Changelog Automation

Patterns and tools for automating changelog generation, release notes, and version management following industry standards.

When to Use This Skill

• Setting up automated changelog generation
• Implementing Conventional Commits
• Creating release note workflows
• Standardizing commit message formats
• Generating GitHub/GitLab release notes
• Managing semantic versioning

Core Concepts

1. Keep a Changelog Format

# Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).

## [Unreleased]

### Added

- New feature X

## [1.2.0] - 2024-01-15

### Added

- User profile avatars
- Dark mode support

### Changed

- Improved loading performance by 40%

### Deprecated

- Old authentication API (use v2)

### Removed

- Legacy payment gateway

### Fixed

- Login timeout issue (#123)

### Security

- Updated dependencies for CVE-2024-1234

[Unreleased]: https://github.com/user/repo/compare/v1.2.0...HEAD
[1.2.0]: https://github.com/user/repo/compare/v1.1.0...v1.2.0

2. Conventional Commits

<type>[optional scope]: <description>

[optional body]

[optional footer(s)]

3. Semantic Versioning

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

MAJOR: Breaking changes (feat! or BREAKING CHANGE)
MINOR: New features (feat)
PATCH: Bug fixes (fix)

Implementation

Method 1: Conventional Changelog (Node.js)

# Install tools
npm install -D @commitlint/cli @commitlint/config-conventional
npm install -D husky
npm install -D standard-version
# or
npm install -D semantic-release

# Setup commitlint
cat > commitlint.config.js << 'EOF'
module.exports = {
  extends: ['@commitlint/config-conventional'],
  rules: {
    'type-enum': [
      2,
      'always',
      [
        'feat',
        'fix',
        'docs',
        'style',
        'refactor',
        'perf',
        'test',
        'chore',
        'ci',
        'build',
        'revert',
      ],
    ],
    'subject-case': [2, 'never', ['start-case', 'pascal-case', 'upper-case']],
    'subject-max-length': [2, 'always', 72],
  },
};
EOF

# Setup husky
npx husky init
echo "npx --no -- commitlint --edit \$1" > .husky/commit-msg

Method 2: standard-version Configuration

// .versionrc.js
module.exports = {
  types: [
    { type: "feat", section: "Features" },
    { type: "fix", section: "Bug Fixes" },
    { type: "perf", section: "Performance Improvements" },
    { type: "revert", section: "Reverts" },
    { type: "docs", section: "Documentation", hidden: true },
    { type: "style", section: "Styles", hidden: true },
    { type: "chore", section: "Miscellaneous", hidden: true },
    { type: "refactor", section: "Code Refactoring", hidden: true },
    { type: "test", section: "Tests", hidden: true },
    { type: "build", section: "Build System", hidden: true },
    { type: "ci", section: "CI/CD", hidden: true },
  ],
  commitUrlFormat: "{{host}}/{{owner}}/{{repository}}/commit/{{hash}}",
  compareUrlFormat:
    "{{host}}/{{owner}}/{{repository}}/compare/{{previousTag}}...{{currentTag}}",
  issueUrlFormat: "{{host}}/{{owner}}/{{repository}}/issues/{{id}}",
  userUrlFormat: "{{host}}/{{user}}",
  releaseCommitMessageFormat: "chore(release): {{currentTag}}",
  scripts: {
    prebump: 'echo "Running prebump"',
    postbump: 'echo "Running postbump"',
    prechangelog: 'echo "Running prechangelog"',
    postchangelog: 'echo "Running postchangelog"',
  },
};

// package.json scripts
{
  "scripts": {
    "release": "standard-version",
    "release:minor": "standard-version --release-as minor",
    "release:major": "standard-version --release-as major",
    "release:patch": "standard-version --release-as patch",
    "release:dry": "standard-version --dry-run"
  }
}

Method 3: semantic-release (Full Automation)

