version_files not working

[WinnieS0728]

Description

I'm using commitizen in a expo + react-native project
I do cz init and make a .cz.json like this

{
  "commitizen": {
    "name": "cz_conventional_commits",
    "tag_format": "test-$version",
    "version_scheme": "semver",
    "version": "3.2.4",
    "update_changelog_on_bump": true,
    "version_files": [
      "package.json:version",
      "app.json:expo.version"
    ]
  }
}

btw I select commitizen(default) not npm in source of the version

then I do cz commit and cz bump
everything finish
version in .cz.json did update
but version in package.json and app.json not update

I'm not sure is it a bug or not,
maybe is something I missed in configuration?
or is a syntax error?

Steps to reproduce

1. run cz init.
2. select
   • .cz.json
   • cz_conventional_commits(default)
   • commitizen(default)
   • Y (latest tag)
   • semver
   • n (correct tag format)
   • test-$version
   • Y (auto changelog)
   • enter (with no hooks)
3. manually setting version_files in .cz.json
4. create new commit
5. run cz bump

Current behavior

after I setting package.json:version and app.json:expo.version
I think these 2 files will update the correct version
same as the version in .cz.json
but not

Desired behavior

I want these 3 files update with same and correct version

• package.json (version)
• app.json (expo.version)
• .cz.json (version)

Screenshots

No response

Environment

Commitizen Version: 4.4.1
Python Version: 3.13.2 (main, Feb 4 2025, 14:51:09) [Clang 16.0.0 (clang-1600.0.26.6)]
Operating System: Darwin

[kamilgajekdxc]

Hello
I have the same problem. Did you manage to fix it?

Edit
I managed to solve this problem by trial and error - it's a pity that it is not clearly described in the documentation, or cz bump does not have a debug option, which will indicate problematic elements.

In a situation where I have set the cz.toml configuration file in the root folder
in order for the versions in the listed files to be updated correctly, you should:

• include the version in the cz.toml file

• the version included in cz.toml must match the versions in the other files (in a situation where the versions in the files differ, they will not be updated)

[tool.commitizen]
name = "cz_conventional_commits"
tag_format = "$version"
version_scheme = "semver"
version = "1.6.5-b23"
update_changelog_on_bump = false
major_version_zero = false
annotated_tag = false
version_files = [
    "package.json:version",
    "src/package.json:version",
    "src/pyproject.toml:version"
]

Another solution was to have pyproject.toml (or the appropriate manifest for configuration) in the root folder, which contained only information about the version

[tool.poetry]
version = "1.6.5-b23"

cz by default searches for the location in search of the manifest file.

[WinnieS0728]

thank you for solving the problem.
I'm now using commitizen npm package and semantic-release

I will try this later.

[Lee-W]

Hey, sorry for the late reply.

may I know what the format of

      "package.json:version",
      "app.json:expo.version"

it needs to be in the same line like

    "version": ...

if they're set in the version_file, we do not detect package.json app.json if using default provider. we only use string matching to find the line contains string version and the app version