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Environment Variables

Environment variables provide a secure and flexible way to configure Releasaurus without hardcoding sensitive information or platform-specific settings. This reference covers all supported environment variables and their usage patterns.

Authentication Tokens

Primary Token Variables

GITHUB_TOKEN

Purpose: Authentication token for GitHub API access

Token Types:

Releasaurus supports both classic and fine-grained personal access tokens.

Classic Personal Access Token - Required Scopes:

  • repo (full control of private repositories)
    • Includes: repo:status, repo_deployment, public_repo, repo:invite, security_events

Fine-Grained Personal Access Token - Required Permissions:

  • Contents: Read and write access (for reading/updating files and creating commits)
  • Issues: Read and write access (for managing PR labels)
  • Pull requests: Read and write access (for creating and updating release PRs)

Fine-Grained Personal Access Token - Optional Permissions:

The following permissions may be needed depending on your workflow configuration:

  • Actions: Read and write access (if using the GitHub Action and need to trigger workflow runs)
  • Workflows: Read and write access (if using the GitHub Action and need to modify workflows)

Example:

export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Usage:

# With environment variable set
releasaurus release-pr \
  --forge github \
  --repo "https://github.com/owner/repo"

# Without environment variable (less secure)
releasaurus release-pr \
  --forge github \
  --repo "https://github.com/owner/repo" \
  --token "ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

GITLAB_TOKEN

Purpose: Authentication token for GitLab API access

Required Scopes:

  • api (full API access)
  • read_repository (repository read access)
  • write_repository (repository write access)

Token Types:

  • Personal Access Tokens

Example:

export GITLAB_TOKEN="glpat_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Usage:

# GitLab.com
releasaurus release-pr \
  --forge gitlab \
  --repo "https://gitlab.com/group/project"

# Self-hosted GitLab
releasaurus release-pr \
  --forge gitlab \
  --repo "https://gitlab.company.com/team/repo"

GITEA_TOKEN

Purpose: Authentication token for Gitea/Forgejo API access

Required Permissions:

  • Repository read/write access
  • Issue/PR management permissions

Example:

export GITEA_TOKEN="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Usage:

# Self-hosted Gitea
releasaurus release-pr \
  --forge gitea \
  --repo "https://git.company.com/org/repo"

# Forgejo instance
releasaurus release-pr \
  --forge gitea \
  --repo "https://forgejo.example.com/user/project"

Token Selection: Releasaurus automatically selects the appropriate environment variable based on the --forge flag. Use --token to override or when the environment variable is not set.

Debug Configuration

RELEASAURUS_DEBUG

Purpose: Enable detailed debug logging for troubleshooting

Values:

  • Any value (including true, false, 1, 0, etc.) - Enable debug mode
  • Unset or empty - Disable debug mode (default)

Example:

export RELEASAURUS_DEBUG=true

Usage:

# Enable debug mode via environment variable
export RELEASAURUS_DEBUG=true
releasaurus release-pr \
  --forge github \
  --repo "https://github.com/owner/repo"

# Alternative: use the --debug flag
releasaurus release-pr \
  --debug \
  --forge github \
  --repo "https://github.com/owner/repo"

Note: Debug mode is enabled whenever RELEASAURUS_DEBUG is set to any value. To disable debug mode, the variable must be unset or empty. The --debug flag will always enable debug mode regardless of the environment variable value.

RELEASAURUS_DRY_RUN

Purpose: Enable dry-run mode to test release workflows without making actual changes

Values:

  • Any value (including true, false, 1, 0, etc.) - Enable dry-run mode
  • Unset or empty - Disable dry-run mode (default)

Behavior:

  • Performs all analysis and validation steps
  • Logs detailed information about what would happen
  • Prevents any modifications to your forge platform (branches, PRs, tags, releases)
  • Automatically enables debug mode for maximum visibility

Example:

export RELEASAURUS_DRY_RUN=true

Usage:

# Enable dry-run mode via environment variable
export RELEASAURUS_DRY_RUN=true
releasaurus release-pr \
  --forge github \
  --repo "https://github.com/owner/repo"

releasaurus release \
  --forge github \
  --repo "https://github.com/owner/repo"

# Alternative: use the --dry-run flag
releasaurus release-pr \
  --dry-run \
  --forge github \
  --repo "https://github.com/owner/repo"

Output: Produces detailed debug logs prefixed with dry_run: showing exactly what operations would be performed, including PR titles, version numbers, file changes, and release notes.

Note: Dry-run mode automatically enables debug logging regardless of the RELEASAURUS_DEBUG setting. This ensures you have maximum visibility into what would happen during the release process.

Next Steps