tools/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
+        run: ./.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
 
   upgrade-gradle-properties:
     name: Upgrade gradle.properties

From 485101045bbe615327150a12fad5aa65d4d06e09 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 11:15:40 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 23/37] Make the script easier to run locally

---
 .github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh | 13 ++++++++++---
 .github/workflows/release.yml                   |  5 ++++-
 2 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
index 11149461cd..e7fa3a0686 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@
 #
 set -e
 
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+  echo "You need to specify the path of the file where you want to collect the output"
+  exit 1
+else
+  output_file="$1"
+fi
+
 # Split on the dots
 version_array=( ${SEMANTIC_VERSION//./ } )
 major=${version_array[0]}
@@ -17,19 +24,19 @@ fi
 if [[ $major == 0 ]]; then
   branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.${minor}.x"
   if [[ $patch == 0 ]]; then
-    echo "new_release_series=true" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+    echo "new_release_series=true" > "${output_file}"
   fi
 else
   branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.x.y"
   if [[ $minor == 0 && $patch == 0 ]]; then
-    echo "new_release_series=true" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+    echo "new_release_series=true" > "${output_file}"
   fi
 fi
 
 if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
   branch_name="${branch_name}-preview"
 fi
-echo "release_branch=${branch_name}" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+echo "release_branch=${branch_name}" > "${output_file}"
 
 if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
   git push -f origin "HEAD:${branch_name}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 04671c443e..524ee67711 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -83,7 +83,10 @@ jobs:
         env:
           SEMANTIC_VERSION: ${{ inputs.semantic_version }}
           DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dry_run }}
-        run: ./.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
+        run: |
+          touch output
+          ./.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh output
+          cat output > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
   upgrade-gradle-properties:
     name: Upgrade gradle.properties

From a439fc59b73619a0a0fd97606c66f68a3729da65 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 11:15:59 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 24/37] Fail if anything fails.

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 2 ++
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 524ee67711..cff2097834 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ jobs:
           SEMANTIC_VERSION: ${{ inputs.semantic_version }}
           DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dry_run }}
         run: |
+          set -e
+          
           touch output
           ./.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh output
           cat output > $GITHUB_OUTPUT

From a318f048322551419d0721516a15fa6131e37403 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 11:21:32 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 25/37] Add comment.

---
 .github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh | 15 +++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
index e7fa3a0686..dec6e5918f 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,21 @@
 #
 set -e
 
+# Compute the name of the release branch starting from the version that needs to be released ($SEMANTIC_VERSION).
+# If it's the beginning of a new release series, the branch is created and pushed to the remote (chosen according to
+# the value $DRY_RUN).
+# If it isn't the beginning of a new release series, the script makes sure that the commit that will be tagged is at
+# the tip of the (pre-existing) release branch.
+#
+# The script populates an output file with key-value pairs that are needed in the release CI workflow to carry out
+# the next steps in the release flow: the name of the release branch and a boolean flag that is set to 'true' if this
+# is the beginning of a new release series.
+
+if [ -z "$SEMANTIC_VERSION" ]; then
+  echo "'SEMANTIC_VERSION' must be populated."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 if [ -z "$1" ]; then
   echo "You need to specify the path of the file where you want to collect the output"
   exit 1

From 42fc4fb9563b1606d270d7b70bd80a0e1b2cfef7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:23:48 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 26/37] Update .github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh

Co-authored-by: david-perez <d@vidp.dev>
---
 .github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
index dec6e5918f..bd5724e2b7 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ else
     # We need to make sure that the commit SHA that we are releasing is on `main`.
     git fetch origin main
     if git branch --contains "${commit_sha}" | grep main; then
-      # We can then create create the release branch and set the current commit as its tip
+      # We can then create the release branch and set the current commit as its tip
       git checkout -b "${branch_name}"
       git push origin "${branch_name}"
     else

From 7751de1630414376439a0d7067864dc49308eb72 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:23:56 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 27/37] Update .github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh

