generate-changelog

name	generate-changelog
description	Generates or updates CHANGELOG.md by analyzing git commit history between two branches, tags, or revisions in ANY git repository or folder. Use this skill whenever the user asks to create, update, generate changelog, draft release notes from git history, or compare branches/tags (e.g., "generate changelog comparing release-2026.0.0 and release-2026.1.0", "update CHANGELOG.md for the time-series-analytics folder", "what changed between v1.0.0 and main", "create release notes for this project"). The skill auto-detects folder paths, infers version numbers from branch/tag names, detects existing CHANGELOG format, and produces well-categorized entries (Added, Changed, Removed, Fixed, Security, Documentation) matching the repository's established style. Works with ANY folder structure or repository.
license	Apache-2.0
metadata	{"tags":"changelog release-notes"}

Changelog Generator

Generates or updates CHANGELOG.md by extracting and categorizing commits between two git branches or tags. Follows the Keep a Changelog style used by the current repository.

Inputs

Collect from the user (or infer from context):

Parameter	Description	Example
folder_path	Path to the repository root or to a folder inside the repository; a subfolder automatically scopes commit extraction to that path	/path/to/repo, microservices/time-series-analytics, ./my-project
base_ref	Starting branch, tag, or commit	release-2026.0.0, v1.0.0, main, commit SHA
target_ref	Ending branch, tag, or commit	release-2026.1.0, v2.0.0, develop
version_label	Version string for CHANGELOG entry	2026.1.0, v1.2.0
release_date	Release month and year (optional)	June 2026, January 2024
changelog_path	Output path for CHANGELOG.md	<folder_path>/CHANGELOG.md (default)

Path Semantics

• If folder_path points to the repository root, changelog generation covers the entire repository unless a narrower scope is supplied.
• If folder_path points to a subfolder inside the repository, that subfolder becomes the default commit scope automatically.
• If the user wants to write CHANGELOG.md in one location but scope commits to another path, call extract_commits.sh with the repository root as the first argument and the scope path as the optional fourth argument.

Folder Path Resolution

If folder_path is not fully specified:

1. Search by name: If user says "time-series-analytics" but relative path isn't found, search the workspace recursively for a matching folder name.

   find <workspace_root> -type d -name "*time-series-analytics*" 2>/dev/null | head -1
   

2. Resolve relative paths: If a relative path is given, resolve it from current working directory:

   cd <workspace_root> && realpath <relative_path>
   

3. Validate: Confirm the folder is a git repository:

   git -C <folder_path> rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree
   

4. Determine commit scope:

   • If <folder_path> is the repository root, the default scope is the full repository.
   • If <folder_path> is a repository subfolder, use that subfolder as the default scope.
   • If needed, keep both values: repo_root for git operations and scope_path for path-limited history queries.

Version Label Inference

If version_label is not provided, attempt to infer from target_ref:

1. From branch name: Extract version from naming patterns:

   • release-2026.1.0 → 2026.1
   • release-2026.1.0 → 2026.1.0
   • v1.2.0 → 1.2.0
   • v2.0.0-rc1 → 2.0.0-rc1

2. From git tag: If target_ref is a tag like v2.1.0, strip the v prefix.

3. Fallback: If inference fails, ask the user:

   "I couldn't infer a version from <target_ref>. What version label should I use? (e.g., 2026.1.0, v1.2.0)"

If release_date is not provided, use the commit date of the target commit.

GitHub/Remote URL Detection

git -C <folder_path> remote get-url origin

Strip .git suffix. Supports GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, and other hosting platforms.

Workflow

Step 1 – Resolve folder path and validate

1. If folder_path is incomplete or ambiguous, use the folder path resolution logic from the Inputs section.

2. Validate the path is inside a git repository:

   git -C <folder_path> rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree
   

   If this fails, inform the user the path is not a git repository or repository subfolder.

3. Resolve the repository root and the effective commit scope:

   repo_root=$(git -C <folder_path> rev-parse --show-toplevel)
   

   Treat <folder_path> as the scope when it is a subfolder. If <folder_path> equals repo_root, use the full repository unless the user supplied a narrower scope.

4. Verify both base_ref and target_ref exist:

   git -C "$repo_root" rev-parse <base_ref> >/dev/null 2>&1
   git -C "$repo_root" rev-parse <target_ref> >/dev/null 2>&1
   

   If either fails, list available branches and tags:

   git -C "$repo_root" branch -a && git -C "$repo_root" tag
   

Step 2 – Infer version and release date

1. If version_label is missing, apply the version inference logic from the Inputs section.
2. If release_date is missing, extract the commit date of target_ref:

   git -C "$repo_root" log -1 --format=%cs <target_ref>
   

   Format as "Month Year" (e.g., "June 2026").

Step 3 – Detect existing CHANGELOG format

Before categorizing commits, read the existing CHANGELOG.md (if present):

1. Check if <folder_path>/CHANGELOG.md exists.

2. If it exists, analyze its structure:

   • Look for section headers: Scan for patterns like ## [Version], ### Added, ### Fixed, etc.
   • Infer category order: Note which sections appear and in what order.
   • Detect categorization style: Is it Keep a Changelog style? Custom sections? Hybrid?
   • Example inference:

     # Changelog
     ## [2.0.0]
     ### Added
     ### Changed
     ### Fixed
     

     → Infer: Use Added, Changed, Fixed (no Security, Documentation, Removed)

3. If no CHANGELOG.md exists or it has no clear structure, use the default keyword-based categorization (described in Step 4).

