keep-a-changelog-generator

<!-- This source file is part of the Stanford Spezi open-source project. SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Stanford University and the project authors (see CONTRIBUTORS.md) SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT -->

Changelog Generator

Generate changelogs from git history following Keep a Changelog format.

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Generate changelog entries for a release
• Document changes since the last version
• Maintain a project's CHANGELOG.md file

Use release-notes-generator instead when you need a narrative release announcement with highlights, usage examples, and migration guidance. This skill maintains the structured CHANGELOG.md file; that one writes the story of a single release.

Changelog Format

Follow Keep a Changelog:

# Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).

## [Unreleased]

### Added
- New features

### Changed
- Changes in existing functionality

### Deprecated
- Features that will be removed

### Removed
- Removed features

### Fixed
- Bug fixes

### Security
- Security fixes

Change Categories

Categorize based on commit messages and code changes:

Category	Commit Keywords	Examples
Added	add, create, implement, introduce	New features, screens
Changed	update, change, modify, refactor, improve	API changes, enhancements
Deprecated	deprecate	Features to be removed
Removed	remove, delete, drop	Deleted features
Fixed	fix, resolve, correct, patch	Bug fixes
Security	security, vulnerability, CVE	Security patches

Git Commands

# Recent commits
git log --oneline -20

# Commits between tags
git log v1.0.0..HEAD --oneline

# Full commit messages
git log --format="%h %s%n%b" HEAD~10..HEAD

# Commits since a date
git log --since="2026-01-01" --oneline

Writing Guidelines

User-Facing Descriptions

Translate technical commits to user benefits:

• Technical: "Refactor auth state machine"
• User-facing: "Improved reliability of authentication state management"

Breaking Changes

Flag API changes clearly:

### Changed
- **BREAKING**: `login()` now returns `Promise<User>` instead of `Promise<void>`

Output Example

## [1.2.0] - 2026-01-14

### Added
- New health data visualization screen
- Apple HealthKit integration for step counting
- Export health data to PDF

### Changed
- Improved task scheduling performance
- Updated questionnaire UI design

### Fixed
- Fixed race condition in account state initialization
- Resolved infinite loop when no tasks exist

Workflow

1. Run git log to get commits since last release
2. Group commits by category (Added/Changed/Fixed/etc.)
3. Identify breaking changes
4. Write user-facing descriptions
5. Include PR/issue references where available
6. Format following Keep a Changelog structure