thearchitectit/awesome-cline-skills/changelog-generator

Changelog Generator

This skill transforms technical git commits into polished, user-friendly changelogs that customers and users will actually understand and appreciate.

Prerequisites

• Git: Required for reading commit history
• Repository access: Must be run from a git repository root
• Optional: Custom changelog style guide (CHANGELOG_STYLE.md)

When to Use This Skill

• Preparing release notes for a new version
• Creating weekly or monthly product update summaries
• Documenting changes for customers
• Writing changelog entries for app store submissions
• Generating update notifications
• Creating internal release documentation
• Maintaining a public changelog/product updates page

What This Skill Does

1. Scans Git History — Analyzes commits from a specific time period or between versions
2. Categorizes Changes — Groups commits into logical categories (features, improvements, bug fixes, breaking changes, security)
3. Translates Technical → User-Friendly — Converts developer commits into customer language
4. Formats Professionally — Creates clean, structured changelog entries
5. Filters Noise — Excludes internal commits (refactoring, tests, etc.)
6. Follows Best Practices — Applies changelog guidelines and brand voice

How to Use

Basic Usage

From your project repository:

Create a changelog from commits since last release

Generate changelog for all commits from the past week

Create release notes for version 2.5.0

With Specific Date Range

Create a changelog for all commits between March 1 and March 15

With Custom Guidelines

Create a changelog for commits since v2.4.0, using my changelog guidelines from CHANGELOG_STYLE.md

Process

Step 1: Gather Commits

Run the appropriate git command to collect commits:

# Commits since last tag
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline
 
# Commits from the past N days
git log --since="7 days ago" --oneline
 
# Commits between two versions
git log v2.4.0..v2.5.0 --oneline
 
# Full commit details
git log --since="7 days ago" --format="%H|%s|%an|%ad" --date=short

Step 2: Categorize Changes

Group each commit into one of these categories:

Step 3: Transform Technical → User-Friendly

For each commit, rewrite the technical description in user-friendly language:

Filter out: internal refactoring, test updates, CI/CD changes, dependency bumps, code style fixes

Step 4: Format the Changelog

# What's New - [Version/Date Range]
 
## ✨ New Features
 
-**[Feature Name]**: [User-friendly description of what it does and why it matters]
 
## 🔧 Improvements
 
-**[Improved Feature]**: [What changed and the benefit to users]
 
## 🐛 Bug Fixes
 
-[Description of what was fixed in user terms]
 
## ⚠️ Breaking Changes
 
-[What changed and what users need to do differently]
 
## 🔒 Security
 
-[Security improvements made]

Step 5: Review and Refine

• Ensure all entries are in user-friendly language
• Verify no internal/technical jargon remains
• Check that categories are correct
• Remove any entries that don't affect users
• Ensure the tone matches your brand

Example

User: "Create a changelog for commits from the past 7 days"

Output:

# Updates - Week of March 10, 2024
 
## ✨ New Features
 
-**Team Workspaces**: Create separate workspaces for different projects. Invite team members and keep everything organized.
 
-**Keyboard Shortcuts**: Press ? to see all available shortcuts. Navigate faster without touching your mouse.
 
## 🔧 Improvements
 
-**Faster Sync**: Files now sync 2x faster across devices
-**Better Search**: Search now includes file contents, not just titles
 
## 🐛 Fixes
 
-Fixed issue where large images wouldn't upload
-Resolved timezone confusion in scheduled posts
-Corrected notification badge count

Tips

• Run from your git repository root
• Specify date ranges for focused changelogs
• Use your CHANGELOG_STYLE.md for consistent formatting
• Review and adjust the generated changelog before publishing
• Save output directly to CHANGELOG.md

Cline Workflow Notes

1. Install location: Copy this skill directory to .cline/skills/changelog-generator/ (project-level) or ~/.cline/skills/changelog-generator/ (global)
2. Activation: Cline will suggest this skill when you ask about release notes, changelogs, or version history
3. Progressive loading: Only metadata is loaded initially; full changelog patterns load via use_skill when needed