Github, how to build a Release zip file

[Tyko]

I'm new to github and trying to find a tutorial or advice on the easiest way to create my release zip file. Currently I'm building it in my file browser, zipping it then uploading the zip when I create a new release.

Since Github is letting me update my files I'm guessing there might be a tool that tells Github to bundle all my changes up into a new release. I just can't find it.

Thanks!

Edited November 27, 2018 by Tyko

[Lisias]

You are doing it the way I do. I just automated part of the process, but essentially, it's what you are doing.

When you create a Release (and a TAG), GitHub also creates automatically a Source Code "tarrbal" (and a zip too). If all what your add-on contains is assets (textures, sounds, etc) and CFGs, (and readmes, etc) you can use that as distribution files and save some work. The filename is a little weird for a distribution file, but it will do,  

[stibbons]

For creating a release archive from a git repository, I use git archive. At its simplest, from the root of your repository, you can run something like this to create a zip file without all of the extra repository junk.

git archive -o ../MyAwesomeMod-version.zip --prefix=MyAwesomeMod HEAD

Things get more complicated if you're building a plugin. For that, probably best to just write a script that assembles all the bits you need in a staging directory and zips it up.