changelog-generator

# Changelog Generator

**Tier:** POWERFUL  
**Category:** Engineering  
**Domain:** Release Management / Documentation

## Overview

Use this skill to produce consistent, auditable release notes from Conventional Commits. It separates commit parsing, semantic bump logic, and changelog rendering so teams can automate releases without losing editorial control.

## Core Capabilities

- Parse commit messages using Conventional Commit rules
- Detect semantic bump (`major`, `minor`, `patch`) from commit stream
- Render Keep a Changelog sections (`Added`, `Changed`, `Fixed`, etc.)
- Generate release entries from git ranges or provided commit input
- Enforce commit format with a dedicated linter script
- Support CI integration via machine-readable JSON output

## When to Use

- Before publishing a release tag
- During CI to generate release notes automatically
- During PR checks to block invalid commit message formats
- In monorepos where package changelogs require scoped filtering
- When converting raw git history into user-facing notes

## Key Workflows

### 1. Generate Changelog Entry From Git

```bash
python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py \
  --from-tag v1.3.0 \
  --to-tag v1.4.0 \
  --next-version v1.4.0 \
  --format markdown
```

### 2. Generate Entry From stdin/File Input

```bash
git log v1.3.0..v1.4.0 --pretty=format:'%s' | \
  python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py --next-version v1.4.0 --format markdown

python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py --input commits.txt --next-version v1.4.0 --format json
```

### 3. Update `CHANGELOG.md`

```bash
python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py \
  --from-tag v1.3.0 \
  --to-tag HEAD \
  --next-version v1.4.0 \
  --write CHANGELOG.md
```

### 4. Lint Commits Before Merge

```bash
python3 scripts/commit_linter.py --from-ref origin/main --to-ref HEAD --strict --format text
```

Or file/stdin:

```bash
python3 scripts/commit_linter.py --input commits.txt --strict
cat commits.txt | python3 scripts/commit_linter.py --format json
```

##...

# Changelog Generator

Automates release notes from Conventional Commits with Keep a Changelog output and strict commit linting. Designed for CI-friendly release workflows.

## Quick Start

```bash
# Generate entry from git range
python3 scripts/generate_changelog.py \
  --from-tag v1.2.0 \
  --to-tag v1.3.0 \
  --next-version v1.3.0 \
  --format markdown

# Lint commit subjects
python3 scripts/commit_linter.py --from-ref origin/main --to-ref HEAD --strict --format text
```

## Included Tools

- `scripts/generate_changelog.py`: parse commits, infer semver bump, render markdown/JSON, optional file prepend
- `scripts/commit_linter.py`: validate commit subjects against Conventional Commits rules

## References

- `references/ci-integration.md`
- `references/changelog-formatting-guide.md`
- `references/monorepo-strategy.md`

## Installation

### Claude Code

```bash
cp -R engineering/changelog-generator ~/.claude/skills/changelog-generator
```

### OpenAI Codex

```bash
cp -R engineering/changelog-generator ~/.codex/skills/changelog-generator
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
cp -R engineering/changelog-generator ~/.openclaw/skills/changelog-generator
```