Coding

Changelog Writer

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Turn a list of changes, commits, or PRs into clean release notes / a changelog entry. Use when asked to write release notes, a changelog, or a version announ...

What it does

Turn a list of changes, commits, or PRs into clean release notes / a changelog entry. Use when asked to write release notes, a changelog, or a version announcement from raw changes. Produces a Keep-a-Changelog-style entry grouped by type (Added/Changed/Fixed/etc.), written for users — surfacing breaking changes and upgrade notes up top. To go straight from a raw git log use changelog-generator instead.

The skill document

Changelog Writer Skill

Raw commit logs are written for the author; a changelog is written for the user. This skill turns a pile of commits/PRs/changes into a clean release entry — grouped by type, in plain user-facing language, with breaking changes and upgrade steps surfaced first so nobody gets surprised.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

  • The changes — commit messages, PR titles, or a bullet list of what changed.
  • Version & date — the release number (or help pick per semver) and date.
  • Audience — end users, API consumers, library developers (sets the voice).
  • Conventions (optional) — Keep a Changelog, an existing style, links to issues/PRs.

Output Format

Follow Keep a Changelog conventions:

[version] — [date]

⚠️ Breaking changes (only if any) — each breaking change + the exact migration step to fix it. This goes first.

Added — new features/capabilities, in user terms. Changed — changes to existing behavior. Deprecated — soon-to-be-removed features (and what to use instead). Fixed — bug fixes (what was broken, from the user's view). Security — any security-relevant fixes.

(Omit empty sections.) Each line: user-facing outcome first, with an issue/PR reference if available — not the raw commit message.

Upgrade notes (if needed) — anything to do when upgrading beyond the breaking-changes steps.

Semver note — if the version was inferred, one line on why (breaking → major, feature → minor, fix → patch).

Quality Checks

  • Entries are grouped by type (Added/Changed/Fixed/…) with empty sections omitted
  • Breaking changes are surfaced first, each with a concrete migration step
  • Lines are user-facing outcomes, not raw commit messages
  • References (issues/PRs) are included where available
  • The version respects semver (breaking→major, feature→minor, fix→patch)

Anti-Patterns

  • Do not paste raw commit messages — translate to what the user gains or must do
  • Do not bury breaking changes among the features — they go first, with migration steps
  • Do not include internal-only noise (refactors, CI tweaks) the user doesn't care about
  • Do not mix change types into one list — group them
  • Do not misclassify the version bump — a breaking change is a major, not a patch

Based On

The Keep a Changelog standard and Semantic Versioning, written for the reader rather than the committer.

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