Changelog Automation

When to use this skill

Use Changelog Automation when an AI agent needs a reusable SKILL.md workflow for this job: Automate changelog generation from commits, PRs, and releases following Keep a Changelog format. Use when setting up release workflows, generating release notes, or standardizing commit conventions.

When not to use it

Skip Changelog Automation when the task is outside the productivity category, or when a more specific skill in this directory already covers the same workflow with clearer triggers.

How to install

1. Personal install: create ~/.claude/skills/changelog-automation/SKILL.md (and any bundled scripts) so Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and compatible agents can load it in every project.
2. Project install: commit the same folder at .claude/skills/changelog-automation/ so teammates get the skill with the repo.
3. Restart the agent session after copying files so it re-scans the skills directory, then ask for the task in words that match the skill description.

Full install guide for Claude, Cursor, and Codex

What this skill does

# 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

```markdown # 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).

## Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in `references/details.md`. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

## Summary

This release introduces dark mode support and improves checkout performance by 40%. It also includes important security updates.

## Highlights

### 🌙 Dark Mode

Users can now switch to dark mode from settings. The preference is automatically saved and synced across devices.

### ⚡ Performance

- Checkout flow is 40% faster - Reduced bundle size by 15%

## Breaking Changes

None in this release.

## Upgrade Guide

No special steps required. Standard deployment process applies.

## Known Issues

- Dark mode may flicker on initial load (fix scheduled for v2.1.1)

## Dependencies Updated

| Package | From | To | Reason | | ------- | ------- | ------- | ------------------------ | | react | 18.2.0 | 18.3.0 | Performance improvements | | lodash | 4.17.20 | 4.17.21 | Security patch | ```

## Commit Message Examples

```bash # Feature with scope feat(auth): add OAuth2 support for Google login

# Bug fix with issue reference fix(checkout): resolve race condition in payment processing

Closes #123

# Breaking change feat(api)!: change user endpoint response format

BREAKING CHANGE: The user endpoint now returns `userId` instead of `id`. Migration guide: Update all API consumers to use the new field name.

# Multiple paragraphs fix(database): handle connection timeouts gracefully

Previously, connection timeouts would cause the entire request to fail without retry. This change implements exponential backoff with up to 3 retries before failing.

The timeout threshold has been increased from 5s to 10s based on p99 latency analysis.

Fixes #456 Reviewed-by: @alice ```

## Best Practices

### Do's

- **Follow Conventional Commits** - Enables automation - **Write clear messages** - Future you will thank you - **Reference issues** - Link commits to tickets - **Use scopes consistently** - Define team conventions - **Automate releases** - Reduce manual errors

### Don'ts

- **Don't mix changes** - One logical change per commit - **Don't skip validation** - Use commitlint - **Don't manual edit** - Generated changelogs only - **Don't forget breaking changes** - Mark with `!` or footer - **Don't ignore CI** - Validate commits in pipeline

Intended uses

• Setting up automated changelog generation
• Implementing Conventional Commits
• Creating release note workflows
• Standardizing commit message formats
• Generating GitHub/GitLab release notes
• Managing semantic versioning