Add --dry-run option and recognize KEY-N: subject prefix

README.md

@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ linear-release update --stage="in review" --name="Release 1.2.0"
 | `--release-notes-file` | `sync`, `complete`, `update` | Same as `--release-notes` but reads from a file. Use `-` for stdin.                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
 | `--base-ref`           | `sync`                       | Override the scan base. Exclusive: scans `<base-ref>..HEAD`.                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
 | `--json`               | `sync`, `complete`, `update` | Output result as JSON on stdout. Logs are emitted as JSON Lines (one object per line) on stderr.                                                                                                                                                                     |
+| `--dry-run`            | `sync`, `complete`, `update` | Scan commits and call read-only Linear APIs (e.g. recent releases, pipeline settings), but skip the create/update mutations. Logs the action that would have been taken. No release is created or modified.                                                          |
 | `--quiet`              | `sync`, `complete`, `update` | Suppress info-level output. Warnings and errors are still printed.                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
 | `--verbose`            | `sync`, `complete`, `update` | Print detailed progress including debug diagnostics                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
 | `--timeout`            | `sync`, `complete`, `update` | Max duration in seconds before aborting (default: 60)                                                                                                                                                                                                                |

src/args.test.ts

@@ -63,6 +63,16 @@ describe("parseCLIArgs", () => {
     expect(result.jsonOutput).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("defaults --dry-run to false", () => {
+    const result = parseCLIArgs([]);
+    expect(result.dryRun).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("parses --dry-run to true when passed", () => {
+    const result = parseCLIArgs(["--dry-run"]);
+    expect(result.dryRun).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("splits --include-paths by comma and trims whitespace", () => {
     const result = parseCLIArgs(["--include-paths", "apps/web/** , packages/** , libs/core/**"]);
     expect(result.includePaths).toEqual(["apps/web/**", "packages/**", "libs/core/**"]);

src/args.ts

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ export type ParsedCLIArgs = {
   documents: ReleaseDocumentSpec[];
   releaseNotes?: ReleaseNoteSpec;
   jsonOutput: boolean;
+  dryRun: boolean;
   timeoutSeconds: number;
   logLevel: LogLevel;
 };
@@ -138,6 +139,7 @@ export function parseCLIArgs(argv: string[]): ParsedCLIArgs {
       "release-notes": { type: "string", multiple: true },
       "release-notes-file": { type: "string", multiple: true },
       json: { type: "boolean", default: false },
+      "dry-run": { type: "boolean", default: false },
       timeout: { type: "string" },
       quiet: { type: "boolean", default: false },
       verbose: { type: "boolean", default: false },
@@ -228,6 +230,7 @@ export function parseCLIArgs(argv: string[]): ParsedCLIArgs {
     documents,
     releaseNotes,
     jsonOutput: values.json ?? false,
+    dryRun: values["dry-run"] ?? false,
     timeoutSeconds,
     logLevel,
   };

src/extractors.test.ts

@@ -220,13 +220,13 @@ describe("commit message magic word behavior", () => {
     expect(ids(result)).toEqual(["LIN-123"]);
   });
 
-  it("does not extract key in title without keyword", () => {
+  it("extracts KEY-N: prefix at the start of the subject", () => {
     const result = extractLinearIssueIdentifiersForCommit({
       sha: "abc",
       branchName: null,
       message: "LIN-123: Fix something",
     });
-    expect(ids(result)).toEqual([]);
+    expect(ids(result)).toEqual(["LIN-123"]);
   });
 
   it.each([
@@ -444,6 +444,24 @@ describe("bracketed identifier in commit subject", () => {
     expect(ids(result)).toEqual(["ENG-123"]);
   });
 
+  it("extracts identifier from a KEY-N: prefix (colon then space)", () => {
+    const result = extractLinearIssueIdentifiersForCommit({
+      sha: "abc",
+      branchName: null,
+      message: "ENG-123: My change",
+    });
+    expect(ids(result)).toEqual(["ENG-123"]);
+  });
+
+  it("does not extract KEY-N: prefix without a space after the colon", () => {
+    const result = extractLinearIssueIdentifiersForCommit({
+      sha: "abc",
+      branchName: null,
+      message: "ENG-123:my change",
+    });
+    expect(ids(result)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("does not extract bare prefix when the subject does not start with it", () => {
     const result = extractLinearIssueIdentifiersForCommit({
       sha: "abc",

src/extractors.ts

@@ -46,8 +46,10 @@ const COMMON_SUBJECT_PATTERNS: RegExp[] = [
   new RegExp(`^\\s*\\[(\\w{1,${MAX_KEY_LENGTH}})-([0-9]{1,9})\\]`, "i"),
   // `(ENG-123) My change`
   new RegExp(`^\\s*\\((\\w{1,${MAX_KEY_LENGTH}})-([0-9]{1,9})\\)`, "i"),
-  // `ENG-123 My change`
-  new RegExp(`^\\s*(\\w{1,${MAX_KEY_LENGTH}})-([0-9]{1,9})(?=\\s)`, "i"),
+  // `ENG-123 My change` or `ENG-123: My change` (colon is allowed before the
+  // whitespace; `ENG-123:foo` without the space stays unmatched to keep the
+  // delimiter unambiguous).
+  new RegExp(`^\\s*(\\w{1,${MAX_KEY_LENGTH}})-([0-9]{1,9})(?=:?\\s)`, "i"),
 ];
 
