NGC ReleasePilot
Changelog → semver bump → GitHub Release from your git history — with a preflight Ship Checklist before you publish.
Built by nextgencode for VS Code, Cursor, VSCodium and other Open VSX clients.
What it does
ReleasePilot reads commits since your last git tag (prefers Conventional Commits), suggests a semver bump, and can write CHANGELOG.md.
Free tier helps you prepare a release locally.
Pro unlocks bumping version files, tagging, creating a GitHub Release, webhooks, and multi-repo checks.
Honest note: Pro checkout is via Stripe. After payment you receive a license key to paste in the editor. License delivery is handled by the publisher (email / your purchase confirmation flow).
Highlights
|
Feature |
Tier |
| 📋 |
Generate / prepend local CHANGELOG.md |
Free |
| 👀 |
Dry-run release preview |
Free |
| ✅ |
Ship Checklist (dirty tree, branch, drift, token…) |
Free |
| ⚠ |
Breaking Change Radar (! / BREAKING CHANGE) |
Free |
| 🧭 |
Version Drift Guard (package.json ↔ tag ↔ changelog) |
Free |
| 👻 |
Ghost Tags (git tags without a GitHub Release) |
Free |
| ⬆ |
Auto bump package.json (and configured version files) |
Pro |
| 🚀 |
Full Ship: tag + optional push + GitHub Release |
Pro |
| 🔔 |
Discord / Slack release notify |
Pro |
| 📝 |
Announcement blurb + custom changelog template |
Pro |
| 📦 |
Multi-repo roots for Drift Guard |
Pro |
Quick start
- Open a git workspace that has
package.json
- Prefer commits like
feat: …, fix: …, feat!: …
- Command Palette →
ReleasePilot: Open Ship Checklist
- Free →
Generate Changelog
- Pro →
Full Ship (after activating a license)
Status bar shows: ReleasePilot FREE or ReleasePilot PRO ✓
Pro unlock (Stripe)
- Command Palette →
ReleasePilot: Buy Pro (Stripe)
or open: https://buy.stripe.com/fZu9ATbie9Wl4eh6qpaR20d
- Complete one-time checkout
- Activate with the license key you receive:
ReleasePilot: Activate Pro License
- Key format:
NGC-RP-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
Settings:
ngcReleasePilot.licenseKeyngcReleasePilot.stripeCheckoutUrl (default = official Payment Link)ngcReleasePilot.upgradeUrl (fallback page: nextgencode.dev)
Requirements / setup tips
- Git available on PATH
- For GitHub Release (Pro):
GITHUB_TOKEN / GH_TOKEN env or setting ngcReleasePilot.githubToken (repo scope)
- For notify (Pro):
ngcReleasePilot.discordWebhook and/or slackWebhook
- Optional:
ngcReleasePilot.tagPrefix (default v), changelogPath, versionFiles, changelogTemplate
Commands
Free
- ReleasePilot: Generate Changelog
- ReleasePilot: Preview Release (Dry Run)
- ReleasePilot: Open Ship Checklist
- ReleasePilot: Breaking Change Radar
- ReleasePilot: Version Drift Guard
- ReleasePilot: Find Ghost Tags
Pro
- ReleasePilot: Bump Version
- ReleasePilot: Create GitHub Release
- ReleasePilot: Full Ship — bump + changelog + release
- ReleasePilot: Generate Announcement Blurb
- ReleasePilot: Send Discord/Slack Notify
- ReleasePilot: Buy Pro (Stripe)
- ReleasePilot: Activate Pro License
Why this exists
Most “changelog” tools only dump commit subjects. ReleasePilot adds preflight (Ship Checklist), breaking-change confirmation, and version drift checks so you catch mistakes before tagging — then Pro ships the release to GitHub and optional Discord/Slack.
Privacy
- Runs locally in your editor
- Talks to GitHub / Discord / Slack only when you run Pro commands that need those integrations and you configured tokens/webhooks
- Stripe checkout opens in your browser (not inside the extension process)
Support & brand
- Site: nextgencode.dev
- Publisher:
nextgencode
- Extension id:
nextgencode.ngc-release-pilot
License
Free features may be used in personal and commercial projects.
Pro features require a valid paid license (Stripe). See LICENSE in the package.