Co-authored-by: david-perez <d@vidp.dev>
---
 .github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
index bd5724e2b7..4fbd303876 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ echo "release_branch=${branch_name}" > "${output_file}"
 if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
   git push -f origin "HEAD:${branch_name}"
 else
-  commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)
+  commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
   if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin "${branch_name}"; then
     # The release branch already exists, we need to make sure that our commit is its current tip
     branch_head_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short refs/heads/patches)

From 3a52ed7e0625e869a900934da81250b2690994a1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:24:25 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 28/37] Update .github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh

Co-authored-by: david-perez <d@vidp.dev>
---
 .github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
index 4fbd303876..ab4b7a433d 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ fi
 echo "release_branch=${branch_name}" > "${output_file}"
 
 if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
-  git push -f origin "HEAD:${branch_name}"
+  git push --force origin "HEAD:${branch_name}"
 else
   commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
   if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin "${branch_name}"; then

From 0414ccef4bbcf3da949d94d565fea8b8c3ba2efe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:24:47 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 29/37] Update .github/workflows/ci.yml

Co-authored-by: david-perez <d@vidp.dev>
---
 .github/workflows/ci.yml | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 143e4b5919..eb5cfb9254 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ on:
         default: false
         type: boolean
       git_ref:
-        description: | 
+        description: |
           The git reference that all checks should be run against. It can be a branch, a tag or a commit SHA.
           If unspecified, it will default to the git reference that triggered the execution of this workflow.
         required: false

From e3c0bc20c56708708f1d558b01fec59e12e83fce Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:26:26 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 30/37] Remove touch.

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 1 -
 1 file changed, 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index cff2097834..800c851aa9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -86,7 +86,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -e
           
-          touch output
           ./.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh output
           cat output > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 

From 9a739bace9eb677632560a0315c3981a198298c5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:28:41 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 31/37] Fix indentation and branch name.

---
 .../scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh   | 80 +++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 40 insertions(+), 40 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
index ab4b7a433d..a32c5afe60 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/get-or-create-release-branch.sh
@@ -16,67 +16,67 @@ set -e
 # is the beginning of a new release series.
 
 if [ -z "$SEMANTIC_VERSION" ]; then
-  echo "'SEMANTIC_VERSION' must be populated."
-  exit 1
+    echo "'SEMANTIC_VERSION' must be populated."
+    exit 1
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-  echo "You need to specify the path of the file where you want to collect the output"
-  exit 1
+    echo "You need to specify the path of the file where you want to collect the output"
+    exit 1
 else
-  output_file="$1"
+    output_file="$1"
 fi
 
 # Split on the dots
-version_array=( ${SEMANTIC_VERSION//./ } )
+version_array=(${SEMANTIC_VERSION//./ })
 major=${version_array[0]}
 minor=${version_array[1]}
 patch=${version_array[2]}
 if [[ "${major}" == "" || "${minor}" == "" || "${patch}" == "" ]]; then
-  echo "'${SEMANTIC_VERSION}' is not a valid semver tag"
-  exit 1
+    echo "'${SEMANTIC_VERSION}' is not a valid semver tag"
+    exit 1
 fi
 if [[ $major == 0 ]]; then
-  branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.${minor}.x"
-  if [[ $patch == 0 ]]; then
-    echo "new_release_series=true" > "${output_file}"
-  fi
+    branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.${minor}.x"
+    if [[ $patch == 0 ]]; then
+        echo "new_release_series=true" >"${output_file}"
+    fi
 else
-  branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.x.y"
-  if [[ $minor == 0 && $patch == 0 ]]; then
-    echo "new_release_series=true" > "${output_file}"
-  fi
+    branch_name="smithy-rs-release-${major}.x.y"
+    if [[ $minor == 0 && $patch == 0 ]]; then
+        echo "new_release_series=true" >"${output_file}"
+    fi
 fi
 
 if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
-  branch_name="${branch_name}-preview"
+    branch_name="${branch_name}-preview"
 fi
-echo "release_branch=${branch_name}" > "${output_file}"
+echo "release_branch=${branch_name}" >"${output_file}"
 
