gabrielmoreira 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.