| name | release-notes-generator |
| description | Generate release notes in 3 formats (CHANGELOG.md, PR body, Slack announcement) from git commits. Automatically categorizes changes and converts technical language to user-friendly messaging. Use for releases, changelogs, version notes, what's new summaries, or ship announcements. |
| tags | ["release-notes","changelog","slack","git","automation"] |
| effort | low |
Release Notes Generator
Generate comprehensive release notes in 3 formats from git commits.
Workflow
- Analyze git history since last release tag or specified version
- Fetch PR details (titles, descriptions, labels) via
gh api
- Categorize changes into features, bug fixes, improvements, security, breaking changes
- Generate 3 outputs: CHANGELOG.md section (technical), PR release body (semi-technical), Slack message (user-friendly)
- Transform language from technical jargon to accessible messaging
- Alert on migrations if database migrations are detected
How to Use
Basic Usage
Generate release notes since last release
Create release notes for version 0.18.0
With Specific Range
Generate release notes from v0.17.0 to HEAD
Preview Only
Preview release notes without writing files
Output Formats
1. CHANGELOG.md Section
Technical format for developers:
## [0.18.0] - 2025-12-08
### Objective
[1-2 sentence summary]
### New Features
#### [Feature Name] (#PR)
- **Description**: ...
- **Impact**: ...
### Bug Fixes
- **[Module]**: Description (#issue, [error-tracker] ISSUE-XX)
### Technical Improvements
#### Performance / UI/UX / Architecture
- [Description]
### Database Migrations
[If applicable]
### Statistics
- PRs: X
- Features: Y
- Bugs: Z
2. PR Release Body
Uses template from .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/release.md:
- Objective summary
- Features with specs links
- Bug fixes with error tracker references
- Improvements by category
- Migration instructions
- Deployment checklist
3. Slack Announcement
Product-focused format from .github/COMMUNICATION_TEMPLATE/slack-release.md:
- PR link included for traceability
- Non-technical language
- Focus on user impact (end-users, admins, stakeholders)
- Emojis for readability
- Statistics summary
Workflow Integration
This skill integrates with the release workflow:
1. Analyze commits: git log <last-tag>..HEAD
2. Determine version number (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH)
3. Generate 3 outputs
4. Create PR develop -> main with "Release" label
5. Update CHANGELOG.md
6. After merge: create git tag
7. Generate Slack announcement
Tech-to-Product Transformation
The skill automatically transforms technical language:
| Technical | Product |
|---|
| "N+1 query optimization with DataLoader" | "Faster list loading" |
| "AI embeddings implementation with pgvector" | "New intelligent search" |
| "Fix scope permissions in getPermissionScope()" | "Fixed access permissions bug" |
| "Migration webpack -> Turbopack" | Do not communicate |
| "React hooks refactoring" | Do not communicate |
| "Fix N+1 in user loaders" | "Performance improvement" |
| "Add retry logic for DB connection errors" | "Better connection stability" |
Commit Categories
Commits are categorized by conventional commit prefix:
| Prefix | Category | Include in Slack? |
|---|
feat: | New Features | Yes |
fix: | Bug Fixes | Yes (if user-facing) |
perf: | Performance | Yes (simplified) |
security: | Security | Yes |
refactor: | Architecture | No |
chore: | Maintenance | No |
docs: | Documentation | No |
test: | Tests | No |
style: | Style | No |
Console Output Format
When generating release notes, ALWAYS display a clear summary in the console with:
Migration Alert (CRITICAL)
If migrations are detected, display prominently:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ⚠️ [WARNING] DATABASE MIGRATIONS REQUIRED ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ This release contains X migration(s): ║
║ ║
║ • 20251210123456_add_feature_description ║
║ • 20251211094532_update_status_enum ║
║ ║
║ Action required BEFORE deployment: ║
║ → Run: [migration-command] ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
If NO migrations:
✅ [OK] No database migrations required
Detection Method
Check for new migration files since last release:
git diff <last-tag>..HEAD --name-only -- migrations/
Example
User: "Generate release notes since v0.17.0"
Output:
Analyzing commits from v0.17.0 to HEAD...
Found:
- 15 commits
- 8 PRs merged
- 2 new features
- 5 bug fixes
- 3 improvements
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ⚠️ [WARNING] DATABASE MIGRATIONS REQUIRED ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ This release contains 1 migration(s): ║
║ • 20251208143021_add_user_preferences ║
║ Action required: [migration-command] ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
--- CHANGELOG.md Section ---
[Technical format output]
--- PR Release Body ---
[Semi-technical format output]
--- Slack Announcement ---
[Product-focused format output]
Write to files? (CHANGELOG.md, clipboard for PR/Slack)
Commands Used
git tag --sort=-v:refname | head -n 1
git log <tag>..HEAD --oneline --no-merges
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{number}
git show --stat <sha>
Tips
- Run from repository root
- Ensure
gh CLI is authenticated
- Review generated content before publishing
- Adjust product language for your audience
- Use
--preview to see output without writing
Reference Files
assets/changelog-template.md - CHANGELOG section templateassets/slack-template.md - Slack announcement templatereferences/tech-to-product-mappings.md - Transformation rulesreferences/commit-categories.md - Categorization rules
Related Skills
github-actions-templates - For CI/CD workflowschangelog-generator - Original inspiration (ComposioHQ)