Step 4 – Extract and categorize commits

1. Get the commit list between base and target refs:

    bash .github/skills/generate-changelog/scripts/extract_commits.sh \
       <folder_path> <base_ref> <target_ref> [scope_path]
   

   Usage notes:

   • Use <folder_path> only for full-repository changelogs when it points to the repo root.
   • Use a repository subfolder as <folder_path> for folder-specific changelogs.
   • Use [scope_path] only when <folder_path> is the repo root but commit extraction should be narrowed to a different path.

2. For each commit, classify into a section based on the detected format from Step 3.

3. If using default keyword-based categorization, apply these rules in order (first match wins):

   Section	Keywords / patterns (case-insensitive)
   Security	security, cve, vulnerability, bump, trivy, patch, upgrade (dependency)
   Fixed	fix, fixed, repair, resolve, hotfix, revert
   Added	add, added, new, introduce, enable, support, feature, implement
   Removed	remove, removed, delete, deleted, drop, deprecat
   Documentation	doc, docs, documentation, readme, changelog, typo, spelling

Step 5 – Format the entry

Format reference: See references/changelog-format.md for the exact CHANGELOG structure and style template used by this repository.

Format the new version block using the detected CHANGELOG style from Step 3:

If Keep a Changelog or similar style:

## [<version>] - <release_date>

### Added
- Feature one ([#123])
- Feature two ([abc1234])

### Changed
- Behavior updated ([#124])

### Fixed
- Bug resolved ([#125])

### Security
- Vulnerability patched ([#126])

[#123]: <repo_url>/pull/123
[#124]: <repo_url>/pull/124
[#125]: <repo_url>/pull/125
[#126]: <repo_url>/pull/126
[abc1234]: <repo_url>/commit/abc1234

If custom sections detected: Match the detected sections and order.

Formatting rules:

• Write each bullet in past tense, sentence case.
• Append PR/commit reference at the end: ([#NN]) for PRs, ([hash]) for commits.
• Omit sections with no entries.
• Include reference links at the bottom of the block.

Step 6 – Write or update CHANGELOG.md

1. If CHANGELOG.md does not exist: Create it with a header + new version block:

   # Changelog
   
   All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
   
   ## [<version>] - <release_date>
   ...
   

2. If CHANGELOG.md exists: Insert the new version block immediately after the introductory paragraph (or after # Changelog header) and before any existing ## [...] sections. Preserve all existing content exactly.

3. If version already exists in CHANGELOG.md: Ask the user whether to replace or skip:

   "Version <version> already exists in CHANGELOG.md. Replace it, append a new entry, or skip?"

4. Write to <folder_path>/CHANGELOG.md (or custom changelog_path if provided).

Step 7 – Confirm output

Print a summary:

Changelog generated: <folder_path>/CHANGELOG.md
Version: <version> (<release_date>)
Commits processed: <count>
  Added: N | Changed: N | Fixed: N | Security: N | Documentation: N | Removed: N

Comparison: <base_ref>...<target_ref>
Repository: <repo_url>

Edge cases

• Folder path not found: If searching for a folder name returns multiple matches or no matches, list results and ask the user to clarify which one to use.

• Repo root vs scoped folder: If the user asks for a folder-specific changelog but gives the repository root, either resolve a narrower folder path or call extract_commits.sh <repo_root> <base_ref> <target_ref> <scope_path> explicitly.

• Detached HEAD or missing refs: If base_ref or target_ref don't exist, list available branches and tags:

   git -C "$repo_root" branch -a && git -C "$repo_root" tag
  

  Ask the user to provide valid refs.

• No commits found: If git log <base_ref>..<target_ref> returns nothing, the refs may be identical or in the wrong order. Suggest:

  • Running git fetch --all to ensure all remote branches are available
  • Reversing the ref order if needed
  • Confirming the refs point to different commits

• Shallow clone: If the repository is a shallow clone, commit history may be incomplete. Suggest running:

   git -C "$repo_root" fetch --unshallow
  

• Duplicate version in CHANGELOG.md: If the version already exists, ask the user:

  "Version <version> is already in CHANGELOG.md. Should I replace it, append a new entry, or skip?"

• Empty or malformed existing CHANGELOG.md: If the existing CHANGELOG.md has no clear structure, treat it as a new file and use the default keyword-based categorization. Warn the user that the new entry may not match the existing format.

• No GitHub/remote URL: If git remote get-url origin fails or returns a non-standard URL (e.g., SSH, local path), skip reference links or ask the user for the repository URL.

Script reference

The helper script supports both repository-wide and folder-scoped extraction:

bash .github/skills/generate-changelog/scripts/extract_commits.sh <repo_or_folder_path> <base_ref> <target_ref> [scope_path]

• <repo_or_folder_path> may be the repository root or a subfolder inside the repository.
• When <repo_or_folder_path> is a subfolder, that subfolder is used as the commit scope automatically.
• [scope_path] is optional and is only needed when the first argument is the repository root but a narrower commit scope is desired.