// release.config.js
module.exports = {
  branches: [
    "main",
    { name: "beta", prerelease: true },
    { name: "alpha", prerelease: true },
  ],
  plugins: [
    "@semantic-release/commit-analyzer",
    "@semantic-release/release-notes-generator",
    [
      "@semantic-release/changelog",
      {
        changelogFile: "CHANGELOG.md",
      },
    ],
    [
      "@semantic-release/npm",
      {
        npmPublish: true,
      },
    ],
    [
      "@semantic-release/github",
      {
        assets: ["dist/**/*.js", "dist/**/*.css"],
      },
    ],
    [
      "@semantic-release/git",
      {
        assets: ["CHANGELOG.md", "package.json"],
        message:
          "chore(release): ${nextRelease.version} [skip ci]\n\n${nextRelease.notes}",
      },
    ],
  ],
};

Method 4: GitHub Actions Workflow

# .github/workflows/release.yml
name: Release

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      release_type:
        description: "Release type"
        required: true
        default: "patch"
        type: choice
        options:
          - patch
          - minor
          - major

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"
          cache: "npm"

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Configure Git
        run: |
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"

      - name: Run semantic-release
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
        run: npx semantic-release

  # Alternative: manual release with standard-version
  manual-release:
    if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Configure Git
        run: |
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"

      - name: Bump version and generate changelog
        run: npx standard-version --release-as ${{ inputs.release_type }}

      - name: Push changes
        run: git push --follow-tags origin main

      - name: Create GitHub Release
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
        with:
          tag_name: ${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}
          body_path: RELEASE_NOTES.md
          generate_release_notes: true

Method 5: git-cliff (Rust-based, Fast)

# cliff.toml
[changelog]
header = """
# Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

"""
body = """
{% if version %}\
    ## [{{ version | trim_start_matches(pat="v") }}] - {{ timestamp | date(format="%Y-%m-%d") }}
{% else %}\
    ## [Unreleased]
{% endif %}\
{% for group, commits in commits | group_by(attribute="group") %}
    ### {{ group | upper_first }}
    {% for commit in commits %}
        - {% if commit.scope %}**{{ commit.scope }}:** {% endif %}\
            {{ commit.message | upper_first }}\
            {% if commit.github.pr_number %} ([#{{ commit.github.pr_number }}](https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/{{ commit.github.pr_number }})){% endif %}\
    {% endfor %}
{% endfor %}
"""
footer = """
{% for release in releases -%}
    {% if release.version -%}
        {% if release.previous.version -%}
            [{{ release.version | trim_start_matches(pat="v") }}]: \
                https://github.com/owner/repo/compare/{{ release.previous.version }}...{{ release.version }}
        {% endif -%}
    {% else -%}
        [unreleased]: https://github.com/owner/repo/compare/{{ release.previous.version }}...HEAD
    {% endif -%}
{% endfor %}
"""
trim = true

[git]
conventional_commits = true
filter_unconventional = true
split_commits = false
commit_parsers = [
    { message = "^feat", group = "Features" },
    { message = "^fix", group = "Bug Fixes" },
    { message = "^doc", group = "Documentation" },
    { message = "^perf", group = "Performance" },
    { message = "^refactor", group = "Refactoring" },
    { message = "^style", group = "Styling" },
    { message = "^test", group = "Testing" },
    { message = "^chore\\(release\\)", skip = true },
    { message = "^chore", group = "Miscellaneous" },
]
filter_commits = false
tag_pattern = "v[0-9]*"
skip_tags = ""
ignore_tags = ""
topo_order = false
sort_commits = "oldest"

[github]
owner = "owner"
repo = "repo"

# Generate changelog
git cliff -o CHANGELOG.md

# Generate for specific range
git cliff v1.0.0..v2.0.0 -o RELEASE_NOTES.md

# Preview without writing
git cliff --unreleased --dry-run

Method 6: Python (commitizen)

