Increment Version

This GitHub action automates semantic versioning and release creation for your projects. It supports different release types, pre-release labels and build numbers.

Features ✨

• SemVer 2.0 compatible (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH-PRERELEASE+BUILD)
• Release types: major, minor, patch, alpha, beta, rc, stable
• Combined releases (e.g. major-alpha, patch-rc)
• Automatic build numbers (optional)
• Strict pre-versioning (e.g. consecutive numbers for pre-releases)
• Build-only updates (without version change)

Inputs

current-version

Required Current semantic version to increment

• Format: [v]X.Y.Z[-PRERELEASE][+BUILD]
• Examples: 1.0.0, v2.5.0-rc.4, 3.0.0-alpha+567

version-type

Required Type of version increment:

Category	Values
Version Bumps	major, minor, patch
Pre-Releases	alpha, beta, pre, rc, stable
Combined Types	patch-alpha, minor-beta, major-rc etc.
Special	none (only build number)

Notes:

• Combined Types: All version bumps can be combined with pre-release types.
• Additional Types: hotfix, bug, and feature are also supported. While they are not part of the SemVer standard, they can be useful for specific user scenarios.

preversion

Optional [true|false] Default: true
Controls pre-release numbering behavior:

Value	Behavior
true	Always use .N numbering (even first pre-release)
false	First pre-release without number, subsequent get .1, .2, etc.

preversion-start-zero

Optional [true|false] Default: false
Sets starting index for pre-release versions:

• true: Start counting at .0 (e.g., -alpha.0)
• false: Start counting at .1 (e.g., -beta.1)

use-build

Optional [true|false] Default: false
Enables build counter stored in .build-version file:

• true: Appends +N where N auto-increments
• false: No build number added

prefix

Optional [true|false] Default: false Determines whether a v prefix is prepended to the version number:

• true: The version number is prefixed with a v (e.g. v1.0.0)
• false: The version number is shown without a v prefix (e.g. 1.0.0)

Notes: Adding a v prefix does not conform to the Semantic Versioning 2.0.0 specification as outlined on semver.org. Although commonly used, the v prefix is not part of the official SemVer definition. Nevertheless, it has been included here due to its widespread usage.

Outputs

next-version

The generated version in SemVer format, depending on the provided parameters:
X.Y.Z[-PRERELEASE][+BUILD]

Usage Examples

Basic Exampple

- uses: psycho0verload/increment-version@latest
  with:
    current-version: '1.2.3'
    version-type: 'major'

The Basic example is the simplest form of usage. The expected result is: 2.0.0.

Full Exampple

- uses: psycho0verload/increment-version@latest
  with:
    current-version: 'v1.0.0-rc.5+123'
    version-type: 'major'
    preversion: false
    preversion-start-zero: true
    use-build: true
    prefix: false

The expected result is: 1.0.1-alpha+124.

Expected behavior

To provide an insight into the behavior and a view of the expected results, here are a few cases with their results:

• Increase 1.0.0 through patch and all possible combinations of options
• Increase v1.0.0 through patch and all possible combinations of options
• Increase v1.0.0+123 through patch-alpha and all possible combinations of options
• Increase v1.0.0-rc.5+123 through patch-alpha and all possible combinations of options
• Increase v1.0.0-rc.5+123 through rc and all possible combinations of options