changelog-format

name	changelog-format
description	The shape of a CHANGELOG.md entry and heading in this repo. Load before writing an [Unreleased] line or cutting a release block.

CHANGELOG format

Authority: the top of CHANGELOG.md (the newest block is the template), scripts/dod_changelog.py (DoD 3, the gate), CLAUDE.md "Output Rules" (the CHANGELOG voice is the one deliberate carve-out: entries ARGUE).

• Heading: ## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD - <thesis sentence>; the thesis is the one lesson of the release. ## [Unreleased] sits above it and is never empty at release time.
• An entry says what was wrong, why (the mechanism), and what the fix makes impossible, not what files changed. Credit the reporter by login and cite #N.
• A number in an entry is pasted from an evidence file of the same run or read from harness/thresholds.json; a typed number is a finding for the reviewer.
• A tool added or removed is named in the entry (scripts/surface_diff.py checks the CHANGELOG diff for the name).
• A retired test's entry names the lesson and the replacement assertion (mirrors harness/retired.json, DoD 11).
• The no-changelog label exempts a PR and is printed in the check summary; docs-only, CI-only and test-only changes trigger nothing.