release-notes-gen

name	release-notes-gen
description	Generate release notes and changelogs from git commit history using Conventional Commits. Use when preparing a release, updating CHANGELOG.md, or computing the next semver version. Triggers include "release notes", "changelog", "rng", "conventional commits", "version bump", "what changed since".

release-notes-gen

CLI tool for generating release notes from Conventional Commits git history.

Quick Start

# Preview release notes (stdout, no file writes)
rng generate

# Write to CHANGELOG.md
rng generate --write

# Show computed version bump
rng bump

# Apply version bump to package.json
rng bump --write

Generate Release Notes

rng generate                         # since last tag to HEAD
rng generate --from v1.0.0           # from tag to HEAD
rng generate --from v1.0.0 --to v1.1.0  # between two tags
rng generate --write                 # write to CHANGELOG.md
rng generate --include-all           # include chore/other types

Preview

rng preview                          # human-readable terminal format
rng preview --from v1.0.0

Version Bump

rng bump                             # show computed version
rng bump --write                     # update package.json version

Statistics

rng stats                            # commit breakdown since last tag
rng changelog                        # list releases in CHANGELOG.md

Initialize Config

rng init                             # create .rng.json with defaults

Conventional Commits Format

type(scope): description

BREAKING CHANGE: explanation

Types that appear in release notes:

• feat - new feature (minor bump)
• fix - bug fix (patch bump)
• perf - performance improvement (patch bump)

Types hidden by default:

• chore, docs, style, test, build, ci, refactor

Breaking change markers:

• feat!: description (exclamation mark)
• Footer: BREAKING CHANGE: explanation

Semver Bump Rules

Commits	Bump
Any breaking change	major
feat (no breaking)	minor
fix or perf only	patch
Only hidden types	none

CLI Reference

Command	Description
generate	Generate Markdown release notes
preview	Terminal-formatted preview
bump	Show or apply version bump
changelog	List CHANGELOG.md releases
stats	Commit breakdown
init	Create .rng.json config

Flag	Description
--from <ref>	Start of git range (default: last tag)
--to <ref>	End of git range (default: HEAD)
--write	Write to CHANGELOG.md or package.json
--include-all	Include normally hidden commit types
--config <path>	Path to .rng.json config file
--no-color	Disable ANSI color

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
RNG_GIT_PATH	git	Path to git binary
RNG_NO_COLOR	0	Disable ANSI color (1 to disable)
RNG_DEBUG	0	Enable debug logging (1 to enable)

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	No releasable commits found
2	Git error (not a repo, bad ref)
3	Runtime error