CLI commands

Relicta ships as a single binary with a handful of core commands. Every command supports --help, --dry-run, and --json for safe previews and machine-readable output.

relicta release (Recommended)

Run the complete release workflow in a single command.

relicta release [--yes|-y] [--skip-push|-P] [--force|-F <version>] [--dry-run]

This is equivalent to running: plan → bump → notes → approve → publish

Flag	Short	Description
--yes	-y	Auto-approve the release (for CI/CD)
--skip-push	-P	Skip pushing tags to remote
--force <version>	-F	Force a specific version (e.g., v2.0.0)
--ai	-a	Enable AI-powered notes generation
--dry-run		Preview the entire workflow without changes

Examples:

# Interactive release (prompts for approval)
relicta release

# CI/CD auto-approve
relicta release -y

# Preview changes
relicta release --dry-run

# Force specific version
relicta release -F v2.0.0

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Step-by-Step Commands

For more control, use individual commands:

relicta init

Scaffold a relicta.config.yaml in the current repo.

relicta init

• Prompts for providers (AI, GitHub, npm) and writes a starter config.
• Use --config <path> to write to a custom location.

relicta plan

Analyze commits since the last tag and propose the next semantic version.

relicta plan [--from|-f <ref>] [--to|-t <ref>] [--analyze|-a] [--json] [--dry-run]

Flag	Short	Description
--from <ref>	-f	Starting reference (default: latest tag)
--to <ref>	-t	Ending reference (default: HEAD)
--analyze	-a	Include detailed commit analysis
--json		Machine-readable output
--dry-run		Preview without changes

Detects major/minor/patch (supports prerelease/build metadata via config).

relicta notes

Generate release notes and changelog entries (optionally with AI).

relicta notes [--ai|-a] [--save|-s] [--json] [--dry-run]

Flag	Short	Description
--ai	-a	Enable AI-powered notes generation
--save	-s	Save notes to changelog file
--tone <tone>		Set AI tone (professional, casual, technical)
--audience <audience>		Target audience (developers, users, stakeholders)
--json		Machine-readable output
--dry-run		Preview without changes

Uses your configured AI provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Azure, Ollama).

relicta approve

Lock the planned release and capture approval context.

relicta approve [--yes|-y] [--edit|-e] [--editor|-E <editor>] [--interactive|-i]

Flag	Short	Description
--yes	-y	Auto-approve without prompting
--edit	-e	Edit release notes before approving
--editor	-E	Editor to use (default: $EDITOR or vim)
--interactive	-i	Use interactive TUI for approval
--by <name>		Record approver name
--note <text>		Add approval context note

Records approver info for auditability before publish.

relicta publish

Tag the repo and run plugins (GitHub releases, npm, Slack, LaunchNotes, custom gRPC).

relicta publish [--skip-approval|-A] [--skip-tag|-T] [--skip-push|-P] [--skip-plugins|-G]

Flag	Short	Description
--skip-approval	-A	Skip approval check
--skip-tag	-T	Skip git tag creation
--skip-push	-P	Skip pushing to remote
--skip-plugins	-G	Skip running plugins
--force		Skip approval if policy allows
--dry-run		Validate without making changes

Creates the tag and executes configured plugins.

Global flags

Flag	Short	Description
--config <path>	-c	Point to a specific config file
--verbose	-v	Enable verbose output
--dry-run		Preview without changing the repo
--json		Emit machine-readable output for automation
--ci		CI/CD mode: auto-approve, JSON output, non-interactive
--model		AI model to use (format: provider/model)
--redact		Redact secrets and API keys from output
--no-color		Disable colored output

Environment variables

• AI: OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY, AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT, OLLAMA_HOST
• GitHub: GITHUB_TOKEN
• Plugins: SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL, NPM_TOKEN, LAUNCHNOTES_API_TOKEN (see Plugins).

Tips

• Use relicta release for most releases - it handles the entire workflow.
• Pair --json with jq for CI annotations and dashboards.
• Use relicta release --dry-run to validate the entire workflow before a real release.
• Keep relicta.config.yaml in git so local and CI runs behave identically.