Add GitHub release creation tool and documentation

README.md

@@ -56,6 +56,42 @@ If `IMAGE_REPO` is not set, the script will exit with an error. If `IMAGE_TAG` i
 *   **`make clean-builder`**: Removes the `docker buildx` builder used for multi-platform Docker builds. This command is useful to reset the builder environment if the builder encounters an error or becomes corrupted. It can also be used to free up resources when the builder is no longer needed.
 
 
+## Releases
+
+This repository uses [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/kubernetes/cloud-provider-gcp/releases) to publish versioned releases with release notes and artifacts.
+
+### Creating a Release
+
+To create a GitHub release from an existing tag, use the provided script:
+
+```sh
+./tools/create-github-release.sh <tag> [draft]
+```
+
+For example, to create a release for tag `v35.0.8`:
+
+```sh
+./tools/create-github-release.sh v35.0.8
+```
+
+To create a draft release (for review before publishing):
+
+```sh
+./tools/create-github-release.sh v35.0.8 true
+```
+
+The script will:
+1. Generate release notes based on commits since the previous tag
+2. Display a preview of the release notes
+3. Prompt for confirmation before creating the release
+4. Create the GitHub release using the `gh` CLI
+
+### Requirements
+
+- `gh` CLI installed and authenticated ([installation guide](https://cli.github.com/))
+- Git tags fetched locally (`git fetch --tags`)
+- Write access to the repository
+
 ## Cross-compiling
 
 Platform-specific release tarballs can be built using the following commands.

tools/create-github-release.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Copyright 2026 The Kubernetes Authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# This script helps create GitHub releases from existing tags.
+# Usage: ./tools/create-github-release.sh <tag> [draft]
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+REPO="kubernetes/cloud-provider-gcp"
+
+# Check if gh CLI is installed
+if ! command -v gh &> /dev/null; then
+    echo "Error: gh CLI is not installed. Please install it first:"
+    echo "  See: https://cli.github.com/"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check if authenticated
+if ! gh auth status &> /dev/null; then
+    echo "Error: Not authenticated with GitHub. Please run 'gh auth login' first."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check arguments
+if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
+    echo "Usage: $0 <tag> [draft]"
+    echo ""
+    echo "Arguments:"
+    echo "  tag   - The git tag to create a release from (e.g., v35.0.8)"
+    echo "  draft - Optional. If set to 'true', creates a draft release"
+    echo ""
+    echo "Examples:"
+    echo "  $0 v35.0.8           # Create a published release for tag v35.0.8"
+    echo "  $0 v35.0.8 true      # Create a draft release for tag v35.0.8"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+TAG="$1"
+DRAFT="${2:-false}"
+
+# Verify tag exists
+if ! git rev-parse "$TAG" &> /dev/null; then
+    echo "Error: Tag '$TAG' does not exist locally."
+    echo "Please fetch tags first: git fetch --tags"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Generate release notes
+echo "Generating release notes for $TAG..."
+
+# Get the previous tag for comparison
+PREV_TAG=$(git tag -l 'v*' | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | sort -V | grep -B1 "^$TAG$" | head -1)
+
+if [ -n "$PREV_TAG" ] && [ "$PREV_TAG" != "$TAG" ]; then
+    echo "Comparing with previous tag: $PREV_TAG"
+    CHANGES=$(git log "$PREV_TAG..$TAG" --pretty=format:"- %s" --no-merges 2>/dev/null || echo "No changes found")
+else
+    echo "No previous tag found for comparison"
+    CHANGES=$(git log "$TAG" --pretty=format:"- %s" --no-merges -10 2>/dev/null || echo "No changes found")
+fi
+
+# Get tag message if annotated
+TAG_MESSAGE=$(git tag -l --format='%(contents)' "$TAG" 2>/dev/null | head -5 || echo "")
+
+# Create release notes
+RELEASE_NOTES="## Release $TAG
+
+"
+
+if [ -n "$TAG_MESSAGE" ]; then
+    RELEASE_NOTES+="$TAG_MESSAGE
+
+"
+fi
+
+RELEASE_NOTES+="### Changes
+
+$CHANGES
+
+### Artifacts
+
+Release artifacts are available on the [releases page](https://github.com/$REPO/releases/tag/$TAG).
+
+For container images, see the [container registry](https://console.cloud.google.com/gcr/images/k8s-staging-cloud-provider-gcp).
+
+---
+
+**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/$REPO/compare/${PREV_TAG:-$TAG}...$TAG
+"
+
+# Save release notes to temp file
+NOTES_FILE=$(mktemp)
+echo "$RELEASE_NOTES" > "$NOTES_FILE"
+
+echo ""
+echo "Release notes preview:"
+echo "---"
+cat "$NOTES_FILE"
+echo "---"
+echo ""
+
+# Confirm before proceeding
+read -p "Create release for $TAG? (y/N) " -n 1 -r
+echo
+if [[ ! $REPLY =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
+    echo "Aborted."
+    rm "$NOTES_FILE"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Create the release
+echo "Creating release for $TAG..."
+
+DRAFT_FLAG=""
+if [ "$DRAFT" = "true" ]; then
+    DRAFT_FLAG="--draft"
+    echo "Creating as draft release..."
+fi
+
+gh release create "$TAG" \
+    --repo "$REPO" \
+    --title "Release $TAG" \
+    --notes-file "$NOTES_FILE" \
+    $DRAFT_FLAG
+
+RELEASE_URL="https://github.com/$REPO/releases/tag/$TAG"
+echo ""
+echo "Release created successfully!"
+echo "URL: $RELEASE_URL"
+
+rm "$NOTES_FILE"