Handling uncategorized issues

An issue is uncategorized when none of its labels match a key in categories. The uncategorized field controls what ReleaseJet does when it finds one.

lenient — include under "Other"

The default. Uncategorized issues are appended to the release notes under an "Other" heading. generate prints a warning listing the affected issue numbers, then continues.

uncategorized: lenient

Use when you want a safety net — the release still ships even if someone forgets to label an issue.

strict — fail the release

generate aborts with a non-zero exit code the moment it hits an uncategorized issue. No release notes are written, no release is published.

uncategorized: strict

Use when labeling hygiene is part of your release checklist — teams with defined triage workflows, or CI jobs that should fail loudly when an issue slips through.

CLI output

Lenient:

⚠ 2 uncategorized issues included under "Other": #57, #61
✓ Release notes generated

Strict:

✗ Found 2 uncategorized issues. Add a matching label and re-run.
  #57 "Document the new API"
  #61 "Refactor the token resolver"

Tips

• Use releasejet validate during triage to find uncategorized issues before cutting a tag.
• If an issue genuinely doesn't fit any category, add a label like chore and map it to "Other" in categories — this keeps strict mode happy.