release-notes-writer

name	release-notes-writer
description	Generate ship-ready release notes from specs and tickets. Use this skill when: - A release is being prepared and you need user-facing release notes - You need internal (engineering) release notes for a deployment - You want to generate release notes from completed specs or tickets

Release Notes Writer

Generate structured release notes for each release cycle. Produces both user-facing (what changed and why it matters) and internal (technical changes, migration steps) release notes.

Workflow

1. Identify release scope — List the features/fixes included
2. Read source specs — Read relevant spec files
3. Read tickets — If available, read completed tickets for the release
4. Categorize changes — Group into: New Features, Enhancements, Bug Fixes, Known Issues
5. Write user-facing notes — What changed, why it matters, in plain language
6. Write internal notes — Technical changes, migration steps, config changes
7. Output — Write to file

User-Facing Release Notes

# [Product Name] — Release Notes {version}

**Release Date:** {DD-MM-YYYY}
**Environment:** {Production / Staging / UAT}

## What's New

### {Feature Name}
{1-2 sentence description of what the feature does and why it matters.}

**Highlights:**
- {Key capability 1}
- {Key capability 2}

## Enhancements

### {Enhancement Name}
{What improved and why it's better now.}

| Before | After |
|--------|-------|
| {Old behavior} | {New behavior} |

## Bug Fixes

| Issue | Fix | Impact |
|-------|-----|--------|
| {description} | {what was fixed} | {who is affected} |

## Known Issues

| Issue | Workaround | Expected Fix |
|-------|-----------|-------------|
| {description} | {workaround} | {target version} |

Internal Release Notes

# Internal Release Notes — {version}

**Release Date:** {DD-MM-YYYY}
**Release Manager:** [your name]
**Deployment Type:** {Rolling / Blue-Green / Canary}

## Changes by Service

| Ticket | Type | Summary | Breaking? |
|--------|------|---------|-----------|
| {KEY-123} | Feature | {Summary} | No |

## Configuration Changes

| Config Key | Old Value | New Value | Service | Notes |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------|-------|

## Database Migrations

| Migration | Description | Reversible? | Duration |
|-----------|-------------|-------------|----------|

## Rollback Plan
{Steps to rollback if critical issues found}

## Monitoring Checklist

| Metric | Expected | Alert Threshold | Dashboard |
|--------|----------|-----------------|-----------|

Writing Guidelines

User-Facing

1. Lead with benefits, not features — "You can now track X" not "Added X API"
2. Use plain language — No technical jargon
3. Be specific — "Reports now show time per topic" not "Improved reports"
4. Acknowledge bug fixes honestly

Internal

1. Be precise — Include ticket numbers, endpoint paths, config keys
2. Flag breaking changes prominently
3. Include rollback steps
4. Reference monitoring dashboards

Anti-Patterns

• Don't write "various improvements" — be specific
• Don't skip the rollback plan for internal notes
• Don't use technical jargon in user-facing notes
• Don't forget known issues — transparency builds trust

Quality Checklist

• User-facing notes use plain language
• Every change categorized (feature/enhancement/bug fix)
• Internal notes include ticket numbers
• Rollback plan documented
• Breaking changes flagged
• Known issues listed