 if [[ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ]]; then
-  git push --force origin "HEAD:${branch_name}"
+    git push --force origin "HEAD:${branch_name}"
 else
-  commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
-  if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin "${branch_name}"; then
-    # The release branch already exists, we need to make sure that our commit is its current tip
-    branch_head_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short refs/heads/patches)
-    if [[ "${branch_head_sha}" != "${commit_sha}" ]]; then
-      echo "The release branch - ${branch_name} - already exists. ${commit_sha}, the commit you chose when "
-      echo "launching this release, is not its current HEAD (${branch_head_sha}). This is not allowed: you "
-      echo "MUST release from the HEAD of the release branch if it already exists."
-      exit 1
-    fi
-  else
-    # The release branch does not exist.
-    # We need to make sure that the commit SHA that we are releasing is on `main`.
-    git fetch origin main
-    if git branch --contains "${commit_sha}" | grep main; then
-      # We can then create the release branch and set the current commit as its tip
-      git checkout -b "${branch_name}"
-      git push origin "${branch_name}"
+    commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
+    if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin "${branch_name}"; then
+        # The release branch already exists, we need to make sure that our commit is its current tip
+        branch_head_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short "refs/heads/${branch_name}")
+        if [[ "${branch_head_sha}" != "${commit_sha}" ]]; then
+            echo "The release branch - ${branch_name} - already exists. ${commit_sha}, the commit you chose when "
+            echo "launching this release, is not its current HEAD (${branch_head_sha}). This is not allowed: you "
+            echo "MUST release from the HEAD of the release branch if it already exists."
+            exit 1
+        fi
     else
-      echo "You must choose a commit from main to create a new release series!"
-      exit 1
+        # The release branch does not exist.
+        # We need to make sure that the commit SHA that we are releasing is on `main`.
+        git fetch origin main
+        if git branch --contains "${commit_sha}" | grep main; then
+            # We can then create the release branch and set the current commit as its tip
+            git checkout -b "${branch_name}"
+            git push origin "${branch_name}"
+        else
+            echo "You must choose a commit from main to create a new release series!"
+            exit 1
+        fi
     fi
-  fi
 fi

From c95e89534182f5640130da205ffaf70372dde4e5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:29:45 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 32/37] Update .github/workflows/ci.yml

Co-authored-by: david-perez <d@vidp.dev>
---
 .github/workflows/ci.yml | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index eb5cfb9254..7c674e613e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ on:
       git_ref:
         description: |
           The git reference that all checks should be run against. It can be a branch, a tag or a commit SHA.
-          If unspecified, it will default to the git reference that triggered the execution of this workflow.
+          If unspecified, it will default to the git reference or SHA that triggered the execution of this workflow.
         required: false
         type: string
         default: ""

From b7dab075f5cc5c6d4903b41b355fa244df3f4bb0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:30:08 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 33/37] Update .github/workflows/release.yml

Co-authored-by: david-perez <d@vidp.dev>
---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 800c851aa9..9a30aec078 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ jobs:
           if [[ git diff-index --quiet HEAD ]]; then
             # The file was actually changed, we need to commit and push the changes
             git commit gradle.properties -m "Upgrade the smithy-rs runtime crates version to ${SEMANTIC_VERSION}"
-            echo "Pushing upgraded gradle.properties commits..."
+            echo "Pushing upgraded gradle.properties commit..."
             git push origin
           fi
           echo "commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT

From 53bb4cccae73b9dac51f3648d16187061672e48a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:30:37 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 34/37] Update .github/workflows/release.yml

Co-authored-by: david-perez <d@vidp.dev>
---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 9a30aec078..6f22bd9bcc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ jobs:
             echo "Pushing upgraded gradle.properties commit..."
             git push origin
           fi
-          echo "commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify --short HEAD)" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "commit_sha=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" > $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
   release:
     name: Release

From 7806c727c8522f06a386ce314caa1ce45e89f5fb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:32:19 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 35/37] Explicit flags.

