changelog-automation

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)]

Type	Description	Changelog Section
feat	New feature	Added
fix	Bug fix	Fixed
docs	Documentation	(usually excluded)
style	Formatting	(usually excluded)
refactor	Code restructure	Changed
perf	Performance	Changed
test	Tests	(usually excluded)
chore	Maintenance	(usually excluded)
ci	CI changes	(usually excluded)
build	Build system	(usually excluded)
revert	Revert commit	Removed

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 =

---

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