Publishing Guide

December 15, 2025 ยท View on GitHub

This document describes how to publish the ColorScripts-Enhanced PowerShell module to different package galleries.

Prerequisites

  • PowerShell 5.1 or later (PowerShell 7.4 recommended)
  • PowerShellGet 2.2+ or PSResourceGet 1.0+
  • A GitHub personal access token (PAT) if pushing to GitHub Packages (use Package read:packages/write:packages scopes)
  • API keys for public repositories (PowerShell Gallery / NuGet.org)

Versioning Strategy

  • The module manifest uses a date-based version (yyyy.MM.dd.HHmm).
  • When publishing a public build, ensure the manifest ModuleVersion matches the release tag.
  • Update the version automatically using build.ps1 -Version <value> or via Update-ModuleManifest.

Automated Publishing (GitHub Actions)

The .github/workflows/publish.yml workflow automates the entire publish process:

  1. Build & Test - Runs ScriptAnalyzer and Pester tests
  2. Package - Creates the .nupkg file
  3. Normalize Metadata - Embeds README, LICENSE, and icon; sets licenseUrl
  4. Generate Release Notes - Uses git-cliff to create changelog from commits
  5. Create GitHub Release - Publishes release with:
    • git-cliff generated changelog in release body
    • .nupkg file attached as release asset
    • Automatic version tagging
  6. Publish to Galleries - Pushes to PowerShell Gallery, NuGet.org, and GitHub Packages

The workflow can be triggered:

  • Manually via workflow_dispatch with customizable options
  • Automatically when tests pass on the main branch

Manual Trigger Options

When manually triggering the publish workflow, you can control:

  • publishToNuGet - Publish to NuGet.org (default: true)
  • publishToGitHub - Publish to GitHub Packages (default: true)
  • versionOverride - Override the manifest version
  • createRelease - Create a GitHub release (default: true)

The workflow installs git-cliff automatically and generates release notes for the current version, which are then displayed in the GitHub release.

The PowerShell Gallery is built on top of NuGet feeds. Publishing to the Gallery or to NuGet.org uses the same API key.

# Publish to the PowerShell Gallery (NuGet.org)
Publish-Module -Path ./ColorScripts-Enhanced -NuGetApiKey $env:PSGALLERY_API_KEY -Verbose

PowerShellGet versions prior to 2.2.6 do not embed README or license assets automatically. When you stage the package locally with Publish-Module (for example by targeting a temporary repository), run the metadata normalizer before pushing:

pwsh -NoProfile -File ./scripts/Update-NuGetPackageMetadata.ps1 -PackagePath 'C:\path\to\ColorScripts-Enhanced.<version>.nupkg'
dotnet nuget push 'C:\path\to\ColorScripts-Enhanced.<version>.nupkg' --api-key $env:PSGALLERY_API_KEY --source https://www.powershellgallery.com/api/v2/package

The GitHub publish workflow runs this script automatically.

Note: NuGet.org expects packages that declare the Unlicense license expression to also expose https://licenses.nuget.org/Unlicense via licenseUrl. The normalization script sets this automatically so older NuGet clients render the license correctly.

Getting an API Key

  1. Create an account at https://www.powershellgallery.com.
  2. Generate an API key from your profile.
  3. Store the key securely (e.g., GitHub secret PSGALLERY_API_KEY).
  4. Ensure README.md is present in the module root (ColorScripts-Enhanced/README.md). The metadata normalization script bundles this file (along with LICENSE and the icon) into the staged .nupkg prior to publishing.

Testing Before Publishing

# Verify manifest
Test-ModuleManifest .\ColorScripts-Enhanced\ColorScripts-Enhanced.psd1

# Run automated tests
pwsh -NoProfile -Command "Invoke-Pester -Path ./Tests"

# Run lint (treat warnings as errors)
pwsh -NoProfile -Command "& .\scripts\Lint-Module.ps1" -IncludeTests -TreatWarningsAsErrors

# Apply auto-fixable ScriptAnalyzer rules (optional)
pwsh -NoProfile -Command "& .\scripts\Lint-Module.ps1" -Fix

# Verify Nerd Font glyphs render correctly
Show-ColorScript -Name nerd-font-test

Secrets & Environment Variables

PurposeLocal VarGitHub Secret
PowerShell Gallery / NuGet.org API key$env:PSGALLERY_API_KEY or $env:NUGET_API_KEYPSGALLERY_API_KEY / NUGET_API_KEY
GitHub Packages PAT$env:PACKAGES_TOKENPACKAGES_TOKEN

GitHub Packages (Optional)

GitHub Packages provides a private or public NuGet feed.

