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://