DEV Community: Stamper Labs

Semantic Versioning with Jreleaser and Upcoming4j

German Valencia — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 19:04:17 +0000

While working with semantic-release npm package to fully automate application releases in Nodejs, I got used to an out-of-the-box workflow where conventional commits drive version calculation, git tagging, changelog generation, GitHub releases, and CI-safe publishing.

When I switched to gradle-java projects, I could not find an equivalent solution. After researching the ecosystem, Jreleaser stood out as the most complete tool available for creating Git tags, generating changelogs, and publishing GitHub releases. However, it expects the version to be predefined.

That gap led me to create Upcoming4j, a lightweight gradle plugin focused solely on semantic version calculation, designed to integrate seamlessly with Jreleaser to fully automate software versioning.

In the following step-by-step guide, I will show how to integrate JReleaser and Upcoming4j to automatically increment version numbers, create Git tags, generate changelogs, and publish GitHub releases based on Git commit history using semantic versioning.

Prerequisites

Install Sdkman
Install JDK 21

$ sdk install java 21.0.9-amzn
$ java --version

Install git

$ brew install git
$ git --version

Step 1: Download Playground Gradle-Java Project `u4j-playground`

Download and unzip the playground project into your local file system. This is a gradle-java project that will be used to demonstrate how to integrate JReleaser and Upcoming4j in practice.

Step 2: Install and Configure `Jreleaser` Plugin

JReleaser uses a hosted Git repository to create Git tags and publish releases. Create a new repository on your GitHub account and follow the instructions to link your local playground project to the remote repository.
Download the Jreleaser Configuration file, and place it in the following location: /u4j-playground/gradle/jreleaser.gradle.
Open the /u4j-playground/build.gradle file to install and apply Jreleaser configuration. The file should look like this now:

plugins {
    id 'application'
    // install JReleaser plugin
    id 'org.jreleaser' version '1.22.0'
}

// Apply JReleaser configuration
apply from: 'gradle/jreleaser.gradle'

// Set a harcoded version for now
version = '1.0.0'

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    testImplementation libs.junit.jupiter
    testRuntimeOnly 'org.junit.platform:junit-platform-launcher'
    implementation libs.guava
}

java {
    toolchain {
        languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(21)
    }
}

application {
    mainClass = 'org.example.App'
}

tasks.named('test') {
    useJUnitPlatform()
}

Step 4: Verify `Jreleaser` Configuration

Create a Personal Access Token in Github, and export the token using the following environment variable:

$ export JRELEASER_GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token

Run JReleaser in --dryrun mode to preview the release steps without making any changes:

$ ./gradlew clean jreleaserRelease --no-configuration-cache --stacktrace --dryrun

Check logs to verify outcomes:

Notice that even in --dryrun mode, Jreleaser requires PAT being exported.

Notice that JReleaser is not yet fully compliant with Gradle’s configuration cache. Therefore --no-configuration-cache flag is being used.

Step 5: Install and Apply `Upcoming4j` Plugin

Open /u4j-playground/build.gradle file and install Upcoming4j plugin, the file should look like this now:

plugins {
    id 'application'
    // install JReleaser plugin
    id 'org.jreleaser' version '1.22.0'
    // Install Upcoming4j plugin
    id 'io.github.sttamper.upcoming4j' version '0.0.4'
}

// Apply JReleaser configuration
apply from: 'gradle/jreleaser.gradle'

// Set up next version with Upcoming4j
version = nx()

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    testImplementation libs.junit.jupiter
    testRuntimeOnly 'org.junit.platform:junit-platform-launcher'
    implementation libs.guava
}

java {
    toolchain {
        languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(21)
    }
}

application {
    mainClass = 'org.example.App'
}

tasks.named('test') {
    useJUnitPlatform()
}

Step 5: Verify `Upcoming4j` Configuration

Upcoming4j computes the next semantic version during Gradle’s configuration phase, ensuring that the correct version is always available in the version property of the build.gradle file.

Clean project:

 ./gradlew clean

Check Upcoming4j logs to confirm version calculation:

Final Step: Bump The Next Semantic Version

Now you can run JReleaser to create the next release version calculated by Upcoming4j, based on the analysis of the commit history:

./gradlew clean jreleaserRelease --no-configuration-cache --stacktrace

Customizing MacOS Terminal with Starship Like a Pro

German Valencia — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 04:50:29 +0000

As terminal applications grow more powerful and complex, managing multiple CLIs and their different versions becomes increasingly challenging. Customizing your terminal can make a big difference, helping you handle several tools at once without getting lost in the clutter.

I previously relied on Oh My Zsh for prompt customization, but recently switched to Starship because it provides a simpler declarative approach to customization. So in this post, I will walk through how to build a clean starship prompt, including dynamic context for:

AWS profiles
Java (Gradle)
Node.js

Getting Started

Install Homebrew
Install Iterm2

Step 1: Install Starship

brew install starship

Step 2: Integrate Starship with Zsh

Open .zshrc for edition:

nano ~/.zshrc

Add the following line to load starship on every zsh session:

eval "$(starship init zsh)"

Step 3 (Optional): Install Zsh Plugins

The following plugins are optional, but they enhance your terminal experience by highlighting commands in real time and providing suggestions based on your command history and current input:

brew install zsh-syntax-highlighting
brew install zsh-autosuggestions

Open .zshrc for edition:

nano ~/.zshrc

Add following lines to load plugins on every zsh session:

source $(brew --prefix)/share/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
source $(brew --prefix)/share/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh

Step 4: Install Nerd Fonts

To ensure terminal can correctly render icons and custom glyphs, you need to install a Nerd Font:

brew search font-fira-code-nerd-font
brew install --cask font-fira-code-nerd-font

Step 5: Setting Terminal Font

Update your terminal settings to use a Nerd Font:

Iterm2

Navigate to: Settings > Profiles > Default > General

Option	Value
Terminal Font	FiraCode Nerd Font

Visual Studio Code integrated terminal

Navigate to: Settings > User

Option	Value
terminal.integrated.fontFamily	FiraCode Nerd Font
editor.fontFamily	Menlo, Monaco, 'Courier New', monospace, 'FiraCode Nerd Font’

MacOS native terminal

Navigate to: Settings > Profiles > Text

Option	Value
Font	FiraCode Nerd Font

Step 6: Customize Starship Theme

Create and open the starship.toml configuration file for edition:

mkdir -p ~/.config && nano ~/.config/starship.toml

Next, download the Starship configuration from the following GitHub Gist:

Starship Configuration GitHub Gist

Replace the contents of starship.toml file with the configuration from the gist, then save the file and restart the terminal.

Last Step: Play With The New Prompt

AWS profiles

In the example below, after running export AWS_PROFILE=root, Starship reflects the currently active AWS account directly in the prompt:

Starship displays the active AWS profile: root
The terminal prompt also shows the active AWS region: us-east-1 (Virginia)

NodeJS projects

The following example shows how changing the Node.js version using NVM (nvm use) is reflected in Starship:

Starship automatically updates the prompt to display the active Node.js version.
Starship also shows useful Git repository information, such as the current branch and an icon indicating modified files.

Java and Gradle projects

In the following example, observe how Starship displays information about the current environment in a Java application directory:

The active Java version currently in use.
The active Gradle version.
Additional contextual information, such as the active AWS profile and region, when those tools are enabled.

Enjoy it!