Release Approval

CRITICAL: The description field above controls when Claude auto-loads this skill.

Overview

Provides comprehensive patterns, templates, and scripts for multi-stakeholder release approval workflows including GitHub Actions integration, Slack notifications, approval gate configuration, and status tracking automation.

Instructions

1. Approval Workflow Architecture

Understand Approval Gate Patterns:

Sequential Approvals: Stakeholders approve in order (dev → QA → security → release)
Parallel Approvals: All stakeholders review simultaneously, release when all approve
Conditional Approvals: Requirements change based on change scope (breaking vs patch)
Hybrid Approvals: Some gates parallel, others sequential

Design Workflow:

Identify required stakeholder groups (technical lead, product owner, QA, security, compliance)
Define approval thresholds (required vs optional approvals)
Set timeout and escalation policies
Document veto power and override conditions

2. GitHub Actions Workflow Setup

Configure Approval Workflows:

Use templates/github-actions-approval.yml for basic approval workflow
Use templates/github-actions-approval-slack.yml for Slack-integrated workflow
Configure environment protection rules for production
Set required reviewers in repository settings

Workflow Triggers:

Manual workflow dispatch for on-demand approvals
Tag push events for automatic approval requests
Pull request reviews for pre-merge approvals
Issue comments for approval tracking

3. Approval Gate Configuration

Setup Approval Gates:

Use templates/approval-gates.yml to define stakeholder groups and requirements
Use scripts/setup-approval-gates.sh to initialize gate configuration
Configure approval thresholds per gate (required count, optional count)
Define approval dependencies (QA requires dev approval first)

Configuration Structure:

approval_gates:
  - stage: development
    approvers: ["@dev-team-lead", "@tech-lead"]
    required: 2
    timeout_hours: 24
  - stage: qa
    approvers: ["@qa-lead"]
    required: 1
    depends_on: ["development"]
  - stage: security
    approvers: ["@security-team"]
    required: 1
    veto_power: true
  - stage: release
    approvers: ["@release-manager"]
    required: 1
    depends_on: ["development", "qa", "security"]

4. Slack Notification Integration

Setup Slack Webhooks:

Use scripts/setup-slack-webhook.sh to configure Slack integration
Use templates/slack-webhook-config.json for webhook configuration template
Store webhook URLs in GitHub Secrets (never hardcode)
Use scripts/notify-slack.sh for sending approval notifications

Notification Types:

Approval Requested: Notify stakeholders when approval needed
Approval Granted: Confirm when stakeholder approves
Approval Denied: Alert when stakeholder rejects with reason
Approval Timeout: Escalate when approval times out
Approval Complete: Celebrate when all approvals obtained

5. Requesting and Tracking Approvals

Request Approvals:

Use scripts/request-approval.sh to send approval requests
Create GitHub issue for approval tracking
Request PR reviews from stakeholders
Send Slack notifications to stakeholder channels

Track Approval Status:

Use scripts/check-approval-status.sh to monitor approval progress
Update approval tracking issue as approvals come in
Generate approval audit trail
Store approval records in .github/releases/approvals/

6. Approval Automation Patterns

Automate Common Scenarios:

Auto-Approve for Non-Breaking Changes:

Patch releases with docs-only changes
Dependency updates with passing tests
Automated security patches

Escalation on Timeout:

Send reminder notifications after grace period
Escalate to backup approvers
Alert release manager for intervention

Conditional Approval Requirements:

Breaking changes require additional security review
Feature releases require product owner approval
Hotfix releases have expedited approval process

7. Approval Audit Trail

Document Approvals:

Use scripts/generate-approval-audit.sh to create audit records
Store approval records in .github/releases/approvals/v{version}.json
Include: approver name, timestamp, decision, comments, justification
Commit approval records to git for permanent audit trail

Audit Record Structure:

{
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "requested_at": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z",
  "completed_at": "2025-01-15T14:30:00Z",
  "approvals": [
    {
      "stage": "development",
      "approver": "tech-lead",
      "decision": "approved",
      "timestamp": "2025-01-15T11:00:00Z",
      "comments": "All tests passing, ready for QA"
    },
    {
      "stage": "qa",
      "approver": "qa-lead",
      "decision": "approved_with_conditions",
      "timestamp": "2025-01-15T13:00:00Z",
      "comments": "Minor UI issue logged, non-blocking"
    }
  ],
  "final_decision": "approved",
  "conditions": ["Monitor UI issue #1234 post-release"]
}

Available Scripts

setup-approval-gates.sh: Initialize approval gate configuration with stakeholder groups
request-approval.sh: Send approval requests to stakeholders via GitHub and Slack
check-approval-status.sh: Monitor approval progress and generate status reports
notify-slack.sh: Send Slack notifications for approval events
setup-slack-webhook.sh: Configure Slack webhook integration with GitHub Actions
generate-approval-audit.sh: Create comprehensive approval audit records
escalate-approval.sh: Handle approval timeouts with escalation logic

Available Templates

github-actions-approval.yml: GitHub Actions workflow for approval orchestration
github-actions-approval-slack.yml: GitHub Actions workflow with Slack integration
approval-gates.yml: Approval gate configuration with stakeholder groups
slack-webhook-config.json: Slack webhook configuration template (placeholders only)
approval-issue-template.md: GitHub issue template for approval tracking
approval-audit-template.json: JSON template for approval audit records
environment-protection-rules.md: GitHub environment protection rules guide

Available Examples

basic-approval-workflow.md: Simple sequential approval workflow example
parallel-approval-gates.md: Multi-stakeholder parallel approval pattern
conditional-approval.md: Change-scope-based conditional approval requirements
slack-integration-complete.md: Full Slack webhook integration example
automated-gating.md: Auto-approval and escalation patterns
approval-audit-trail.md: Complete audit trail generation example

Requirements

GitHub CLI (gh) installed and authenticated
GitHub repository with write access
GitHub Actions enabled
Slack workspace with webhook permissions (optional)
Repository secrets configured for sensitive data
Stakeholder GitHub usernames documented
Clear approval policies defined

Security Considerations

CRITICAL: Always use placeholders for sensitive data

❌ Never hardcode Slack webhook URLs in code or configs
✅ Store webhook URLs in GitHub Secrets: SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL
✅ Use placeholders in templates: https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR_WEBHOOK_HERE
❌ Never commit .env files with real credentials
✅ Create .env.example with placeholder values
✅ Document how to obtain webhooks in README

Environment Variable Pattern:

# .env.example
SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL=https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR_WEBHOOK_HERE
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_your_github_token_here
APPROVAL_TIMEOUT_HOURS=24

Progressive Disclosure

For additional reference material:

Read examples/basic-approval-workflow.md for quick start
Read examples/parallel-approval-gates.md for multi-stakeholder patterns
Read examples/slack-integration-complete.md for webhook setup
Read examples/automated-gating.md for automation patterns
Read templates/github-actions-approval.yml for workflow implementation

Integration with Commands and Agents

Commands that use this skill:

/versioning:approve-release - Orchestrates approval workflow using these patterns

Agents that use this skill:

approval-workflow-manager - Uses templates and scripts for approval orchestration

Workflow:

User runs /versioning:approve-release <version>
Command invokes approval-workflow-manager agent
Agent loads this skill for templates and scripts
Agent uses request-approval.sh to notify stakeholders
Agent uses check-approval-status.sh to monitor progress
Agent uses generate-approval-audit.sh to document approvals

Skill Location: plugins/versioning/skills/release-approval/SKILL.md Version: 1.0.0