changelog-entry

name	changelog-entry
description	Generate a new changelog entry for cibuildwheel based on all changes since the last tag. Use when updating the changelog or preparing a release.

Generate Changelog Entry

Produce a new version section at the top of docs/changelog.md summarizing all changes since the last git tag.

Steps

1. Find the last tag — run git tag --sort=-version:refname | head -1 to get the most recent version tag.
2. Gather changes — run git log <last-tag>..HEAD --oneline and git log <last-tag>..HEAD --format="%H %s" to see all commits since that tag.
3. Read each merge/commit — for substantive commits, read the full message and any linked PRs to understand the change. Use git log <last-tag>..HEAD --format="---%n%B" for full messages. If a commit message is ambiguous, use gh pr view <number> to get richer context from GitHub.
4. Classify and draft entries — assign each change an emoji and write a one-line description following the style rules below. Combine related small PRs of the same type (bot dependency updates, dependabot CI action bumps, pre-commit autoupdates) into a single entry listing all PR numbers. Skip meta-changelog PRs (e.g., "Add missing CHANGELOG entries") — they don't describe user-facing changes. If a bot/dependency PR contains a substantive fix mixed in (e.g., a pip revert inside a dependency update), split it: mention the fix separately under its own category.
5. Determine the new version number — inspect commits for breaking changes or new features to decide patch/minor/major bump. Ask the user if unclear.
6. Determine the date — use today's date.
7. Insert the new section — add it at the top of docs/changelog.md, right after the # Changelog heading and a blank line, before any existing version sections.

Style Rules

These are non-negotiable formatting conventions derived from the existing changelog.

Version heading

### v3.4.2

### heading, v prefix, full semver.

Date line

_14 May 2026_

Italic (underscore-wrapped), day without leading zero, full month name, 4-digit year. One blank line after the date.

Entry format

- <emoji> <Description> (#<PR number>)

• Each entry is a single bullet starting with - .
• Emoji immediately after the dash-space.
• Space between emoji and description text.
• PR number(s) in parens at end: (#1234) or (#1234, #5678).
• No trailing period for single-sentence entries.
• Period at end of multi-sentence entries only.

Emoji categories

Use exactly one emoji per entry, chosen by category:

Emoji	Category	Used for
🌟	Major feature	New platforms, significant new capabilities
✨	Feature	New features, additions, user-visible enhancements
🐛	Bug fix	Bug fixes
🛠	Maintenance	Dep updates, internal improvements, behavior tweaks
⚠️	Warning	Deprecations, breaking changes, dropped support
📚	Docs	Documentation changes
💼	Internal	Non-user-facing infra/tooling changes
🧪	Tests	Test changes
🔐	Security	Security-related changes (used in past changelogs)

Category disambiguation

When a change could fit multiple categories, use these tiebreakers:

• CI/workflow fixes → 💼 (not 🧪) — they fix infra, not test logic.
• Test suite changes → 🧪 — only for changes to the test code itself.
• Diagnostic output changes (e.g., printing more info during builds) → 🛠 (not 🐛) — they're improvements, not bug fixes.
• A bug fix that also changes test code → 🐛 — the user-facing fix takes priority; test changes are implicit.

Writing style

• Present tense: "Adds", "Fixes", "Updates", not "Added", "Fixed".
• Sentence case: capitalize only the first word after the emoji.
• Link option names to docs: [option-name](https://cibuildwheel.pypa.io/en/stable/options/#option-name). Option anchors match the option name — verify in docs/options.md by searching for {: #option-name }.
• Be specific about what changed and why, not just that something changed.

Ordering

Within a version section, order entries by importance:

1. 🌟 entries first
2. ⚠️ entries next
3. ✨ entries
4. 🐛 entries
5. 🛠 entries
6. 📚 entries
7. 💼 entries
8. 🧪 entries last

Multi-line entries

For complex features needing explanation, use an indented italic paragraph:

- ✨ Short summary here. (#1234)

    _Longer explanation with details and caveats._ (#1234)

Adding a new Python beta version always has a specific longer explanation, check for a previous addition (like 3.14) for the note to use.

Blank lines

• One blank line between version sections.
• No blank lines between bullets within a version.

Validation

After inserting the new section:

1. Check that the new section follows all style rules above.
2. Verify PR numbers match actual PRs in the commit log.
3. Ensure no duplicate entries — multiple commits to the same PR should produce one entry.
4. Run a final review of the file to confirm formatting is consistent with surrounding entries.