release-notes-from-git

name	release-notes-from-git
description	Generate release notes from git history and pull requests
allowed-tools	Read, Bash(git log:*), Bash(git describe:*), Bash(gh pr:*), Bash(gh api:*)

Generate Release Notes from Git History

Generate release notes by analyzing git history and pull requests. This is useful when:

• The CHANGELOG.md is missing entries
• You want to cross-reference changelog with actual commits
• You need to identify contributors for acknowledgment
• You want to verify the changelog is complete before releasing

Context

• Latest git tag: !git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "No tags yet"
• Commits since last tag: !git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null)..HEAD --pretty=format:"%h %s (%an)" 2>/dev/null | head -50 || echo "No previous tags - showing recent commits" && git log --oneline -20
• Merged PRs info: !gh pr list --state merged --limit 20 --json number,title,author,mergedAt --jq '.[] | "#\(.number) \(.title) (@\(.author.login))"' 2>/dev/null || echo "gh CLI not available or not authenticated"

Your Task

Generate comprehensive release notes by analyzing git history and pull requests. This complements the changelog-based /release-notes command by working directly from source control.

Analysis Steps

1. Gather commit history since the last tag
2. Categorize commits by conventional commit type (feat, fix, docs, refactor, etc.)
3. Fetch PR information for commits that reference PRs
4. Identify contributors from commit authors and PR authors
5. Cross-reference with CHANGELOG.md to find any gaps

Output Format

Present the generated release notes:

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
                    GENERATED RELEASE NOTES
                    (from git history)
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Based on X commits since vY.Z.A

### Features (feat:)
- Description from commit/PR (#123) - @author

### Bug Fixes (fix:)
- Description from commit/PR (#124) - @author

### Documentation (docs:)
- Description from commit

### Refactoring (refactor:)
- Description from commit

### Other Changes
- Commits that don't follow conventional commits

### Contributors
Thanks to the following contributors:
- @username1
- @username2

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Categorization Rules

Map conventional commit prefixes to changelog categories:

Commit Prefix	Changelog Category	Include?
feat:	Added	Yes
fix:	Fixed	Yes
docs:	Changed (Documentation)	Yes
refactor:	Changed	Yes
perf:	Performance	Yes
test:	Changed (Testing)	Optional
chore:	Changed	Depends on impact
ci:	(skip)	Usually no
style:	(skip)	Usually no

Quality Checks

After generating notes, identify potential issues:

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
                    QUALITY CHECKS
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

⚠ Commits without conventional commit format:
  - abc1234 "Update readme"
  - def5678 "Fix thing"

⚠ PRs merged without changelog entries:
  - #142 "Add new feature" (@contributor)

⚠ Breaking changes detected (look for ! or BREAKING CHANGE):
  - feat!: Remove deprecated API endpoint

✓ Large changes that may warrant detailed notes:
  - #145 "Refactor authentication system" (12 files changed)

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Comparison with CHANGELOG

If CHANGELOG.md exists, compare and report discrepancies:

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
                    CHANGELOG COMPARISON
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Commits WITHOUT corresponding changelog entry:
  ✗ abc1234 feat: add user preferences (#142)
  ✗ def5678 fix: memory leak in cache handler

Changelog entries WITHOUT corresponding commit:
  ? "Added dark mode support" - no matching commit found

Entries that match:
  ✓ feat: adversarial review mode (#140) → "Adversarial Review Mode"
  ✓ fix: stale status detection (#141) → "False Positive Stale Detection"

Summary: 2 missing from changelog, 1 orphaned entry, 5 matched

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

When to Use This vs /release-notes

Use Case	Command
Generate notes from well-maintained CHANGELOG	/release-notes
Audit changelog completeness	/release-notes-from-git
CHANGELOG is incomplete or missing	/release-notes-from-git
Need contributor acknowledgments	/release-notes-from-git
Want PR links and numbers	/release-notes-from-git
Need specific output format (Slack, Discord)	/release-notes

Key Points

• Read-only - No changes are made to any files
• Works best with conventional commits - Uses commit prefixes for categorization
• Requires gh CLI - PR information needs gh to be authenticated
• Use before releasing - Catches missing changelog entries