changelog-cli

Changelog Generator

Generate release notes for a stable release by summarizing git commits since the last stable tag.

Step 1: Determine the range

# Find the last stable tag
LAST_STABLE=$(git tag --list 'v*' --sort=-v:refname | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | head -n 1)

If LAST_STABLE is empty (first stable release), use the full history by omitting the range:

# If LAST_STABLE is set:
git log "${LAST_STABLE}..origin/main" --oneline

# If LAST_STABLE is empty (first release):
git log origin/main --oneline

If a version argument was provided (e.g., /changelog-cli v0.0.6), use it as the heading. Otherwise, infer the next version by bumping the patch of $LAST_STABLE (or use v0.1.0 if no stable tag exists).

Step 2: Read the full commit details

Use the same range logic from Step 1 (with or without $LAST_STABLE):

# With a previous stable tag:
git log "${LAST_STABLE}..origin/main" --format="### %h%n%s%n%n%b%n---"

# First release (no stable tag):
git log origin/main --format="### %h%n%s%n%n%b%n---"

Also read the PR descriptions for any merged PRs in the range to get richer context on what changed and why:

# Extract PR numbers from commit messages (works on both GNU and BSD grep)
git log ${LAST_STABLE:+"${LAST_STABLE}.."}origin/main --oneline | grep -o '#[0-9]\+' | tr -d '#' | sort -u

For each PR number, read the PR body:

gh pr view <number> --json title,body --jq '.title + "\n" + .body'

Step 3: Categorize and write the changelog

Group changes into these categories (omit empty categories):

• New - new commands, features, or capabilities
• Improved - enhancements to existing behavior
• Fixed - bug fixes
• Internal - changes with no user-visible effect (CI, refactors, docs)

A codegen resync is not automatically Internal. What it did to the command surface is what a user cares about, so a resync that added a command or a flag is a New entry naming that command or flag, carrying the resync's PR number. List a resync under Internal only when it changed nothing a user can type.