1. Creating an Input For Version Bump

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    # Inputs the workflow accepts.
    inputs:
      version:
        # Friendly description to be shown in the UI instead of 'name'
        description: 'Semver type of new version (major / minor / patch)'
        # Input has to be provided for the workflow to run
        required: true
        type: choice
        options:
        - patch
        - minor
        - major

This on block in the GitHub Actions workflow defines an event trigger for manual execution of the workflow using the workflow_dispatch event.

2. Github Token Permissions

permissions:
  # For pushing tags and commits purposes
  contents: write
  # Reading issues (Not yet implemented)
  issues: read
  # Creating PRs
  pull-requests: write

This configuration ensures that the GitHub Actions workflow has the necessary permissions to perform its tasks.

3. Checkout Code

jobs:
  create-release:

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          # Branch that should be git checkout
          ref: main
          fetch-depth: 0
          persist-credentials: true

      - name: Set up Git

Ensures that the Github Action steps have access to your code on a certain branch.

4. Create a Release Tag

      - name: Create tag
        id: tag-generation
        uses: mathieudutour/[email protected]
        with:
          # patch: vx.x.x+1
          # minor: vx.x+1.x
          # major: vx+1.x.x
          default_bump: ${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
          # Required
          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

It will fetch your latest tags and make a version bump based on your workflow_dispatch input (On Step 1). Don't need to worry about the ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}as it is automatically provided by GitHub based on the permissions (On Step 2).

5. Generate an Automatic Release Note

      - name: automatic-release
        uses: softprops/[email protected]
        with:
          # Required
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          # Release name
          # Value from the Create Tag step output
          # For more details: <https://github.com/mathieudutour/github-tag-action/blob/master/README.md>
          tag_name: ${{ steps.tag-generation.outputs.new_tag }}
          # Automatic generate pull request list starts from the latest version
          generate_release_notes: true
          prerelease: false

6. Decorate!

# .github/release.yml

changelog:
  exclude:
    labels:
      - ignore-for-release
      - github-actions
    authors:
      - octocat
      - renovate[bot]
  categories:
    - title: Breaking Changes 🛠
      labels:
        - breaking-change
    - title: Exciting New Features 🎉
      labels:
        - enhancement
        - feature
    - title: Bug fixes 🐛
      labels:
        - bug
    - title: Other Changes 🔄
      labels:
        - "*"

A sample configuration to modify the CHANGELOG.md for your release notes. Locate it in the .github/release.yml directory. This will categorize your pull requests according to the labels given.