chore: replace custom versioning scripts with release-it

[mariechatfield]

Summary

Update the release process to use the release-it library so that we have deterministic behavior. The /release command should still work from claude and cursor, but calls a script instead of running through the process itself.

Changes

/release skill

1. Run npm run release to choose the next version and generate a changelog entry
   a. The command will checkout a new branch chore/release-VERSION and commit the changes to package.json and CHANGELOG.md
2. Have the agent format and improve the generated changelog to be more human readable, include additional relevant context, and bundle or omit unnecessary information
3. Have the agent push the commit to a new branch and open a PR automatically

Also accepts /release --dry-run to see what will happen and preview the changelog.

publish.yaml action
Publishes a git tag for the version to GitHub, which is used by npm run release to calculate the next list of commits in a changelog.

auto-version.yaml action
Renamed to prepare-release.yaml and uses release-it as well to prepare a PR for review.

pr-title-check.yaml action
Now uses commitlint to validate the PR title instead of using a separate custom script.

Demo

Sample output for using the release skill:

❯ /release --dry-run                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                         
⏺ Running the dry-run now.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                   
⏺ Bash(npm run release -- --dry-run --ci 2>&1)                                                                           
  ⎿  > @gusto/embedded-react-sdk@0.44.1 release                                                                          
     > release-it --dry-run --ci                                                                                         
     … +53 lines (ctrl+o to expand)                                                                                      
  ⎿  Allowed by auto mode classifier                                                                                     
                                                                                                                         
⏺ Target version: 0.44.2                                               
                                                                                                                         
  Here's the curated changelog as it would appear in CHANGELOG.md:                                                       
                                                 
  ---                                                                                                                    
  0.44.2                                                                               
                                                 
  Fixes

  - Fix UTC roundtrip bug in date picker field where dates near midnight could shift by one day (#1767)                  
  - Prevent skeleton/gap flash when TransitionPayrollAlert renders with no alerts to display (#1773)
                                                                                                                         
  Chores & Maintenance                                                                 
                                                                                                                         
  - Bump i18next to 26.1.0                                                             
  - Bump dev dependencies (@playwright/test, typescript-eslint, vitest)

  ---
  Decisions made:
                                                                                                                         
  - Features section omitted — the only feat commit (sdk-app: fly out panels) is an internal dev-app enhancement with no
  consumer impact                                                                                                        
  - Chores: All the release tooling commits from this PR branch (release-it, skill updates, docs) are internal and
  omitted; i18next is a runtime dep so it gets its own line; the three dev dep bumps are collapsed; the docs and CI      
  commits are omitted                                                                  
  - Version header simplified from ## [0.44.2](...) (2026-05-12) to ## 0.44.2 to match existing style                    
  - Hash links removed, PR links kept                                                                                    
                                                                                                                         
✻ Cooked for 56s                                          

[mariechatfield]

#1785 is generated against this branch as a sample. Once this PR is merged, I will close that one and run the release command against main

[gusto-fresh-eyes]

Fresh Eyes Review

Found 1 issue in this PR.

PR Description Issues

• Minor | claims-vs-reality: Description claims auto-version.yaml was 'Renamed to prepare-release.yaml' but the diff shows auto-version.yaml was deleted entirely and prepare-release.yaml is a brand new file with completely different logic (different trigger conditions, different implementation using release-it + gh pr create). This is a replacement, not a rename.

Download findings.json — drag the file into Claude or use /add to propose fixes

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[jeffredodd]

I've never used release-it but i'm excite dto try new things! Thanks for helping make our release process better! 🎉