Draft guide with release template and aggregator script automation

docs/guides/documentation/releases/README.md

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+# Releases
+
+<pre align="center">Streamline software releases through consistent templates, automated aggregation and notifications.</pre>
+
+## Introduction
+
+**Background**: Making releases can be a chore. From ensuring the release notes have helpful information to aggregating many updates and notifying your users - doing the process right can be time consuming and fraught with misunderstandings. In this guide we recommend a standardized, automated way to notify your users of new releases. For example, we recommend using a `.github/release.yml` template to allow for more readable release notes, showcasing the importance of each update. We also provide automation for aggregating releases from many repositories into a super-release that provides a holistic view of project progress. Finally, we recommend automated notifications through GitHub integrations to help keep everyone informed.
+
+**Use Cases**:
+- Automating release notes generation with a readable template
+- Aggregating multiple repository releases for projects with many repositories
+- Streamlining release notifications to keep teams and users informed automatically
+
+---
+
+## Prerequisites
+* A GitHub account and repository
+* Basic understanding of GitHub Actions and workflows
+* Access to IM channels like Slack for integration
+
+---
+
+## Quick Start
+**[⬇️ Recommended GitHub release.yml Template](release.yml.md)**
+
+_A customizable GitHub-specific release template. Customize it to fit your project's labeling scheme and presentation preferences for release notes and place it in your GitHub repository's `.github/release.yml` path._
+
+**[⬇️ Python Script to Aggregate GitHub Releases](gh_aggregate_release_notes.py)**
+
+_A Python script that aggregates release notes from many repositories and generates a "super" release text._
+
+NOTE: You'll need a configuration file to use the above Python script. See step 2.2 below for an example file that you can customize for your project.
+
+
+---
+
+## Step-by-Step Guide
+
+1. **Customize Release Notes**:
+   - Create a `.github/release.yml` file in your repository.
+   - Download our [GitHub release notes template](release.yml) and place the contents into your `.github/release.yml` file.
+   - Customize our recommended template as a baseline and to configure how release notes are generated based on your project's issue labels.
+
+2. **Aggregate Releases**:
+   We recommend using a script to automatically aggregate release notes from multiple repositories. Details below.
+
+   2.1 Download our script 
+   - Copy/download our script to your local machine
+      ```
+      curl -o gh_aggregate_release_notes.py https://...
+      ```
+
+   2.2 Create a configuration file with your project's release information. Save the file with extension `.yml` A sample is provided below:
+      ```
+      github_token: <INSERT YOUR GH PERSONAL TOKEN>
+      urls:
+      - https://github.com/NASA-AMMOS/slim/releases/tag/v1.3.0
+      - https://github.com/your-org/your-repo/releases/tag/v1.0.0
+      ```
+   2.3 Run the script to generate aggregated release notes
+      ```
+      $ python gh_aggregate_release_notes.py your_configuration_file.yml
+      ```
+
+   2.3 Review your aggregated release notes
+   - Your aggregated release notes should be printed to standard out
+
+3. **Set Up Notifications**:
+   - Integrate GitHub with your IM channels, such as Slack, for example installing and configuring extensions like: [GitHub's Slack integration](https://slack.github.com).
+   - Conduct individual outreach to your customers/users to encourage them to watch your repository for release updates to stay informed about new releases through GitHub's notification system.
+
+---
+
+## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
+
+- Q: Can I customize which pull requests or issues appear in the release notes?
+- A: Yes, by using labels and the `exclude-labels` field in the `.github/release.yml` file, you can control the inclusion of pull requests and issues in your release notes.
+
+---
+
+## Credits 
+
+**Authorship**:
+- [@riverma](https://www.github.com/riverma)
+
+**Acknowledgements**:
+* @hookhua for inspiration to make this guide.
+
+---
+
+## Feedback and Contributions
+
+We welcome feedback and contributions to help improve and grow this page. Please see our [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/YOUR_REPOSITORY/contributing.md).

