How to Create a GitHub Release on Tag Push in GitHub Actions

A workflow filtered on tag pushes can create the matching GitHub Release in one step with softprops/action-gh-release.

Filter on.push.tags, grant contents: write, and run softprops/action-gh-release. It creates a Release for the pushed tag and can generate notes for you.

Steps

• Trigger on push.tags matching your version glob.
• Grant contents: write so the job can create the release.
• Run softprops/action-gh-release with generate_release_notes: true.

Workflow

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*.*.*'
permissions:
  contents: write
jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        with:
          generate_release_notes: true

Gotchas

• Without contents: write the release create call fails with a 403.
• The action uses github.ref_name as the tag by default; set tag_name to override it.

Related guides