# pyproject.toml
[tool.commitizen]
name = "cz_conventional_commits"
version = "1.0.0"
version_files = [
    "pyproject.toml:version",
    "src/__init__.py:__version__",
]
tag_format = "v$version"
update_changelog_on_bump = true
changelog_incremental = true
changelog_start_rev = "v0.1.0"

[tool.commitizen.customize]
message_template = "{{change_type}}{% if scope %}({{scope}}){% endif %}: {{message}}"
schema = "<type>(<scope>): <subject>"
schema_pattern = "^(feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|perf|test|chore)(\\(\\w+\\))?:\\s.*"
bump_pattern = "^(feat|fix|perf|refactor)"
bump_map = {"feat" = "MINOR", "fix" = "PATCH", "perf" = "PATCH", "refactor" = "PATCH"}

# Install
pip install commitizen

# Create commit interactively
cz commit

# Bump version and update changelog
cz bump --changelog

# Check commits
cz check --rev-range HEAD~5..HEAD

Release Notes Templates

GitHub Release Template

## What's Changed

### 🚀 Features

{{ range .Features }}

- {{ .Title }} by @{{ .Author }} in #{{ .PR }}
  {{ end }}

### 🐛 Bug Fixes

{{ range .Fixes }}

- {{ .Title }} by @{{ .Author }} in #{{ .PR }}
  {{ end }}

### 📚 Documentation

{{ range .Docs }}

- {{ .Title }} by @{{ .Author }} in #{{ .PR }}
  {{ end }}

### 🔧 Maintenance

{{ range .Chores }}

- {{ .Title }} by @{{ .Author }} in #{{ .PR }}
  {{ end }}

## New Contributors

{{ range .NewContributors }}

- @{{ .Username }} made their first contribution in #{{ .PR }}
  {{ end }}

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/owner/repo/compare/v{{ .Previous }}...v{{ .Current }}

Internal Release Notes

# Release v2.1.0 - January 15, 2024

## Summary

This release introduces dark mode support and improves checkout performance
by 40%. It also includes important security updates.

## Highlights

### 🌙 Dark Mode

Users can now switch to dark mode from settings. The preference is
automatically saved and synced across devices.

### ⚡ Performance

- Checkout flow is 40% faster
- Reduced bundle size by 15%

## Breaking Changes

None in this release.

## Upgrade Guide

No special steps required. Standard deployment process applies.

## Known Issues

- Dark mode may flicker on initial load (fix scheduled for v2.1.1)

## Dependencies Updated

| Package | From    | To      | Reason                   |
| ------- | ------- | ------- | ------------------------ |
| react   | 18.2.0  | 18.3.0  | Performance improvements |
| lodash  | 4.17.20 | 4.17.21 | Security patch           |

Commit Message Examples

# Feature with scope
feat(auth): add OAuth2 support for Google login

# Bug fix with issue reference
fix(checkout): resolve race condition in payment processing

Closes #123

# Breaking change
feat(api)!: change user endpoint response format

BREAKING CHANGE: The user endpoint now returns `userId` instead of `id`.
Migration guide: Update all API consumers to use the new field name.

# Multiple paragraphs
fix(database): handle connection timeouts gracefully

Previously, connection timeouts would cause the entire request to fail
without retry. This change implements exponential backoff with up to
3 retries before failing.

The timeout threshold has been increased from 5s to 10s based on p99
latency analysis.

Fixes #456
Reviewed-by: @alice

Best Practices

Do’s

• Follow Conventional Commits – Enables automation
• Write clear messages – Future you will thank you
• Reference issues – Link commits to tickets
• Use scopes consistently – Define team conventions
• Automate releases – Reduce manual errors

Don’ts

• Don’t mix changes – One logical change per commit
• Don’t skip validation – Use commitlint
• Don’t manual edit – Generated changelogs only
• Don’t forget breaking changes – Mark with ! or footer
• Don’t ignore CI – Validate commits in pipeline

Resources

• Keep a Changelog
• Conventional Commits
• Semantic Versioning
• semantic-release
• git-cliff