Clean Changesets

Remove changeset files that were already released on main and should not be included in the next branch's pre-release versioning.

SCOPE: Do not spawn tasks/sub-agents.

Prerequisites

• The working directory is the repo root, checked out on the merge branch.
• Dependencies may NOT be installed yet — do not run any pnpm commands that require node_modules.

Background

When main is merged into next, changeset files (.changeset/*.md) that were consumed by a release on main may still appear as new files on next if the next branch diverged before that release. These stale changesets cause pre-release versions on next to include version bumps that were already released as stable versions, leading to version conflicts like @astrojs/sitemap@3.6.1-beta.3 being published after @astrojs/sitemap@3.7.0.

Steps

1. Identify stale changesets. Compare the changeset files on this branch against what exists on origin/next:

   # List changeset .md files that are new (not in next already)
   git diff --name-only --diff-filter=A origin/next -- .changeset/
   

2. Check each new changeset. For each file found:

   • Read the file contents to see which packages it bumps
   • Check if those bumps have already been released on main by looking at the current versions in package.json files on origin/main
   • A changeset is stale if the version bump it describes has already been released

3. Also check pre.json. Read .changeset/pre.json if it exists. This file tracks the pre-release state. Ensure it does not reference any changesets that should be removed.

4. Remove stale changesets. Delete the identified files:

   git rm .changeset/<stale-file>.md
   

5. Verify. Check that the remaining changeset .md files look valid (proper frontmatter with package names and bump types).

6. Do NOT commit or run pnpm install — the orchestrator will handle that.

Important Notes

• Do NOT remove changesets that are specific to next (ones that describe major version changes or new features being developed on next).
• Do NOT remove the .changeset/config.json file.
• Do NOT remove .changeset/pre.json — it's needed for pre-release mode.
• If unsure whether a changeset is stale, err on the side of keeping it. A human reviewer can remove it later.

Output

Return the list of changeset files that were removed.