Changelog Generator

This skill transforms technical git commits into polished, user-friendly changelogs that your customers and users will actually understand and appreciate.

When to Use This Skill

• •Preparing release notes for a new version
• •Creating weekly or monthly product update summaries
• •Documenting changes for customers
• •Writing changelog entries for app store submissions
• •Generating update notifications
• •Creating internal release documentation
• •Maintaining a public changelog/product updates page

What This Skill Does

1. •Scans Git History: Analyzes commits from a specific time period or between versions
2. •Categorizes Changes: Groups commits into logical categories (features, improvements, bug fixes, breaking changes, security)
3. •Translates Technical → User-Friendly: Converts developer commits into customer language
4. •Formats Professionally: Creates clean, structured changelog entries
5. •Filters Noise: Excludes internal commits (refactoring, tests, etc.)
6. •Follows Best Practices: Applies changelog guidelines and your brand voice

How to Use

Basic Usage

From your project repository:

Create a changelog from commits since last release

Generate changelog for all commits from the past week

Create release notes for version 2.5.0

With Specific Date Range

Create a changelog for all commits between March 1 and March 15

With Custom Guidelines

Create a changelog for commits since v2.4.0, using my changelog 
guidelines from CHANGELOG_STYLE.md

Instructions

When creating a changelog:

1. •

   Analyze Git History

   • •Use git log to retrieve commit messages for the specified time period
   • •Default to commits since the last tag if no range specified
   • •Look for commit conventions (Conventional Commits, semantic versioning tags)
2. •

   Categorize Commits

   • •✨ New Features: New capabilities or functionality
   • •🔧 Improvements: Enhancements to existing features
   • •🐛 Bug Fixes: Corrections to defects
   • •⚠️ Breaking Changes: Changes that require user action
   • •🔒 Security: Security-related fixes or improvements
   • •📚 Documentation: Documentation updates (usually exclude from user-facing changelog)
   • •🧹 Internal: Refactoring, tests, build changes (exclude from user-facing changelog)
3. •

   Transform Technical → User Language

   • •Focus on what changed for the user, not how it was implemented
   • •Use active voice and present tense
   • •Explain the benefit, not the implementation
   • •Replace technical jargon with plain language

   Examples:

   • •

     ❌ "Refactored authentication service to use JWT tokens"

   • •

     ✅ "Faster, more secure login experience"

   • •

     ❌ "Added Redis caching layer to API endpoints"

   • •

     ✅ "Pages load 50% faster"

   • •

     ❌ "Implemented debounce on search input component"

   • •

     ✅ "Search now responds instantly as you type"

4. •

   Format the Changelog

   • •Use clear section headers with emojis for visual scanning
   • •Start with most impactful changes (features, breaking changes)
   • •Use bold for the feature name, then explain in plain language
   • •Keep entries concise (1-2 sentences)
   • •Group related changes together
5. •

   Apply Filters

   • •Exclude commits marked as chore:, test:, docs:, refactor: (unless user-facing)
   • •Skip merge commits and version bump commits
   • •Combine multiple commits about the same feature into one entry
   • •Remove developer-only changes
6. •

   Add Context

   • •Include the date or version number in the title
   • •Add a brief introduction if it's a major release
   • •Link to detailed documentation for breaking changes
   • •Include migration guides when relevant

Example

User: "Create a changelog for commits from the past 7 days"

Output:

# Updates - Week of March 10, 2024

## ✨ New Features

- **Team Workspaces**: Create separate workspaces for different 
  projects. Invite team members and keep everything organized.

- **Keyboard Shortcuts**: Press ? to see all available shortcuts. 
  Navigate faster without touching your mouse.

## 🔧 Improvements

- **Faster Sync**: Files now sync 2x faster across devices
- **Better Search**: Search now includes file contents, not just titles

## 🐛 Fixes

- Fixed issue where large images wouldn't upload
- Resolved timezone confusion in scheduled posts
- Corrected notification badge count

Inspired by: Manik Aggarwal's use case from Lenny's Newsletter

Changelog Best Practices

Writing Style

• •User-focused: Explain what changed for the user, not the code
• •Benefit-oriented: Lead with why this matters
• •Concise: Keep entries to 1-2 sentences
• •Scannable: Use formatting to help users find what they care about

Structure

• •Consistent categorization: Use the same categories every time
• •Most important first: Features and breaking changes before bug fixes
• •Chronological within categories: Newest changes first
• •Visual hierarchy: Use headers, bold text, and emojis effectively

Content Guidelines

• •Be specific: "Fixed login issues" → "Fixed issue where login failed with Google accounts"
• •Quantify when possible: "Faster loading" → "Pages load 50% faster"
• •Include context: Explain why changes were made for major updates
• •Link to details: Reference documentation or migration guides for complex changes

Tips

• •Run from your git repository root
• •Specify date ranges for focused changelogs
• •Use your CHANGELOG_STYLE.md for consistent formatting
• •Review and adjust the generated changelog before publishing
• •Save output directly to CHANGELOG.md

Related Use Cases

• •Creating GitHub release notes
• •Writing app store update descriptions
• •Generating email updates for users
• •Creating social media announcement posts

Example Transformations

Technical Commit → User-Friendly Entry

Category Examples

✨ New Features

• •New capabilities that didn't exist before
• •Major additions to functionality
• •New integrations or platform support

🔧 Improvements

• •Performance enhancements
• •UI/UX refinements
• •Expanded existing functionality
• •Better error messages

🐛 Bug Fixes

• •Corrections to existing features
• •Resolution of reported issues
• •Fixes to edge cases

⚠️ Breaking Changes

• •Changes requiring user action
• •Removed features or APIs
• •Changes to default behavior
• •Migration steps required

🔒 Security

• •Security patches
• •Permission improvements
• •Authentication enhancements
• •Data protection updates