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Changelog Generator

  • 593 installs
  • 23.5k repo stars
  • Updated July 17, 2026
  • alirezarezvani/claude-skills

changelog-generator is a release engineering skill that turns Conventional Commits between git tags into Keep a Changelog markdown or JSON and lints commit subjects for developers who cut semver releases in CI.

About

changelog-generator is an alirezarezvani engineering skill that automates release notes from Conventional Commits with Keep a Changelog output and strict commit-subject linting for CI-friendly release workflows. It bundles two Python scripts: generate_changelog.py parses commits between tags, infers semver bumps, renders markdown or JSON, and can prepend CHANGELOG files; commit_linter.py validates commit subjects against Conventional Commits rules with strict mode over arbitrary git refs. Example usage runs python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py --from-tag v1.2.0 --to-tag v1.3.0 --next-version v1.3.0 --format markdown and commit_linter.py --from-ref origin/main --to-ref HEAD --strict --format text. Three reference guides cover ci-integration.md, changelog-formatting-guide.md, and monorepo-strategy.md for pipeline wiring and multi-package repos. Developers reach for it before tagging releases when they need deterministic changelog entries instead of manual note writing.

  • generate_changelog.py parses git ranges, infers semver bump, and renders markdown or JSON with optional file prepend
  • commit_linter.py validates commit subjects against Conventional Commits with strict text output for CI gates
  • Keep a Changelog section ordering: Security, Added, Changed, Deprecated, Removed, Fixed
  • References for CI integration, formatting rules, and monorepo strategies
  • One bullet per user-visible change with migration notes called out for breaking changes

Changelog Generator by the numbers

  • 593 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • Ranked #38 of 248 Release Management skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Security screen: LOW risk (skills.sh audit)
  • Data as of Jul 31, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
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Listed on Skillselion
Installs593
repo stars23.5k
Security audit3 / 3 scanners passed
Last updatedJuly 17, 2026
Repositoryalirezarezvani/claude-skills

How do you generate changelogs from Conventional Commits?

Turn Conventional Commits between tags into Keep a Changelog release notes and lint commit subjects before you cut a semver release in CI.

Who is it for?

Maintainers using Conventional Commits and Keep a Changelog who want automated release notes and strict commit linting in CI before tagging.

Skip if: Teams without Conventional Commits discipline or projects that only need freeform marketing copy unrelated to git history parsing.

When should I use this skill?

User needs changelog generation, Conventional Commits linting, semver bump inference, or CI release-note automation between git tags.

What you get

CHANGELOG.md or JSON release entry, inferred semver bump, and commit-linter report for the tagged ref range

  • CHANGELOG markdown or JSON entry
  • Semver bump recommendation
  • Commit linter text or structured report

By the numbers

  • Bundles two Python scripts: generate_changelog.py and commit_linter.py
  • Ships three reference guides for CI integration, formatting, and monorepo strategy

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Changelog Generator

Tier: POWERFUL Category: Engineering Domain: Release Management / Documentation

Overview

Use this skill to produce consistent, auditable release notes from Conventional Commits. It separates commit parsing, semantic bump logic, and changelog rendering so teams can automate releases without losing editorial control.

Core Capabilities

  • Parse commit messages using Conventional Commit rules
  • Detect semantic bump (major, minor, patch) from commit stream
  • Render Keep a Changelog sections (Added, Changed, Fixed, etc.)
  • Generate release entries from git ranges or provided commit input
  • Enforce commit format with a dedicated linter script
  • Support CI integration via machine-readable JSON output

When to Use

  • Before publishing a release tag
  • During CI to generate release notes automatically
  • During PR checks to block invalid commit message formats
  • In monorepos where package changelogs require scoped filtering
  • When converting raw git history into user-facing notes

Key Workflows

1. Generate Changelog Entry From Git

python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py \
  --from-tag v1.3.0 \
  --to-tag v1.4.0 \
  --next-version v1.4.0 \
  --format markdown

2. Generate Entry From stdin/File Input

git log v1.3.0..v1.4.0 --pretty=format:'%s' | \
  python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py --next-version v1.4.0 --format markdown

python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py --input commits.txt --next-version v1.4.0 --format json

3. Update CHANGELOG.md

python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py \
  --from-tag v1.3.0 \
  --to-tag HEAD \
  --next-version v1.4.0 \
  --write CHANGELOG.md

4. Compute the Next Version From Commits

When the user has not decided the next version, derive it instead of guessing:

git log v1.3.0..HEAD --oneline | \
  python3 scripts/version_bumper.py --current-version 1.3.0 --output-format json

Output JSON contains recommended_version, bump_type (major/minor/patch/none), and with --include-commands the exact git tag commands. Feed recommended_version into generate_changelog.py --next-version. Pre-releases: add --prerelease alpha|beta|rc. Input must be real git log --oneline output (hex hashes); a sample lives at assets/sample_git_log.txt.

