What it does
Release Drafter is an action that maintains a draft release from merged pull requests. A repository configuration file can group changes into categories, apply labels and set a proposed release name or tag. The action updates a draft for review; a maintainer decides when to publish it. The project repository also provides a CLI and programmatic package for use outside GitHub Actions, but this listing focuses on the GitHub Action workflow.
Release Drafter collects merged changes into a release draft while the release itself remains under a maintainer's control. Add .github/release-drafter.yml to describe categories and the draft's name or tag, then invoke the Action from a GitHub Actions workflow.
What it produces is a draft assembled from pull request titles, labels and the configured categories. A reviewer can edit it before publishing; the Action does not publish merely because the draft changes, and it does not build or test the code.
Permission boundary
The repository's example triggers on pushes to main and grants contents: write and pull-requests: read. Keep that write permission limited to the repositories using the Action. The workflow example is illustrative; the Action was not installed or run. The project also has a CLI and programmatic package, but this listing focuses on the GitHub Action. Its release page showed v7.10.0 as latest when checked. The older standalone GitHub App is deprecated, so do not mistake it for the maintained Action.
Strengths
- Maintains categorized draft release notes as pull requests merge instead of assembling them at the end of a cycle.
- Supports configuration for categories, labels, draft naming and version tags.
- The repository also documents a CLI and programmatic package for non-GitHub-Actions workflows.
Watch out for
- The GitHub Action needs contents write permission to update a repository's release draft.
- The older standalone GitHub App is deprecated; this listing is specifically for the Action.
Best for
- GitHub projects that want release notes drafted continuously from merged pull requests
- Maintainers who review and publish releases manually after a draft is prepared
- Teams that use labels or categories to organize changes into release sections
Sources
- release-drafter/release-drafter (Oct 25, 2026)
- Release Drafter | GitHub Marketplace (Oct 25, 2026)
- LICENSE | release-drafter/release-drafter (Oct 25, 2026)
- Releases | release-drafter/release-drafter (Oct 25, 2026)
- Deprecating the Release Drafter GitHub App (not Actions!) (Oct 25, 2026)