$owner = 'Nick2bad4u'
$source = "https://nuget.pkg.github.com/$owner/index.json"
Register-PSRepository -Name GitHub -SourceLocation $source -PublishLocation $source -InstallationPolicy Trusted -PackageManagementProvider NuGet
Publish-Module -Path ./ColorScripts-Enhanced -NuGetApiKey $env:PACKAGES_TOKEN -Repository GitHub

> **Tip:** When you stage the package locally before pushing to GitHub Packages, run `Update-NuGetPackageMetadata.ps1` against the resulting `.nupkg` so the README, license, and icon are embedded.

Installing from GitHub Packages

$source = "https://nuget.pkg.github.com/Nick2bad4u/index.json"
Register-PSRepository -Name ColorScriptsEnhanced-GitHub -SourceLocation $source -InstallationPolicy Trusted -PackageManagementProvider NuGet
Install-Module -Name ColorScripts-Enhanced -Repository ColorScriptsEnhanced-GitHub

Azure Artifacts / Private Feeds

For enterprise environments you can host the module in Azure Artifacts or any NuGet-compatible feed:

Register-PSRepository -Name MyCompanyFeed -SourceLocation 'https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/<org>/<project>/_packaging/<feed>/nuget/v2' -InstallationPolicy Trusted -Credential (Get-Credential)
Publish-Module -Path ./ColorScripts-Enhanced -Repository MyCompanyFeed

> **Tip:** Normalize staged packages with `Update-NuGetPackageMetadata.ps1` before pushing them to your private feed to ensure gallery-friendly metadata.

Release Workflow Summary

  1. Refresh release notes with npm run release:notes (PowerShell Gallery snippet) and sync the changelog with npm run release:verify (requires git-cliff).
  2. Update the changelog (CHANGELOG.md) and release notes (RELEASENOTES.md) if additional polish is needed.
  3. Run Test-Module.ps1 locally (includes lint step).
  4. Run Lint-Module.ps1 -IncludeTests -TreatWarningsAsErrors if not already covered.
  5. Commit and push changes.
  6. Create a GitHub release with tag matching the manifest version (e.g., v2025.10.09.1700).
  7. Trigger the Publish GitHub Actions workflow via release or manual dispatch.
  8. Confirm module availability in the target gallery.

Troubleshooting

  • Version conflict: Increment ModuleVersion if a package with the same version exists.
  • Authentication failure: Regenerate API token and check secrets configuration.
  • Missing dependencies: Ensure PowerShellGet/PSResourceGet is updated on host machine.
  • Changelog mismatch: Always update documentation before publishing.

Pre-Publishing Checklist

  • All tests pass (npm run verify)
  • Linting clean (npm run lint)
  • Documentation updated
  • Version bumped (.psd1 manifest)
  • CHANGELOG.md updated
  • Release notes generated
  • Tested locally on Windows/Mac/Linux

Local Publishing Workflow

Step 1: Validate Package

# Test manifest
Test-ModuleManifest -Path ColorScripts-Enhanced/ColorScripts-Enhanced.psd1

# Verify module loads
Remove-Module ColorScripts-Enhanced -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Import-Module ./ColorScripts-Enhanced/ColorScripts-Enhanced.psd1 -Verbose

# Check all commands export
Get-Command -Module ColorScripts-Enhanced | Select-Object Name

Step 2: Create Package

# Using automatic publish workflow (recommended)
# Trigger via GitHub Actions interface or:
gh workflow run publish.yml --ref main

# Manual packaging (optional)
Compress-Archive -Path "./ColorScripts-Enhanced" -DestinationPath "./dist/ColorScripts-Enhanced-v1.0.0.zip"

Step 3: Test Package Installation

# PowerShell Gallery (simulate)
Save-Module -Name ColorScripts-Enhanced -Path "./test-install"

# Test load
Import-Module "./test-install/ColorScripts-Enhanced"

# Verify functionality
Show-ColorScript -Name bars
Get-ColorScriptList

Publishing to Different Galleries

# Publish via GitHub Actions (automatic)
# OR manually if needed:

$nugetApiKey = Read-Host "Enter NuGet API key" -AsSecureString
$nugetApiKeyPlain = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto(
    [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToCoTaskMemUnicode($nugetApiKey)
)

