new release process using an action (and docs to go with it). note, u…

…ntested but can work through issues on the next release

.github/workflows/tag-and-publish.yaml

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+name: tag and publish [manual]
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      tag-increment:
+        default: patch
+        required: true
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - patch
+          - minor
+          - major
+
+jobs:
+  publish:
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    permissions:
+      # Give the default GITHUB_TOKEN write permission to commit and push the
+      # added or changed files to the repository.
+      contents: write    
+    steps:
+      - name: checkout repo
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2    
+      - name: install elm
+        run: |
+          npm install -g elm
+      - name: build
+        run: |
+          elm make
+      - name: build docs
+        run: |
+          elm make --docs=docs.json        
+      - name: install elm-format
+        run: |
+          npm install -g elm-format
+      - name: format
+        run: |
+          elm-format src --validate          
+      - name: install elm-test
+        run: |
+          npm install -g elm-test
+      - name: test
+        run: |
+         elm-test
+      - name: bump-version
+        run: |
+          ELM_BUMP_OUTPUT="$(echo 'y' | elm bump)"
+          echo "NEW_TAG=$($ELM_BUMP_OUTPUT | grep -Eoh '[0-9]+[.][0-9]+[.][0-9]+')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "$ELM_BUMP_OUTPUT"
+      - name: commit 
+        run: |
+          git add elm.json
+          git commit -m "updating version to ${{ steps.bump-version.outputs.NEW_TAG }}"
+          git push
+      - name: add tag
+        run: |
+          git tag -a ${{ steps.bump-version.outputs.NEW_TAG }} -m ${{ steps.bump-version.outputs.NEW_TAG }}
+          git push --tags
+      - name: publish
+        run: |
+          elm publish

RELEASE.md

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+# Release Process
+
+- leave the elm.json package version alone :)
+- trigger the `tag and publish [manual]` action and specify the release increment (major, minor, or patch)
+  - once the action completes, the elm.json will be updated and the package will be live on package.elm-lang.org
+- create a release (with title, notes, thanks, etc) and tie it to the tag that was created by the action / new package version
+
+## Execution
+
+The order of operations for tagging and publishing in the action is this
+
+1. run all checks, i.e. format, docs, tests, etc
+1. push change / update to the elm.json
+1. push the new tag to the repo
+1. publish the new version to elm package registry
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+- if step 1 of execution fails, after addressing the error, you run the action again
+- if step 2 of execution fails, after addressing the error, you run the action again
+- if step 3 of execution fails (the elm.json version was incremented), after addressing the error, you should manually tag (github's ux or the cli) and manually publish the package with `elm publish`
+- if step 4 of execution fails (the elm.json version was incremented and there's a new corresponding tag), after addressing the error, you should manually publish the package  with `elm publish`