changelog-automation

# Changelog Automation Patterns and tools for automating changelog generation, release notes, and version management following industry standards. ## When to Use This Skill - Setting up automated changelog generation - Implementing Conventional Commits - Creating release note workflows - Standardizing commit message formats - Generating GitHub/GitLab release notes - Managing semantic versioning ## Core Concepts ### 1. Keep a Changelog Format ```markdown # Changelog All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/), and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html). ## Detailed patterns and worked examples Detailed pattern documentation lives in `references/details.md`. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient. ## Summary This release introduces dark mode support and improves checkout performance by 40%. It also includes important security updates. ## Highlights ### 🌙 Dark Mode Users can now switch to dark mode from settings. The preference is automatically saved and synced across devices. ### ⚡ Performance - Checkout flow is 40% faster - Reduced bundle size by 15% ## Breaking Changes None in this release. ## Upgrade Guide No special steps required. Standard deployment process applies. ## Known Issues - Dark mode may flicker on initial load (fix scheduled for v2.1.1) ## Dependencies Updated | Package | From | To | Reason | | ------- | ------- | ------- | ------------------------ | | react | 18.2.0 | 18.3.0 | Performance improvements | | lodash | 4.17.20 | 4.17.21 | Security patch | ``` ## Commit Message Examples ```bash # Feature with scope feat(auth): add OAuth2 support for Google login # Bug fix with issue reference fix(checkout): resolve race condition in payment processing Closes #123 # Breaking change feat(api)!: change user endpoint response format BREAKING CHANGE: The user endpoint now returns `userId` instead of `id`. Migration guide: Update all API consumers to use the new field name. # Multiple paragraphs fix(database): handle connection timeouts gracefully Previously, connection timeouts would cause the entire request to fail without retry. This change implements exponential backoff with up to 3 retries before failing. The timeout threshold has been increased from 5s to 10s based on p99 latency analysis. Fixes #456 Reviewed-by: @alice ``` ## Best Practices ### Do's - **Follow Conventional Commits** - Enables automation - **Write clear messages** - Future you will thank you - **Reference issues** - Link commits to tickets - **Use scopes consistently** - Define team conventions - **Automate releases** - Reduce manual errors ### Don'ts - **Don't mix changes** - One logical change per commit - **Don't skip validation** - Use commitlint - **Don't manual edit** - Generated changelogs only - **Don't forget breaking changes** - Mark with `!` or footer - **Don't ignore CI** - Validate commits in pipeline