You can run `make gorelease` that runs [gorelease](https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/exp/cmd/gorelease) to ensure that there are no unwanted changes done in the public API.
You can check/report problems with `gorelease` [here](https://golang.org/issues/26420).
If the changes in the main repository are going to affect the contrib repository, it is important to verify that the changes are compatible with the contrib repository.
Follow [the steps](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/blob/main/RELEASING.md#verify-otel-changes) in the contrib repository to verify OTel changes.
- Make sure the new section is under the comment for released section, like `<!-- Released section -->`, so it is protected from being overwritten in the future.
4. Push the changes to upstream and create a Pull Request on GitHub.
Be sure to include the curated changes from the [Changelog](./CHANGELOG.md) in the description.
## Tag
Once the Pull Request with all the version changes has been approved and merged it is time to tag the merged commit.
***IMPORTANT***: It is critical you use the same tag that you used in the Pre-Release step!
Failure to do so will leave things in a broken state. As long as you do not
change `versions.yaml` between pre-release and this step, things should be fine.
***IMPORTANT***: [There is currently no way to remove an incorrectly tagged version of a Go module](https://github.com/golang/go/issues/34189).
It is critical you make sure the version you push upstream is correct.
[Failure to do so will lead to minor emergencies and tough to work around](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/issues/331).
1. For each module set that will be released, run the `add-tags` make target
using the `<commit-hash>` of the commit on the main branch for the merged Pull Request.
```
make add-tags MODSET=<moduleset> COMMIT=<commithash>
```
It should only be necessary to provide an explicit `COMMIT` value if the
current `HEAD` of your working directory is not the correct commit.
2. Push tags to the upstream remote (not your fork: `github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go.git`).
Make sure you push all sub-modules as well.
```
git push upstream <newtag>
git push upstream <submodules-path/newtag>
...
```
## Release
Finally create a Release for the new `<new tag>` on GitHub.
The release body should include all the release notes from the Changelog for this release.
## Verify Examples
After releasing verify that examples build outside of the repository.
```
./verify_examples.sh
```
The script copies examples into a different directory removes any `replace` declarations in `go.mod` and builds them.
This ensures they build with the published release, not the local copy.
## Post-Release
### Contrib Repository
Once verified be sure to [make a release for the `contrib` repository](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/blob/main/RELEASING.md) that uses this release.