Nightlies

Automated rolling nightly releases

Nightly mode creates a commit-immutable prerelease version off the newest release tag and publishes it like any other release.

Classification

Not applicable — this is a workflow page, not a publisher. Nightly mode is a release-time flag that changes the version string and tag policy; the publishers that fire are the same ones configured for normal releases.

Minimal config

anodizer release --nightly

No YAML changes required for the default behavior.

Full config reference

nightly:
  version_template: "{{ incpatch(v=Version) }}-{{ ShortCommit }}-nightly"  # optional
  name_template: "{{ ProjectName }} nightly"  # optional; names the nightly release
  tag_name: nightly           # optional; pin ONE rolling tag instead of a per-commit tag
  publish_release: true       # default true — create a GitHub Release for each nightly run
  keep_single_release: false  # default false — set true to keep only the newest nightly release
  skip_if_no_changes: false   # default false — set true to no-op on a quiet day
  draft: false                # optional — override release.draft for nightly runs only

Field	Type	Default	Description
`nightly.version_template`	`string`	`"{{ incpatch(v=Version) }}-{{ ShortCommit }}-nightly"`	The rendered `Version` for the run.
`nightly.name_template`	`string`	(inherits `release.name_template`)	Names the nightly release, replacing `release.name_template` on nightly runs only.
`nightly.tag_name`	`string`	(unset — the crate's `tag_template` creates the tag)	Pins one rolling tag, moved each run. In a workspace creating more than one tag family the value is prefixed with the publishing crate's family (`operator-v{{ Version }}` + `edge` → `operator-vedge`).
`nightly.publish_release`	`bool`	`true`	Whether to create a GitHub Release at all.
`nightly.keep_single_release`	`bool`	`false`	Keep only the newest nightly release, deleting the older ones. In a workspace that creates more than one tag family the sweep is narrowed to the publishing crate's family, so the tracks do not delete each other.
`nightly.skip_if_no_changes`	`bool`	`false`	Skip the release when the run's changelog resolved to zero notable entries. Decided per crate in a per-crate workspace.
`nightly.draft`	`bool`	(inherits `release.draft`)	Override the draft flag for nightly runs only.

Publisher skip behavior

Most package-manager publishers skip on nightly runs to avoid polluting stable indexes. The following skip automatically: homebrew, homebrew_casks, homebrew-core, scoop, aur, aur_source, krew, nix, cargo, npm, pypi, chocolatey, winget.

Docker and private registry publishers (dockerhub, dockers_v2, cloudsmith, artifactory, blob, mcp) do not skip — they accept clobber by design.

To override, set skips_on_nightly: false in the publisher block.

Authentication

Not applicable as a separate config — nightly publishes use the same release credentials (GITHUB_TOKEN) and per-publisher tokens as a normal release.

Common gotchas

Distinct from --snapshot — nightlies are published, snapshots are not.
Without tag_name every run cuts its own tag, so keep_single_release: true is what stops the pile accumulating.
With tag_name the pinned tag is moved every run and the assets the previous run uploaded are replaced. Pinning the tag turns on that replacement by itself; release.replace_existing_artifacts: true is not needed for it.
A nightly never opens a GitHub Discussion: release.discussion_category_name is withheld on nightly runs, because retention deletes the release and its Discussion a night later while the number it took from the repository's issue/PR sequence is never reissued.
A nightly cuts even when nothing changed since the last release; skip_if_no_changes: true turns that into a no-op.
skip_if_no_changes needs a changelog signal to act on: with --skip=changelog or changelog.use: github-native there is no entry count, so the nightly cuts as usual. A repo with no prior tag is never skipped either — its whole history is unreleased.
With a multitrack workspace, tag_name is prefixed with each crate's own family (operator-v + edge -> operator-vedge) so one literal tag cannot carry three tracks.

Behavior

Version becomes 0.1.1-3aece9d-nightly — the newest release tag's patch, bumped, plus the seven-character short commit
In a workspace creating several tag families the base is the newest tag across ALL of them, so one lagging track cannot stamp its siblings with a stale version
Creates a release on the tag the crate's tag_template creates, or on nightly.tag_name when set
Distinct from --snapshot — nightlies are published, snapshots are not