update-changelog

name	update-changelog
description	Update CHANGELOG.md following Keep a Changelog (https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/)

Update Changelog (Keep a Changelog)

Update the repository changelog with user-facing changes that landed since the last release.

This skill is explicitly based on Keep a Changelog v1.1.0: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/

Rules (non-negotiable)

• Do not add installation instructions to the changelog.
• Only include notable, user-visible changes.
• Never add raw commit SHAs. Prefer PR numbers (e.g. #123) and/or issue IDs.
• Add entries only under Unreleased (unless you are also cutting a release and moving items into a versioned section).
• Preserve the project’s existing formatting where possible, but align new content to Keep a Changelog.

File to edit

• Prefer CHANGELOG.md.
• If missing, use CHANGELOG.

Step-by-step

1) Identify the baseline (last released version)

Pick a baseline tag/version to compare against.

• If the project uses git tags:

git describe --tags --abbrev=0

• If tags are missing/inconsistent, use the newest release section in the changelog as the baseline.

2) Collect candidate changes

Gather commits/PRs since the baseline and identify user-facing changes.

git log <baseline>..HEAD --oneline

If you have PR metadata available (e.g., via GitHub), use it to improve wording and include PR numbers.

3) Ensure the changelog structure matches Keep a Changelog

At minimum, Keep a Changelog expects:

• A top Unreleased section
• Optional subsections under Unreleased (and under each release):
  • Added, Changed, Deprecated, Removed, Fixed, Security

If Unreleased exists but is missing subsections, create only the ones you need for the new entries.

4) Add entries under Unreleased

Classify each change into one of the standard headings:

• Added: new features
• Changed: changes in existing functionality (including behavior changes)
• Deprecated: soon-to-be removed features
• Removed: removed features
• Fixed: bug fixes
• Security: vulnerability fixes

Write entries as consistent bullet points:

• Start with the category verb (Added/Changed/Deprecated/Removed/Fixed/Security) only via the section heading, not inside each bullet.
• Each bullet should be a single, past-tense sentence fragment.
• Prefer: - Added … (#123) / - Fixed … (#456) style (consistent grammar).

5) Keep it user-facing

Include:

• visible behavior changes
• new CLI flags/API additions
• bug fixes with clear impact
• security fixes (without leaking sensitive details)

Exclude (unless they change user-visible behavior):

• pure refactors
• internal cleanup
• dependency bumps with no user impact
• typo-only doc edits

6) Links (only if the file already uses them)

Keep a Changelog commonly includes link references at the bottom, e.g.:

• [Unreleased]: <compare link>
• [1.2.3]: <compare link>

If the project already uses these, update them accordingly (don’t introduce link refs if the changelog doesn’t use them).

Example (consistent Keep a Changelog format)

## [Unreleased]

### Added

- Added widget-level caching for faster dashboard loads. (#123)

### Changed

- Changed default retry policy to exponential backoff. (#140)

### Fixed

- Fixed crash when importing a config with empty sections. (#155)

## [1.4.0] - 2026-02-01

### Added

- Added support for exporting reports as CSV. (#110)

### Fixed

- Fixed incorrect timezone handling in scheduled jobs. (#117)

Quality checklist

• Entries are under Unreleased and categorized correctly.
• Wording is consistent (same tense/style across bullets).
• No installation instructions, no commit SHAs.
• The changelog remains easy to scan and matches the repo’s established conventions.