@@ -113,6 +113,34 @@ Generate a **changelog** along with the new version and tag when bumping.
113113cz bump --changelog
114114` ` `
115115
116+ # ## `--prerelease`
117+
118+ The bump is a pre-release bump, meaning that in addition to a possible version bump the new version receives a
119+ pre-release segment compatible with the bump’s version scheme, where the segment consist of a _phase_ and a
120+ non-negative number. Supported options for ` --prerelease` are the following phase names ` ` , ` ` , or
121+ ` ` (release candidate). For more details, refer to the
122+ [Python Packaging User Guide](https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/specifications/version-specifiers/# pre-releases).
123+
124+ Note that as per [semantic versioning spec](https://semver.org/# spec-item-9)
125+
126+ > Pre-release versions have a lower precedence than the associated normal version. A pre-release version
127+ > indicates that the version is unstable and might not satisfy the intended compatibility requirements
128+ > as denoted by its associated normal version.
129+
130+ For example, the following versions (using the [PEP 440](https://peps.python.org/pep-0440/) scheme) are ordered
131+ by their precedence and showcase how a release might flow through a development cycle:
132+
133+ - ` 1.0.0`
134+ - ` 1.0.1a0` ` fix:` for pre-release
135+ - ` 1.1.0a1` ` feat:` for pre-release
136+ - ` 1.1.0b0`
137+ - ` 1.1.0rc0`
138+ - ` 1.1.0`
139+
140+ Also note that bumping pre-releases _maintains linearity_: bumping of a pre-release with lower precedence than
141+ the current pre-release phase maintains the current phase of higher precedence. For example, if the current
142+ version is ` 1.0.0b1` then bumping with ` --prerelease alpha` continue to bump the "beta" phase.
143+
116144# ## `--check-consistency`
117145
118146Check whether the versions defined in ` version_files` in commitizen
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