5. Lint Commits Before Merge

python3 scripts/commit_linter.py --from-ref origin/main --to-ref HEAD --strict --format text

Or file/stdin:

python3 scripts/commit_linter.py --input commits.txt --strict
cat commits.txt | python3 scripts/commit_linter.py --format json

Conventional Commit Rules

Supported types:

  • feat, fix, perf, refactor, docs, test, build, ci, chore
  • security, deprecated, remove

Breaking changes:

  • type(scope)!: summary
  • Footer/body includes BREAKING CHANGE:

SemVer mapping:

  • breaking -> major
  • non-breaking feat -> minor
  • all others -> patch

Script Interfaces

  • python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py --help
  • Reads commits from git or stdin/--input
  • Renders markdown or JSON
  • Optional in-place changelog prepend
  • python3 scripts/commit_linter.py --help
  • Validates commit format
  • Returns non-zero in --strict mode on violations

Common Pitfalls

1. Mixing merge commit messages with release commit parsing 2. Using vague commit summaries that cannot become release notes 3. Failing to include migration guidance for breaking changes 4. Treating docs/chore changes as user-facing features 5. Overwriting historical changelog sections instead of prepending

Best Practices

1. Keep commits small and intent-driven. 2. Scope commit messages (feat(api): ...) in multi-package repos. 3. Enforce linter checks in PR pipelines. 4. Review generated markdown before publishing. 5. Tag releases only after changelog generation succeeds. 6. Keep an [Unreleased] section for manual curation when needed.

Hotfix Severity & SLAs

When a release goes wrong, classify before acting (full procedures in references/hotfix-procedures.md):

SeverityDefinitionSLAApproval
P0 — CriticalOutage, data loss, exploited vulnerabilityFix deployed ≤ 2h; emergency deploy bypasses normal gatesEngineering Lead + On-call Manager
P1 — HighMajor feature broken, significant user impactFix deployed ≤ 24h; expedited reviewEngineering Lead + Product Manager
P2 — MediumMinor issues, limited impactNext release cycleStandard PR review

Hotfix branch comes from the last stable tag, contains the minimal fix only, and gets its own patch-bump changelog entry via the workflow above.

Rollback Triggers

Pre-commit to these thresholds before tagging; roll back when any fires:

TriggerThreshold
Error rate spike> 2x baseline within 30 min
Performance degradation> 50% latency increase
Feature failureCore functionality broken
Security incidentVulnerability being exploited
Data corruptionDatabase integrity compromised

Prefer feature-flag disable over code rollback; database rollbacks only for non-destructive migrations (forward-only migrations preferred). See references/hotfix-procedures.md.

References

  • references/ci-integration.md
  • references/changelog-formatting-guide.md
  • references/monorepo-strategy.md
  • references/hotfix-procedures.md
  • README.md

Release Governance

Use this release flow for predictability:

1. Lint commit history for target release range. 2. Generate changelog draft from commits. 3. Manually adjust wording for customer clarity. 4. Validate semver bump recommendation. 5. Tag release only after changelog is approved.

Output Quality Checks

  • Each bullet is user-meaningful, not implementation noise.
  • Breaking changes include migration action.
  • Security fixes are isolated in Security section.
  • Sections with no entries are omitted.
  • Duplicate bullets across sections are removed.

CI Policy

  • Run commit_linter.py --strict on all PRs.
  • Block merge on invalid conventional commits.
  • Auto-generate draft release notes on tag push.
  • Require human approval before writing into CHANGELOG.md on main branch.

Monorepo Guidance

  • Prefer commit scopes aligned to package names.
  • Filter commit stream by scope for package-specific releases.
  • Keep infra-wide changes in root changelog.
  • Store package changelogs near package roots for ownership clarity.

Failure Handling

  • If no valid conventional commits found: fail early, do not generate misleading empty notes.
  • If git range invalid: surface explicit range in error output.
  • If write target missing: create safe changelog header scaffolding.

Related skills

FAQ

Which scripts ship with changelog-generator?

changelog-generator includes generate_changelog.py for parsing commits between tags, inferring semver bumps, and rendering markdown or JSON, plus commit_linter.py for strict Conventional Commits subject validation across git ref ranges.

What changelog format does changelog-generator produce?

changelog-generator outputs Keep a Changelog-compatible markdown or JSON via generate_changelog.py flags such as --format markdown and optional CHANGELOG prepend. Three reference guides document CI integration, formatting rules, and monorepo strategies.

Is Changelog Generator safe to install?

skills.sh reports 3 of 3 security scanners passed. Review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing in production.

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