Contributing

Adding a tool

Create data/tools/<slug>.yaml, where <slug> is the tool’s name in lowercase with hyphens:

name: release-plz
repository: https://github.com/release-plz/release-plz
category: release-automation
replaces:
  - tool: semantic-release
    fit: partial
    note: Cargo workspaces only.

• repository is the upstream GitHub repository, not a fork or a mirror.
• category must be one of the keys in data/categories.yaml. A new category is its own pull request, with at least two tools that belong in it.
• replaces points at other entries by slug. If the tool it replaces is not listed yet, add that one in the same pull request, with no replaces of its own.
• fit is drop-in when the tool accepts the original’s configuration or interface unchanged, full when it covers the same job in its own way, partial when it covers part of it. Use note to say which part.
• affiliation is required if you maintain, work on, or are paid by the tool. Listing your own project is welcome; not saying so is grounds for removal.

Do not add stars, versions, licences or descriptions. The schema rejects them: those come from GitHub, so they cannot drift or be inflated.

By opening a pull request that adds or edits a file under data/, you dedicate that contribution to the public domain under CC0 1.0, like the rest of the catalog.

What CI checks

Every pull request runs the checks below against GitHub for the entries it touches, and writes the result to the run summary.

Blocking:

• the file matches the schema and its name is a valid slug
• the repository exists, is public and is not a fork
• the repository is not archived, unless the entry replaces nothing and other entries replace it: an archived tool is exactly what people look to move off, so it can be a target, never an alternative
• the repository is at least 30 days old
• the repository is not already listed under another slug
• every replaces target exists, and a tool does not replace itself

Reviewed by a maintainer before merge, without blocking:

• the repository was renamed or moved
• GitHub detects no licence
• there is no release and no tag
• no push in the last year
• 50 or more of the most recent stars arrived within 24 hours

The last one exists because bought stars arrive in bursts. A launch on Hacker News produces the same shape, which is why it is a warning and a person decides. GitHub does not let CI page through the stargazers of the largest repositories; for those, the check is skipped rather than guessed.

Verifying a tool you maintain

Add a file named .awesome-alternatives at the root of the tool’s default branch, with the slug of its entry on a line:

release-plz

The nightly refresh reads it and marks the entry as verified. Only someone with write access to the repository can add it, so the mark says the maintainers stand behind the entry.

One slug per line, so a repository that hosts several listed tools can vouch for all of them in the same file. Blank lines and # comments are ignored.

Monorepos

Several entries can point at the same repository when each one says where its tool lives with path:

name: oxlint
repository: https://github.com/oxc-project/oxc
path: apps/oxlint
category: javascript-lint-format

Two entries sharing a repository without distinct paths are rejected. For an entry with a path, the refresh reads .awesome-alternatives both at the repository root and in that directory, so each package can carry its own file. Stars, releases and the other facts are still those of the whole repository.

Running the checks locally

pnpm install
pnpm test
GITHUB_TOKEN=$(gh auth token) pnpm validate release-plz

pnpm validate --all checks every entry, pnpm refresh rebuilds generated/catalog.json and the table in the README.