---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 6f22bd9bcc..e33c355b9d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           if [[ git diff-index --quiet HEAD ]]; then
             # The file was actually changed, we need to commit and push the changes
-            git commit gradle.properties -m "Upgrade the smithy-rs runtime crates version to ${SEMANTIC_VERSION}"
+            git commit gradle.properties --message "Upgrade the smithy-rs runtime crates version to ${SEMANTIC_VERSION}"
             echo "Pushing upgraded gradle.properties commit..."
             git push origin
           fi
@@ -208,5 +208,5 @@ jobs:
           # a commit that is not the current tip of `main`.
           # We can build more refined automation to handle this case in the future - until then, it'll require 
           # a manual PR to edit the current CHANGELOG.next.toml file and remove the released entries.
-          git commit CHANGELOG.next.toml -m "Remove released entries from CHANGELOG.next.toml"
+          git commit CHANGELOG.next.toml --message "Remove released entries from \`CHANGELOG.next.toml\`"
           git push origin main

From 62e051866faf51689f741847a7809f99b9d748f9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:34:23 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 36/37] Use the path that was provided.

---
 .../src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs          | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
index 3fa73cd439..57d69b23e3 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ pub async fn subcommand_upgrade_runtime_crates_version(
         Regex::new(r"(?P<field>smithy\.rs\.runtime\.crate\.version=)(?P<version>\d+\.\d+\.\d+-.*)")
             .unwrap();
     let current_version = version_regex.captures(&gradle_properties).ok_or_else(|| {
-        anyhow!("Failed to extract the expected runtime crates version from gradle.properties")
+        anyhow!("Failed to extract the expected runtime crates version from `{:?}`", &args.gradle_properties_path)
     })?;
     let current_version = current_version.name("version").unwrap();
     let current_version = semver::Version::parse(current_version.as_str())
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ pub async fn subcommand_upgrade_runtime_crates_version(
 async fn read_gradle_properties(fs: Fs, path: &Path) -> Result<String, anyhow::Error> {
     let bytes = fs.read_file(path).await?;
     let contents =
-        String::from_utf8(bytes).context("The gradle.properties file contained non-UTF8 data")?;
+        String::from_utf8(bytes).with_context(|| format!("`{:?}` contained non-UTF8 data", path))?;
     Ok(contents)
 }
 

From 2526b893cc6a348853c24b9cf783e20c5baa9d0d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luca Palmieri <20745048+LukeMathWalker@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 15:34:39 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 37/37] Format

---
 .../src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs     | 9 ++++++---
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
index 57d69b23e3..0bf17e3c01 100644
--- a/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
+++ b/tools/publisher/src/subcommand/upgrade_runtime_crates_version.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@ pub async fn subcommand_upgrade_runtime_crates_version(
         Regex::new(r"(?P<field>smithy\.rs\.runtime\.crate\.version=)(?P<version>\d+\.\d+\.\d+-.*)")
             .unwrap();
     let current_version = version_regex.captures(&gradle_properties).ok_or_else(|| {
-        anyhow!("Failed to extract the expected runtime crates version from `{:?}`", &args.gradle_properties_path)
+        anyhow!(
+            "Failed to extract the expected runtime crates version from `{:?}`",
+            &args.gradle_properties_path
+        )
     })?;
     let current_version = current_version.name("version").unwrap();
     let current_version = semver::Version::parse(current_version.as_str())
@@ -57,8 +60,8 @@ pub async fn subcommand_upgrade_runtime_crates_version(
 
 async fn read_gradle_properties(fs: Fs, path: &Path) -> Result<String, anyhow::Error> {
     let bytes = fs.read_file(path).await?;
-    let contents =
-        String::from_utf8(bytes).with_context(|| format!("`{:?}` contained non-UTF8 data", path))?;
+    let contents = String::from_utf8(bytes)
+        .with_context(|| format!("`{:?}` contained non-UTF8 data", path))?;
     Ok(contents)
 }