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Query and Create GitHub Releases using StackQL

· 2 min read

StackQL and the StackQL GitHub provider can be used to query objects in GitHub, including releases, tags, forks, commits, and much more. This article shows how you can automate releases using StackQL.

Push tags​

In my case, I merged a PR to the main branch for an updated GitHub action in a repo called stackql-exec, then I pushed a tag with an updated semver:

git tag v1.2.1
git push origin v1.2.1

Pull the StackQL GitHub provider​

From the StackQL shell or via the exec command, pull the latest GitHub provider for StackQL using:

REGISTRY PULL github;

Generate a template for creating a release (optional)​

StackQL allows you to create resource templates for creating resources such as ec2 instances, google cloud storage buckets, or github releases. This is done using the SHOW INSERT INTO command as seen here: 

stackql exec --output text "SHOW INSERT INTO github.repos.releases"

The template will also generate an optional jsonnet variable block to define reusable or externally sourced variables (e.g., from environment variables).

Run your INSERT statement​

In this case, I have just used literals to keep it simple...

INSERT INTO github.repos.releases(
  owner,
  repo,
  data__body,
  data__draft,
  data__generate_release_notes,
  data__name,
  data__prerelease,
  data__tag_name,
  data__target_commitish
)
SELECT
  'stackql',
  'stackql-exec',
  'Updated authentication and added support for external variables',
   false,
   false,
  'v1.2.1',
   false,
  'v1.2.1',
  'main'
;

SELECT FROM github.repos.releases (optional)​

You can inspect the releases created for your repo, including the one you just created, using a simple SELECT statement as shown here...

select 
name,
tag_name,
target_commitish,
created_at
from github.repos.releases where owner = 'stackql' and repo = 'stackql-exec';

You will see output like the following:

|--------------------------------|-------------|------------------|----------------------|                                              
|              name              |  tag_name   | target_commitish |      created_at      |                                              
|--------------------------------|-------------|------------------|----------------------|                                              
| v1.2.1                         | v1.2.1      | main             | 2023-09-03T05:44:40Z |                                              
|--------------------------------|-------------|------------------|----------------------|                                              
| v1.2.0                         | v1.2.0      | main             | 2023-09-03T05:20:42Z |                                              
|--------------------------------|-------------|------------------|----------------------|                                              
| Fix composite action issue     | v1.0.1      | main             | 2023-03-01T09:14:20Z |                                              
| with path                      |             |                  |                      |                                              
|--------------------------------|-------------|------------------|----------------------|                                              
| Production release with        | v1.0.0      | main             | 2023-02-25T23:07:32Z |                                              
| outputs                        |             |                  |                      |                                              
|--------------------------------|-------------|------------------|----------------------|                                              
| Initial release                | v1.0.0-beta | main             | 2023-02-05T12:50:01Z |                                              
|--------------------------------|-------------|------------------|----------------------|

More information about the GitHub Provider for StackQL can be found here.

Enjoy!