 /**

src/index.ts

@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ Options:
   --base-ref=<ref>           Override sync scan base (exclusive; scans <ref>..HEAD)
   --timeout=<seconds>        Abort if the operation exceeds this duration (default: 60)
   --json                     Output result as JSON (logs emitted as JSON Lines on stderr)
+  --dry-run                  Scan and call read-only Linear APIs, but skip create/update mutations
   --quiet                    Suppress info-level output (warnings and errors still printed)
   --verbose                  Print detailed progress including debug diagnostics
   -v, --version              Show version number
@@ -119,6 +120,7 @@ const {
   documents: documentSpecs,
   releaseNotes: releaseNotesSpec,
   jsonOutput,
+  dryRun,
   timeoutSeconds,
   logLevel,
 } = parsedArgs;
@@ -358,6 +360,21 @@ async function syncCommand(): Promise<{
 
   const repoInfo = getRepoInfo();
 
+  const issueIds = issueReferences.map((f) => f.identifier);
+  const parts: string[] = [];
+  if (issueIds.length > 0) parts.push(`issues [${issueIds.join(", ")}]`);
+  if (prNumbers.length > 0) parts.push(`pull requests [${prNumbers.map((n) => `#${n}`).join(", ")}]`);
+  const scanned = parts.length > 0 ? parts.join(", ") : "no new issues or pull requests";
+
+  if (dryRun) {
+    const targetName = releaseName ?? "(server-assigned)";
+    const versionPart = releaseVersion ? `version: ${releaseVersion}` : "no version set";
+    info(
+      `[dry-run] Would sync release ${targetName} (${versionPart}): ${scanned}${formatLinkSummary(links)}${formatDocumentsSummary(documents)}${formatReleaseNotesSummary(releaseNotes)}`,
+    );
+    return null;
+  }
+
   const release = await syncRelease(
     issueReferences,
     revertedIssueReferences,
@@ -368,11 +385,6 @@ async function syncCommand(): Promise<{
     documents,
     releaseNotes,
   );
-  const issueIds = issueReferences.map((f) => f.identifier);
-  const parts: string[] = [];
-  if (issueIds.length > 0) parts.push(`issues [${issueIds.join(", ")}]`);
-  if (prNumbers.length > 0) parts.push(`pull requests [${prNumbers.map((n) => `#${n}`).join(", ")}]`);
-  const scanned = parts.length > 0 ? parts.join(", ") : "no new issues or pull requests";
   info(
     `Synced to release ${release.name} (${formatVersion(release)}): ${scanned}${formatLinkSummary(links)}${formatDocumentsSummary(documents)}${formatReleaseNotesSummary(releaseNotes)}`,
   );
@@ -398,6 +410,15 @@ async function completeCommand(): Promise<{
   const currentCommit = await getCurrentGitInfo();
   const commitSha = currentCommit.commit;
 
+  if (dryRun) {
+    const targetName = releaseName ?? "(current release)";
+    const versionPart = releaseVersion ? `version: ${releaseVersion}` : "no version set";
+    info(
+      `[dry-run] Would complete release ${targetName} (${versionPart})${formatLinkSummary(links)}${formatDocumentsSummary(documents)}${formatReleaseNotesSummary(releaseNotes)}`,
+    );
+    return null;
+  }
+
   const result = await completeRelease({
     name: releaseName,
     version: releaseVersion,
@@ -435,6 +456,15 @@ async function updateCommand(): Promise<{
     throw new Error("--stage=<stage-name> is required for the update command");
   }
 
+  if (dryRun) {
+    const targetName = releaseName ?? "(current release)";
+    const versionPart = releaseVersion ? `version: ${releaseVersion}` : "no version set";
+    info(
+      `[dry-run] Would update release ${targetName} (${versionPart}) to stage ${stageName}${formatLinkSummary(links)}${formatDocumentsSummary(documents)}${formatReleaseNotesSummary(releaseNotes)}`,
+    );
+    return null;
+  }
+
   let result;
   try {
     result = await updateReleaseByPipeline({