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Releasing the JetBrains Plugin

JetBrains releases are locked by an immediate jetbrains/v<version> tag, then gated by a reviewed release PR. The tag fixes the exact source code that will be published; the PR is where maintainers review and edit the version and changelog before publishing starts.

The published code comes from jetbrains/v<version>. Marketplace and GitHub release notes come from the reviewed changelog merged in the release PR.

Skill-Assisted Release

Maintainers can use the Kilo release-jetbrains skill to drive this process from a version request such as next rc or an explicit version. The skill resolves and confirms the version, dispatches and watches the prepare workflow, helps produce a filtered human-readable JetBrains/CLI changelog draft, commits the reviewed changelog to the release PR, and watches publishing after the PR is merged.

The skill lives at .kilo/skills/release-jetbrains/SKILL.md. It does not move or recreate release tags, and merge permission is only required if the user explicitly asks the skill to merge the release PR automatically.

Create Release Tag And PR

  1. Open the GitHub Actions workflow:

https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode/actions/workflows/prepare-jetbrains-release.yml

  1. Click Run workflow. This immediately creates jetbrains/v<version> at the current origin/main commit, then creates or updates the release PR.

  2. Fill the inputs:

Input Value
kind rc for an EAP release, stable for a default Marketplace release.
version x.y.z-rc.n for RCs, x.y.z for stable releases.
from_tag Optional previous tag for the changelog range. Leave empty unless the default range is wrong.

Examples:

kind=rc
version=7.3.13-rc.1

kind=stable
version=7.3.13

Changelog Range Defaults

The workflow chooses a changelog base automatically and generates notes against the locked release commit:

Release Default from_tag
First RC for a version, e.g. 7.3.13-rc.1 Latest stable JetBrains tag.
Later RC, e.g. 7.3.13-rc.2 Previous RC for the same base version.
Stable, e.g. 7.3.13 Latest stable JetBrains tag, ignoring RCs.

Use from_tag only to override this comparison range. It does not change the release target commit.

For the first stable JetBrains release, there may be no previous stable tag yet. In that case, pass the last RC or another reviewed JetBrains tag as from_tag.

Review the PR

The workflow creates or updates a branch like:

jetbrains/release/v7.3.13-rc.1

The PR updates:

File Purpose
packages/kilo-jetbrains/gradle.properties JetBrains plugin version in kilo.jetbrains.version.
packages/kilo-jetbrains/CHANGELOG.md Release notes packaged into the plugin.

Review packages/kilo-jetbrains/gradle.properties and edit packages/kilo-jetbrains/CHANGELOG.md before merging. This changelog entry is rendered into JetBrains <change-notes>, so it appears on the Marketplace and inside IntelliJ plugin UI.

The PR can change release metadata such as packages/kilo-jetbrains/gradle.properties and packages/kilo-jetbrains/CHANGELOG.md, but it does not change the tagged source code that will be built.

Merge and Publish

When the release PR is merged, the publish-jetbrains workflow validates the existing tag and release PR markers:

jetbrains/v<version>

Then it publishes from that tag:

https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode/actions/workflows/publish-jetbrains.yml

Publishing behavior:

Version Marketplace channel GitHub release
x.y.z-rc.n eap Prerelease
x.y.z default Stable release

The workflow checks out jetbrains/v<version> for verification, signing, and Marketplace publishing. It overlays the reviewed packages/kilo-jetbrains/gradle.properties and packages/kilo-jetbrains/CHANGELOG.md from the merged PR before rendering release notes and before publishPlugin, so the Marketplace plugin version, Marketplace notes, and GitHub Release use the reviewed metadata.

Installing RC Builds

RC builds are published to the eap channel. To get them in IntelliJ IDEA:

  1. Open Settings > Plugins.
  2. Click the gear icon and choose Manage Plugin Repositories.
  3. Add the following URL:
https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugins/list?channel=eap&pluginId=28350
  1. Search for Kilo Code in the Marketplace tab.

Manual Recovery

If the prepare workflow created the tag but failed before creating or updating the PR, rerun the workflow for the same version. It reuses the tag if it still points to the same locked commit.

If publish validation says the tag points to the wrong SHA, stop and inspect manually. Do not move, delete, or recreate release tags casually.

If publish failed after merge, rerun the failed publish-jetbrains workflow if the failure happened before Marketplace accepted the version. Marketplace may reject a duplicate version after a successful publish.

If Marketplace publishing succeeded but GitHub Release upload failed, manually create or edit the GitHub Release for the existing tag. Use the reviewed release notes from packages/kilo-jetbrains/CHANGELOG.md in the merged release PR.

If the immediate tag must be created manually because the prepare workflow could not push it, create it at the intended locked origin/main commit before merging the release PR:

git fetch origin main
git tag jetbrains/v7.3.13 <locked-main-sha>
git push origin jetbrains/v7.3.13

Required GitHub Actions Secrets

Secret Purpose
KILO_MAINTAINER_APP_ID GitHub App ID used to create/update release PRs and immediate release tags.
KILO_MAINTAINER_APP_SECRET GitHub App private key used to create/update release PRs and immediate release tags.
JETBRAINS_MARKETPLACE_TOKEN Marketplace API token for publishing.
JETBRAINS_CERTIFICATE_CHAIN PEM certificate chain for plugin signing.
JETBRAINS_PRIVATE_KEY PEM private key for plugin signing.
JETBRAINS_PRIVATE_KEY_PASSWORD Password for the private key.

Before the first publish, complete RELEASE_TODO.md to set up these secrets and the Marketplace plugin entry.