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changelog

changelog

github.com/johnlindquistDevelopment2645 installsUpdated 45w ago
Repository

About changelog

A skill for preparing changelogs and release notes from Git history. It describes workflows using Git commands, GitHub CLI, and Gemini to organize changes and support release preparation.

Key features

  1. 01Generate drafts from Git history
  2. 02Compare commits across tags
  3. 03Group conventional commit types
  4. 04Create GitHub release notes
  5. 05Identify breaking changes

Use cases

  1. 01Preparing notes for a version release
  2. 02Reviewing changes since a tag
  3. 03Maintaining a CHANGELOG.md file

Install

Copy the command and run it in a terminal.

$npx skills add https://github.com/johnlindquist/claude --skill changelog

After installing, type/changelogin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.

Details

From the project README

Changelog Generator

Generate changelogs from git commits and manage release notes.

Prerequisites

# Git
git --version

# GitHub CLI (for release notes)
brew install gh
gh auth login

# Gemini (for AI summaries)
pip install google-generativeai
export GEMINI_API_KEY=your_api_key

CLI Reference

Git History Commands
# Recent commits
git log --oneline -20

# Since last tag
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline

# Between tags
git log v1.0.0..v1.1.0 --oneline

# With full messages
git log v1.0.0..v1.1.0 --pretty=format:"%h %s%n%b"

# By author
git log --author="name" --oneline -10

# With dates
git log --format="%h %ad %s" --date=short
Finding Tags
# List all tags
git tag

# List tags with dates
git tag --sort=-creatordate --format='%(refname:short) %(creatordate:short)'

# Latest tag
git describe --tags --abbrev=0

# Tags matching pattern
git tag -l "v1.*"
Generating Changelogs
From Git Log
# Simple changelog since tag
git log v1.0.0..HEAD --oneline > CHANGELOG_DRAFT.md

# Categorized by conventional commits
git log v1.0.0..HEAD --oneline | grep "^[a-f0-9]* feat:"
git log v1.0.0..HEAD --oneline | grep "^[a-f0-9]* fix:"
git log v1.0.0..HEAD --oneline | grep "^[a-f0-9]* chore:"
Using GitHub CLI
# Generate release notes
gh release create v1.1.0 --generate-notes

# View release notes draft
gh release create v1.1.0 --generate-notes --notes-start-tag v1.0.0 --dry-run

# From existing release
gh release view v1.0.0
AI-Generated Changelog
# Get commits since last tag
COMMITS=$(git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --pretty=format:"%s%n%b")

# Generate polished changelog
gemini -m pro -o text -e "" "Generate a changelog from these commits:

$COMMITS

Format as:
## [Version] - Date

### Added
- New features

### Changed
- Modifications

### Fixed
- Bug fixes

### Breaking Changes
- Any breaking changes

Write user-friendly descriptions, not raw commit messages."

Workflow Patterns

Release Preparation
#!/bin/bash
VERSION=$1
LAST_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)

echo "# Release $VERSION"
echo ""
echo "Changes since $LAST_TAG:"
echo ""

# Categorize commits
echo "## Features"
git log $LAST_TAG..HEAD --oneline | grep -i "feat:" | sed 's/^[a-f0-9]* feat: /- /'

echo ""
echo "## Fixes"
git log $LAST_TAG..HEAD --oneline | grep -i "fix:" | sed 's/^[a-f0-9]* fix: /- /'

echo ""
echo "## Other"
git log $LAST_TAG..HEAD --oneline | grep -v -i "feat:\|fix:" | sed 's/^[a-f0-9]* /- /'
Breaking Changes Detection
# Find breaking changes in commit messages
git log v1.0.0..HEAD --oneline | grep -i "breaking\|BREAKING"

# Find in commit bodies
git log v1.0.0..HEAD --grep="BREAKING" --pretty=format:"%h %s"
Maintaining CHANGELOG.md

Standard format (Keep a Changelog):

# Changelog

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

## [Unreleased]

### Added
- New feature X

### Changed
- Updated Y

### Fixed
- Bug in Z

## [1.1.0] - 2024-01-15

### Added
- Feature A
- Feature B

### Fixed
- Issue #123
Update Script
#!/bin/bash
VERSION=$1
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

# Generate new section
NEW_SECTION="## [$VERSION] - $DATE

$(git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --pretty=format:"- %s")
"

# Prepend to changelog (after header)
head -7 CHANGELOG.md > CHANGELOG_NEW.md
echo "" >> CHANGELOG_NEW.md
echo "$NEW_SECTION" >> CHANGELOG_NEW.md
echo "" >> CHANGELOG_NEW.md
tail -n +8 CHANGELOG.md >> CHANGELOG_NEW.md
mv CHANGELOG_NEW.md CHANGELOG.md

Statistics

# Commits by author since tag
git shortlog -sn v1.0.0..HEAD

# Files changed
git diff --stat v1.0.0..HEAD | tail -1

# Commits per day
git log --format="%ad" --date=short v1.0.0..HEAD | sort | uniq -c

# Most changed files
git diff --stat v1.0.0..HEAD | sort -k3 -n -r | head -10

GitHub Releases

# Create release with notes
gh release create v1.1.0 --title "v1.1.0" --notes-file RELEASE_NOTES.md

# Create from tag with auto-notes
gh release create v1.1.0 --generate-notes

# Edit existing release
gh release edit v1.1.0 --notes-file UPDATED_NOTES.md

# List releases
gh release list

# Download release assets
gh release download v1.1.0

Best Practices

  1. Use conventional commits - Enables automatic categorization
  2. Tag releases - Clean boundaries for changelogs
  3. Write for users - Translate technical to user impact
  4. Note breaking changes - Prominently marked
  5. Include issue references - Link to related issues
  6. Date your releases - Clear timeline
  7. Keep unreleased section - Track ongoing work

Comments

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