docs/guides/documentation/releases/gh_aggregate_release_notes.py

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+import requests
+import yaml
+import argparse
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
+from time import sleep
+from tqdm import tqdm
+import random
+
+def read_config(file_path):
+    """
+    Reads the YAML configuration file and returns its contents.
+    
+    Args:
+        file_path (str): The path to the YAML configuration file.
+        
+    Returns:
+        dict: The contents of the YAML file if successful, None otherwise.
+    """
+    with open(file_path, 'r') as stream:
+        try:
+            return yaml.safe_load(stream)
+        except yaml.YAMLError as exc:
+            print(exc)
+            return None
+
+def get_release_notes(url, github_token):
+    """
+    Extracts the owner, repo, and tag from the given GitHub URL and retrieves the release notes using the GitHub API.
+    Implements retries with exponential backoff and jitter for handling API rate limits and network issues.
+    
+    Args:
+        url (str): The URL of the GitHub release tag page.
+        github_token (str): The GitHub token used for authentication.
+    
+    Returns:
+        str: The release notes text if successful, empty string otherwise.
+    """
+    parsed_url = urlparse(url)
+    hostname = parsed_url.hostname
+    path_parts = parsed_url.path.split('/')
+    owner, repo, tag = path_parts[1], path_parts[2], path_parts[-1]
+
+    # Be agnostic to GitHub.com or GitHub Enterprise repo URLs
+    api_url_prefix = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}" if hostname == "github.com" else f"https://{hostname}/api/v3/repos/{owner}/{repo}"
+    api_url = f"{api_url_prefix}/releases/tags/{tag}"
+    headers = {
+        "Authorization": f"token {github_token}",
+        "Accept": "application/vnd.github.v3+json"
+    }
+
+    max_retries = 5
+    retry_num = 0
+    backoff_factor = 2
+    while retry_num < max_retries:
+        response = requests.get(api_url, headers=headers)
+        if response.status_code == 200:
+            return response.json().get("body", "")
+        else:
+            print(f"Error fetching release notes for {url}: {response.status_code}. Retrying...")
+            sleep_time = backoff_factor * (2 ** retry_num) + random.uniform(0, 1)
+            sleep(sleep_time)
+            retry_num += 1
+
+    print(f"Failed to fetch release notes after {max_retries} attempts.")
+    return ""
+
+def main(config_file):
+    """
+    Main function to aggregate GitHub release notes.
+    It reads a YAML configuration file for GitHub repository URLs and a GitHub token,
+    then retrieves and prints the release notes for each repository URL listed.
+    
+    Args:
+        config_file (str): The path to the YAML configuration file containing the GitHub token and URLs.
+    """
+    config = read_config(config_file)
+    if not config:
+        print("Failed to read configuration.")
+        return
+
+    github_token = config.get("github_token")
+    urls = config.get("urls", [])
+
+    release_notes = ""
+
+    for url in tqdm(urls, desc="Downloading release notes"):
+        notes = get_release_notes(url, github_token)
+        if notes:
+            repo_name = url.split("/")[4]  # Assumes a specific URL structure.
+            release_notes += f"# {repo_name}\n\n{notes}\n\n"
+
+    print(release_notes)
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Aggregates GitHub release notes from a configuration file.")
+    parser.add_argument('config_file', type=str, help="Path to the YAML configuration file")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    main(args.config_file)

docs/guides/documentation/releases/release.yml.md

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+---
+title: Release Template (GitHub)
+sidebar_label: Release Template (GitHub)
+---
+
+```yaml
+# place in .github/release.yml
+
+changelog:
+  exclude: # exclude any PRs labels we don't want in the changelog
+    labels: 
+      - ignore-for-release
+      - skip-changelog
+  categories: # group PRs by your most important labels. Add / customize as needed.
+    - title: "🚀 Features"
+      labels:
+        - enhancement
+    - title: "🐛 Bug Fixes"
+      labels:
+        - bug
+    - title: "📚 Documentation"
+      labels:
+        - documentation
+    - title: 📦 Dependencies
+      labels:
+        - dependencies
+    - title: 💻 Other Changes
+      labels:
+        - "*"
+      exclude: # place the list of all labels you've categorized aboved to avoid duplication!
+        labels:
+          - enhancement
+          - bug
+          - documentation
+          - dependencies
+```