Add support for draft Github releases

Feature Request

Description

GH supports draft releases (on the contrary to pre-releases) but I don't see any draft reference on GHA docs.

Currently I have the following GH workflow:

      - name: Calculate version
        uses: python-semantic-release/[email protected]
        id: semantic-release
        with:
          root_options: "-c .semantic-release.toml"
          github_token: ${{ steps.ghactions-auth.outputs.token }}
          push: "false"
          changelog: "false"
          vcs_release: "false"

      - name: Create GH release 
        uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1
        with:
          token: ${{ steps.ghactions-auth.outputs.token }}
          tag: ${{ steps.semantic-release.outputs.tag }}
          removeArtifacts: true
          generateReleaseNotes: true
          draft: true
          allowUpdates: true
          updateOnlyUnreleased: true

The above workflow runs only on feature (non-main) branches, determines the version and creates a draft GH release. If the release exists already, it is updated (i.e. the release notes are re-generated).

I'd like to move fully to python-semantic-release because it generates better decorated GH Release Notes.

It has been 60 days since the last update on this confirmed issue. @python-semantic-release/team can you provide an update on the status of this issue?

Still in backlog

It has been 60 days since the last update on this confirmed issue. @python-semantic-release/team can you provide an update on the status of this issue?

Still in backlog

It has been 90 days since the last update on this confirmed issue. @python-semantic-release/team can you provide an update on the status of this issue?

@codejedi365

@codejedi365 I guess you need to update the bot to exclude the issues with status confirmed from the demotion process ;-)

I guess you need to update the bot to exclude the issues with status confirmed from the demotion process ;-)

Actually, the stalebot is acting as intended. I implemented a different approach than most are accustomed to. The approach is that initially issues are created with triage so that I can filter down to issues I have not yet looked at. After triage, I either respond with a question or answer and mark it with awaiting reply until it is clarified (this step is skipped if it is obvious and agreed upon). People have 14 days to respond or it is closed. Once the request or issue is clear, I place the confirmed tag on the issue. This means it will never be closed arbitrarily by the bot and in order to keep the requester informed of progress (and that there is still a maintainer aware of your issue) the bot drops a message to ping us for an update on a timetable. So in this case it is not a demotion but a round robin approach to always come around to the issue again. Sometimes other problems take priority and this just ensures I am reviewing issues regularly and communicating to users.

I still have a stale process but it's basically not used anymore since most issues land in these 2 buckets. It mainly applies to my own PRs if no update has occurred in 90 days.

It has been 90 days since the last update on this confirmed issue. @python-semantic-release/team can you provide an update on the status of this issue?

feat: add draft release option

Hi! I'm interested in contributing to this. Let me know if you'd like to discuss the implementation approach.

(Connected through Echeo)

It has been 90 days since the last update on this confirmed issue. @python-semantic-release/team can you provide an update on the status of this issue?

Filed #1478 — GitHub's immutable releases freeze a release's assets at publish, so PSR's publish-then-upload flow now fails with 422 Cannot upload assets to an immutable release. Native draft-first support, as requested here, would let assets attach while the release is still a draft and fix that breakage.

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Add support for draft Github releases #1193

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Add support for draft Github releases #1193

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github-actions commented on Apr 20, 2025

codejedi365 commented on Apr 22, 2025

github-actions commented on Jun 23, 2025

codejedi365 commented on Jun 26, 2025

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rantoniuk commented on Sep 26, 2025

codejedi365 commented on Sep 26, 2025

github-actions commented on Dec 26, 2025

repairman29 commented on Jan 9, 2026

github-actions commented on Apr 9, 2026

farhan commented on Aug 27, 2026

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