product-changelog

name	product-changelog
description	Product changelog and release notes that users actually read. Covers categorization, user-facing language, visuals, and distribution. Use for: release notes, changelogs, product updates, feature announcements, versioning. Triggers: changelog, release notes, product update, version notes, what's new, feature announcement, product changelog, update log, release announcement, version release, product release, ship notes
allowed-tools	Bash(belt *)

Install the belt CLI skill: npx skills add belt-sh/cli

Product Changelog

Write changelogs and release notes that users read and care about via inference.sh CLI.

Quick Start

Requires inference.sh CLI (belt). Install instructions

belt login

# Generate a feature announcement visual
belt app run falai/flux-dev-lora --input '{
  "prompt": "clean product UI screenshot mockup, modern dashboard interface showing a new analytics chart feature, light mode, minimal design, professional SaaS product",
  "width": 1248,
  "height": 832
}'

Entry Format

The Anatomy of a Good Entry

### New: Bulk Export for Reports 📊

You can now export up to 10,000 rows at once from any report view.
Select your rows, click Export, and choose CSV or Excel format.

Previously limited to 500 rows per export.

![Bulk export button in the reports toolbar](screenshot.png)

Structure: Category label -> User-facing title -> What you can do now -> How -> What changed -> Visual

User-Facing Language

❌ Internal language:
"Implemented batch processing queue for the export service"
"Refactored the ReportExporter class to support pagination"
"Fixed bug in CSV serialization (PR #4521)"

✅ User-facing language:
"You can now export up to 10,000 rows at once from any report"
"Reports now load 3x faster when filtering large datasets"
"Fixed an issue where exported CSV files had missing columns"

Rules:

• Write what the user can DO, not what you BUILT
• Start with "You can now..." / "Reports now..." / "Fixed an issue where..."
• Include the benefit, not just the mechanism
• Use present tense

Categories

Standard Categories

Category	Color	Icon	Use For
New	Green	✨ or 🆕	Entirely new features or capabilities
Improved	Blue	⚡ or 🔧	Enhancements to existing features
Fixed	Yellow/Orange	🐛 or 🔨	Bug fixes
Removed	Red	🗑️ or ⚠️	Deprecated or removed features
Security	Purple	🔒	Security patches

Categorization Rules

• New = something users couldn't do before at all
• Improved = something users could do, now it's better/faster/easier
• Fixed = something that was broken, now works correctly
• Don't use "Updated" — it's meaningless. Was it improved or fixed?

Version Numbering

Semantic Versioning (SemVer)

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
  3   .  2  .  1

Component	Increment When	Example
MAJOR	Breaking changes, major redesign	2.0.0 -> 3.0.0
MINOR	New features, backward-compatible	3.1.0 -> 3.2.0
PATCH	Bug fixes, small improvements	3.2.0 -> 3.2.1

Date-Based Versioning

2026-02-08  or  2026.02.08  or  February 8, 2026

Best for SaaS products with continuous deployment.

Changelog Page Structure

# Changelog

## February 8, 2026

### New
- **Bulk Export for Reports** — Export up to 10,000 rows at once. [Learn more →](link)
- **Dark Mode** — Toggle dark mode from Settings > Appearance.

### Improved
- **Dashboard Loading** — Dashboards now load 3x faster on large datasets.
- **Search** — Search results now include archived items.

### Fixed
- Fixed an issue where exported CSV files had missing column headers.
- Fixed a bug where the date picker showed incorrect timezone.

---

## February 1, 2026

### New
- **API Webhooks** — Get notified when events happen in your account.

### Fixed
- Fixed an issue where email notifications were delayed by up to 2 hours.

Visual Changelogs

When to Add Visuals

Change Type	Visual
New UI feature	Screenshot of the new feature
UI redesign	Before/after comparison
New workflow	Step-by-step screenshots or short video
Performance improvement	Chart showing improvement
Complex feature	Animated GIF or video demo

Generating Visuals

# Feature screenshot (if you have the app running, use agent browser)
belt app run infsh/agent-browser --input '{
  "url": "https://your-app.com/new-feature",
  "action": "screenshot"
}'

# Before/after comparison
belt app run infsh/stitch-images --input '{
  "images": ["before-screenshot.png", "after-screenshot.png"],
  "direction": "horizontal"
}'

# Annotated screenshot with callout
belt app run bytedance/seededit-3-0-i2i --input '{
  "prompt": "add a red circle highlight around the export button in the top right area",
  "image": "screenshot.png"
}'

# Feature announcement banner
belt app run falai/flux-dev-lora --input '{
  "prompt": "clean modern product announcement banner, gradient blue to purple background, abstract geometric shapes, professional SaaS aesthetic, wide format",
  "width": 1248,
  "height": 832
}'

Breaking Changes

Breaking changes need special treatment:

### ⚠️ Breaking: API v2 Endpoints Deprecated

**What changed:** API v1 endpoints will stop working on March 15, 2026.

**What you need to do:**
1. Update your API calls to use v2 endpoints ([migration guide →](link))
2. Update authentication to use Bearer tokens instead of API keys
3. Test your integration before March 15

**Timeline:**
- Now: v2 endpoints available, v1 still works
- March 1: v1 returns deprecation warnings
- March 15: v1 stops working

If you need help migrating, contact [e-mail].

Distribution Channels

Channel	Format	When
Changelog page	Full detail, all entries	Every release
In-app notification	1-2 line summary	New features, breaking changes
Email	Curated highlights, visuals	Major releases (monthly/quarterly)
Blog post	Deep dive with context	Big launches
Social media	Single feature highlight	Notable features
Slack/Discord	Brief announcement	If you have a community

Social Media Snippet Format

🆕 New in [Product]: [Feature Name]

[1-2 sentence description of what you can now do]

[Screenshot or demo video]

Try it now → [link]

Writing Tips

Do

• Group related changes together
• Lead with the biggest/most requested change
• Link to documentation for complex features
• Include who requested it ("By popular request:")
• Show migration paths for breaking changes
• Date every entry

Don't

• Don't say "various bug fixes" — list specific fixes or skip them
• Don't include internal references (PR numbers, ticket IDs, branch names)
• Don't use "Updated [feature]" without saying how
• Don't list changes nobody cares about (dependency bumps, internal refactors)
• Don't commit-dump — one changelog entry may represent many commits

Changelog Frequency

Product Type	Frequency	Notes
SaaS (continuous deploy)	Weekly batch	Group a week of changes
SaaS (major features)	Per feature launch	With blog post
Versioned software	Per version release	Tied to semver
API	Per version + deprecation notices	Include migration guides
Mobile app	Per app store release	Match store listing "What's New"

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Problem	Fix
Developer language	Users don't understand	Write what users can do
"Bug fixes and improvements"	Zero information	List specific fixes
No dates	Can't tell what's new	Date every entry
No visuals	Users skip text	Screenshot major features
Breaking changes buried	Users discover too late	Prominent warning + timeline
Commit log as changelog	Noisy, unhelpful	Curate and rewrite

Related Skills

npx skills add inference-sh/skills@ai-image-generation
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@prompt-engineering

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