changelog

name	changelog
description	Use for writing, reviewing, editing, or generating Meteor release changelog entries. Defines canonical file locations, naming rules, required section structure, formatting conventions, PR-based generation workflow (with gh CLI and web fallback), incremental updates, and common entry patterns. Applies to files under v3-docs/docs/generators/changelog/versions/.

Meteor Changelog Rules

Guidelines for authoring and generating Meteor release changelog entries.

Source of Truth

All changelog files live in:

v3-docs/docs/generators/changelog/versions/

These files are consumed by a generator that produces the public changelog. Never edit generated output directly.

Special file: 99999-generated-code-warning.md (page header). Do not change its structure.

---

File Naming

• One file per release
• Format: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.md
• No v prefix
• No suffixes or metadata

Examples:

• ✅ 3.4.0.md
• ❌ v3.4.0.md
• ❌ 3.4.0-final.md

---

Required Entry Structure

All sections are required and must appear in this exact order. Use N/A when a section has no content.

Major / minor releases (X.0.0, X.Y.0) — use subheaders under Highlights:

## v<VERSION>, <YYYY-MM-DD>

### Highlights

#### Features

- New capability or API

#### Improvements

- Enhancement to existing behavior

#### Fixes

- Bug fix

#### Breaking Changes
N/A

#### Internal API changes
N/A

#### Migration Steps
Please run the following command to update your project:

```bash
meteor update --release <VERSION>
```

#### Bumped Meteor Packages

* package@version

#### Bumped NPM Packages

N/A

#### Special thanks to

N/A

Patch releases (X.Y.Z, Z > 0) — flat list, no subheaders:

### Highlights

- Summary of change

---

Formatting Rules

Version Header

• Format: ## vX.Y.Z, YYYY-MM-DD
• Comma + space separator
• Always H2
• Update the date to the current date whenever the changelog is modified

Highlights

Major / minor — group entries under #### Features, #### Improvements, #### Fixes (H4 subheaders inside Highlights). Omit a subheader only if it would be empty.

Patch — flat bullet list, no subheaders.

General rules:

• Bullet list (-), concise, imperative voice
• Include PR links inline

- Upgrade to Node v22, [PR#13997](...)

For large features, use nested bullets with emoji markers:

- **Meteor-Rspack Integration**, [PR#13910](...)
  - ⚡ New `rspack` atmosphere package
  - 📦 New `@meteorjs/rspack` npm package

For feature-heavy releases, append:

All Merged PRs@[GitHub PRs X.Y](https://github.com/meteor/meteor/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Amerged+base%3Arelease-X.Y)

External package changelogs go after the PR link block.

---

Breaking Changes

• Use N/A if none

• Package-level changes:

  • Backtick package names
  • List affected APIs

• Non-package changes use plain bullets

---

Migration Steps

• Always start with:

meteor update --release <VERSION>

• Add extra commands, config steps, or doc links if needed

---

Bumped Packages

Meteor & NPM

• One package per line
• Format: name@version
• No backticks
• Use N/A if empty
• Include meteor-tool@<version> when applicable

---

Special Thanks

• Wrap contributor list with ✨✨✨
• GitHub users: [@user](https://github.com/user)
• Forum users: [@user](https://forums.meteor.com/u/user/summary)
• Use N/A if none

---

Linking Conventions

• PR: [PR#123](https://github.com/meteor/meteor/pull/123)
• Docs: [text](https://docs.meteor.com/...)
• External changelog: [pkg@ver](url)
• All PRs: [GitHub PRs X.Y](...)

---

Common Highlight Patterns

• Dependency upgrade
• Bug fix
• New feature
• Package integration
• Deprecation
• Dependency-only bump
• Async API migration

---

Branching Model & Comparison Baseline

Meteor releases are prepared on release-<VERSION> branches (e.g., release-3.4.1). The main development branch is devel.

• Changelog scope = all changes on release-<VERSION> that are not on devel
• PR base = PRs merged with base release-<VERSION>
• Commit diff = git log devel..release-<VERSION> or git log devel..HEAD when on the release branch

When generating or updating a changelog, always compare against devel to determine what is new in the release. PRs merged into devel that were then merged into the release branch via a branch merge (e.g., Merge branch 'devel' into release-X.Y) are included — they are part of the release diff.

---

Generating a Changelog from PRs

Use merged PRs targeting the release branch.

Fetch PRs

Primary — gh CLI:

gh pr list --repo meteor/meteor \
  --base release-<VERSION> \
  --state merged \
  --limit 200 \
  --json number,title,labels,author,body,url

Fallback — when gh is unavailable:

Use WebFetch to retrieve the PR list from GitHub:

https://github.com/meteor/meteor/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Amerged+base%3Arelease-<VERSION>

Or fetch JSON from the GitHub REST API:

https://api.github.com/repos/meteor/meteor/pulls?base=release-<VERSION>&state=closed&per_page=100

Filter results to only merged PRs (merged_at is not null).

Incremental Updates

When the changelog file already exists with content:

1. Parse existing Highlights for PR numbers (extract from PR#NNNN links)
2. Compare fetched PRs against the existing set
3. Skip PRs already present — only process newly detected PRs
4. Append new entries to the appropriate sections without duplicating existing ones

Categorization Signals

• Labels (Project:*, Type:*) are primary
• Titles supplement labels
• For major/minor, classify each PR into one of:
  • Features — new APIs, new packages, new capabilities
  • Improvements — enhancements, optimizations, DX upgrades to existing behavior
  • Fixes — bug fixes, correctness patches

Inclusion & Exclusion Rules

Include only PRs that touch release-relevant directories:

• tools/ — CLI and build system
• packages/ — core Meteor packages
• npm-packages/ — published @meteorjs/* packages
• scripts/ — dev bundle build scripts (e.g., Node.js version bumps)

A PR that touches files only outside these directories is not a release change and must be excluded from the changelog.

Exclude PRs that are:

• Release tooling only (e.g., changelog generation, version bumps)
• Docs-only — touching only docs/, v3-docs/, guide/, or markdown files outside release directories
• CI/test-infrastructure-only — touching only .github/workflows/, test harness setup, or E2E infrastructure without changing runtime behavior
• Dependabot PRs unless they bump a dependency that ships in the Meteor release (e.g., Node.js upgrade)
• Internal refactors with no user-facing impact (e.g., renaming internal variables, reformatting)

When a PR touches both release and non-release directories, include it — the release-relevant changes take priority for categorization.

Breaking Change Detection

Scan PR title, body, labels, and phrases such as:

• "breaking", "removed", "renamed", "is now async"

Assembly Order

1. Version header
2. Highlights
   • Major/minor: Features → Improvements → Fixes (as H4 subheaders)
   • Patch: flat list, most impactful first
3. All merged PRs link (if needed)
4. Breaking Changes
5. Internal API changes
6. Migration Steps
7. Bumped Meteor Packages (TBD if unknown)
8. Bumped NPM Packages (TBD or N/A)
9. Special thanks to

---

Writing Rules

Do

• Use imperative voice
• Be specific
• Mention user-facing impact
• Merge related PRs

Don’t

• Use past tense
• Expose internal-only details
• List trivial PRs individually

---

Review Checklist

• Correct filename
• Correct version header
• All sections present and ordered
• Empty sections use N/A
• Proper bullet and link formats
• No YAML frontmatter
• PR links point to meteor/meteor