changelog-writer

Changelog Writer Skill

Raw commit logs are written for the author; a changelog is written for the user. This skill turns a pile of

commits/PRs/changes into a clean release entry — grouped by type, in plain user-facing language, with

breaking changes and upgrade steps surfaced first so nobody gets surprised.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

• The changes — commit messages, PR titles, or a bullet list of what changed.
• Version & date — the release number (or help pick per semver) and date.
• Audience — end users, API consumers, library developers (sets the voice).
• Conventions (optional) — Keep a Changelog, an existing style, links to issues/PRs.

Output Format

Follow Keep a Changelog conventions:

[version] — [date]

⚠️ Breaking changes (only if any) — each breaking change + the exact migration step to fix it. This goes first.

Added — new features/capabilities, in user terms.

Changed — changes to existing behavior.

Deprecated — soon-to-be-removed features (and what to use instead).

Fixed — bug fixes (what was broken, from the user's view).

Security — any security-relevant fixes.

(Omit empty sections.) Each line: user-facing outcome first, with an issue/PR reference if available — not the raw commit message.

Upgrade notes (if needed) — anything to do when upgrading beyond the breaking-changes steps.

Semver note — if the version was inferred, one line on why (breaking → major, feature → minor, fix → patch).

Quality Checks

• [ ] Entries are grouped by type (Added/Changed/Fixed/…) with empty sections omitted
• [ ] Breaking changes are surfaced first, each with a concrete migration step
• [ ] Lines are user-facing outcomes, not raw commit messages
• [ ] References (issues/PRs) are included where available
• [ ] The version respects semver (breaking→major, feature→minor, fix→patch)

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not paste raw commit messages — translate to what the user gains or must do
• [ ] Do not bury breaking changes among the features — they go first, with migration steps
• [ ] Do not include internal-only noise (refactors, CI tweaks) the user doesn't care about
• [ ] Do not mix change types into one list — group them
• [ ] Do not misclassify the version bump — a breaking change is a major, not a patch

Based On

The Keep a Changelog standard and Semantic Versioning, written for the reader rather than the committer.