WordPress Plugin Version Bumper

A GitHub Action to automatically bump version numbers in WordPress plugin files. Supports semantic versioning with additional support for prerelease versions (dev/alpha/beta/rc) and build numbers.

Version Format

Versions follow this format:

major.minor.patch[-prerelease-number][+YYYYMMDDHHmmss]

Examples:

• 1.2.3 - Standard version
• 1.2.3-alpha-1 - Alpha prerelease
• 1.2.3+20241205120000 - Version with build timestamp
• 1.2.3-beta-2+20241205120000 - Beta prerelease with build timestamp

Usage

- name: Bump plugin version
  uses: Digital-Gravy/action-bump-wp-plugin-version@v1
  with:
    # Type of version bump to perform (required)
    # Possible values: major, minor, patch, build, stable, none
    bump_type: 'patch'

    # Type of prerelease to set/bump (required)
    # Possible values: none, dev, alpha, beta, rc
    prerelease_type: 'none'

    # Directory containing the WordPress plugin (required)
    plugin_dir: '.'

    # Name of the main plugin file (required)
    plugin_main_file: 'my-plugin.php'

Outputs

The action provides three outputs:

• new_version: The new version after bumping
• old_version: The previous version
• is_version_bumped: Boolean indicating if the version changed

Example of using outputs:

- name: Bump version
  id: bump
  uses: Digital-Gravy/action-bump-wp-plugin-version@v1
  with:
    bump_type: 'patch'
    prerelease_type: 'none'
    plugin_dir: '.'
    plugin_main_file: 'my-plugin.php'

- name: Check if version changed
  if: steps.bump.outputs.is_version_bumped == 'true'
  run: |
    echo "Version bumped from ${{ steps.bump.outputs.old_version }} to ${{ steps.bump.outputs.new_version }}"

Version Bumping Rules

Version Components

• Major: Backwards-incompatible changes (1.2.3 → 2.0.0)
• Minor: New features, backwards-compatible (1.2.3 → 1.3.0)
• Patch: Bug fixes, backwards-compatible (1.2.3 → 1.2.4)
• Build: Adds build timestamp (1.2.3 → 1.2.3+20241205120000)
• Stable: Removes prerelease and build numbers (1.2.3-alpha-1+20241205120000 → 1.2.3)

Prerelease Progression

Prereleases follow this order: dev → alpha → beta → rc

• Cannot downgrade prerelease type (e.g., beta → alpha not allowed)
• Prerelease number increments for same type (alpha-1 → alpha-2)
• New prerelease type starts at 1 (alpha-2 → beta-1)

Build Numbers

• Format: YYYYMMDDHHmmss timestamp
• Can be combined with any version type
• Build numbers are removed on version bumps

Examples

Current Version	Bump Type	Prerelease	Result
1.2.3	patch	none	1.2.4
1.2.3	minor	none	1.3.0
1.2.3	major	none	2.0.0
1.2.3	patch	alpha	1.2.4-alpha-1
1.2.3-alpha-1	none	alpha	1.2.3-alpha-2
1.2.3-alpha-2	none	beta	1.2.3-beta-1
1.2.3	build	none	1.2.3+20240101120000
1.2.3-beta-1	build	none	1.2.3-beta-1+20240101120000
1.2.3-beta-1	stable	none	1.2.3
1.2.3-beta-1+20241205120000	stable	none	1.2.3

Error Handling

The action will fail with appropriate error messages for:

• Missing or invalid plugin file
• Invalid version format in plugin file
• Attempting to downgrade prerelease type
• Invalid input parameters

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

License

GPLv3 - see LICENSE file for details