Publish-Module -Path "./ColorScripts-Enhanced" `
    -NuGetApiKey $nugetApiKeyPlain `
    -Repository PSGallery

Verification

# Should appear in PowerShell Gallery after 5-10 minutes
Find-Module -Name ColorScripts-Enhanced

NuGet.org

# Publish directly to NuGet
dotnet nuget push "./dist/ColorScripts-Enhanced.*.nupkg" `
    -k $nugetApiKey `
    -s https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json

GitHub Packages

# Register GitHub package source
$owner = 'Nick2bad4u'
$source = "https://nuget.pkg.github.com/$owner/index.json"

Register-PSRepository -Name ColorScriptsEnhanced-GitHub `
    -SourceLocation $source `
    -PublishLocation $source `
    -InstallationPolicy Trusted

# Publish
Publish-Module -Path "./ColorScripts-Enhanced" `
    -Repository ColorScriptsEnhanced-GitHub `
    -NuGetApiKey $githubToken

Automated Publishing Workflow

GitHub Actions Execution

The .github/workflows/publish.yml workflow:

  1. Validates - Runs smoke tests and linting
  2. Builds - Creates .nupkg package
  3. Normalizes - Embeds README, LICENSE, icon
  4. Generates - Creates changelog using git-cliff
  5. Releases - Creates GitHub release with changelog
  6. Publishes - Pushes to configured galleries

Manual Workflow Trigger

# Via GitHub CLI
gh workflow run publish.yml

# With options
gh workflow run publish.yml `
    -f publishToNuGet=true `
    -f publishToGitHub=true `
    -f createRelease=true `
    -f versionOverride="2025.10.30.1200"

# Check status
gh run list --workflow=publish.yml

Versioning Strategy (2)

Date-Based Versioning

Format: yyyy.MM.dd.HHmm

Example: 2025.10.30.1247

# Generate version automatically
$version = (Get-Date -Format "yyyy.MM.dd.HHmm")
Write-Host "Version: $version"

Updating Version

# Method 1: Direct update
$manifestPath = "./ColorScripts-Enhanced/ColorScripts-Enhanced.psd1"
$version = "2025.10.30.1247"

Update-ModuleManifest -Path $manifestPath -ModuleVersion $version

# Method 2: Via build script
.\scripts\build.ps1 -Version $version

Release Notes Generation

Using git-cliff

# Generate release notes for latest version
npx git-cliff --unreleased

# Generate for specific version
npx git-cliff --tag v2025.10.30

# Generate full changelog
npx git-cliff --latest > CHANGELOG.md

# Validate changelog
npm run release:verify

Post-Publishing Tasks

Verification (2)

# Wait 5-10 minutes for gallery sync

# Check PowerShell Gallery
Find-Module -Name ColorScripts-Enhanced | Select-Object Version

# Test installation
Install-Module -Name ColorScripts-Enhanced -Force -Verbose

# Verify functionality
Import-Module ColorScripts-Enhanced
Show-ColorScript

Announcement

  • Update GitHub releases page
  • Post to PowerShell community forums
  • Update project website
  • Announce on social media (optional)
  • Update documentation links

Troubleshooting Publication

Publish Fails

Issue: Module won't publish to gallery

# Check manifest syntax
Test-ModuleManifest -Path ./ColorScripts-Enhanced/ColorScripts-Enhanced.psd1

# Validate version format
# Should be: Major.Minor.Patch or date-based (2025.10.30)
# NOT: year.month.day.minute with too many parts

# Correct format if needed
Update-ModuleManifest -Path ./ColorScripts-Enhanced/ColorScripts-Enhanced.psd1 `
    -ModuleVersion "2025.10.30"

Issue: "Already published" error

# Increment version and retry
Update-ModuleManifest -Path ./ColorScripts-Enhanced/ColorScripts-Enhanced.psd1 `
    -ModuleVersion "2025.10.31"

Monitoring After Release

Track Downloads

# Check PowerShell Gallery stats
# https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/ColorScripts-Enhanced

# Track downloads programmatically
$info = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://www.powershellgallery.com/api/v2/Packages?`$filter=Id eq 'ColorScripts-Enhanced'" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$info.Entry | Select-Object Title, Version, @{N='Downloads'; E={$_.Properties.DownloadCount}}

Track Issues

# Monitor GitHub issues for post-release problems
gh issue list --label "v2025.10.30" --state open

# Track bug reports
gh issue list --label "bug" --state open

Additional Resources