Changelog Creation

When a Changelog Entry Is Required

Any PR that changes source code needs a changelog entry. This includes bug fixes, new features, behavior changes, deprecations, and security fixes.

Not required for:

• Test-only changes (no production code touched)
• Documentation-only changes
• CI/tooling changes
• Fixing a bug that was introduced but not yet released (the regression never reached users, so there is nothing to document)

Add [skip changelog] in the PR description to explicitly skip.

Workflow: Create the PR First, Then the Changelog

This is the issuesOrigin: "private" flow — the default, and what almost every entry uses. The changelog file is named after the GitHub PR number, so the PR must exist before the entry is written. Guessing the next available number by reading .changelogs/ or the GitHub API is unreliable — another PR can be opened between the check and the push, and the filename will no longer match.

Correct order:

1. Commit the source code change on the feature branch.
2. Push the branch and run gh pr create (see the pr-creation skill).
3. Read the PR number from the URL gh pr create prints (e.g. https://github.com/handsontable/handsontable/pull/12395 → 12395).
4. Create .changelogs/<PR-number>.json at the repo root using that number, set "issueOrPR" to the same number. The correct path is always <repo-root>/.changelogs/<PR-number>.json — never inside a package subdirectory like handsontable/.changelogs/.
5. Commit the new file with a message like DEV-xxx: Add changelog entry for PR #<number> and push — the PR picks it up.

For the rare case where the entry cites a public GitHub issue instead, see Issue Origin below.

JSON Format

Create a file at .changelogs/{PR-number}.json (using the PR number returned by gh pr create):

{
  "issuesOrigin": "private",
  "title": "User-facing description of what changed.",
  "type": "fixed",
  "issueOrPR": 12345,
  "breaking": false,
  "framework": "none"
}

Issue Origin

issuesOrigin answers one question: is the number in issueOrPR a public GitHub issue? It says nothing about the PR, and nothing about whether the repository is public.

The field picks the link path in the generated CHANGELOG.md, and bin/changelog derives the filename from issueOrPR, so the two fields move together:

Use "private" when the work is tracked in a private ClickUp task — this is the normal case, including every task with a DEV-xxx ID. Use "public" only when you are citing a real public GitHub issue number; then name the file after the issue, not the PR.

Getting this wrong is not fatal — GitHub redirects /issues/<n> to /pull/<n> — but it publishes a wrong path in the release notes and makes the field meaningless.

Categorization Guide

Writing a Good Title

• Write from the user's perspective. Describe what changed for someone using Handsontable, not what you changed in the code.
• Start with a past-tense verb: "Added...", "Fixed...", "Improved...", "Removed..."
• Be specific. Instead of "Fixed a bug", write "Fixed cell editor closing unexpectedly on scroll."
• Do not reference internal code. Avoid titles like "Refactored DataMap" or "Updated metaSchema.js". Users do not know these internals.
• End with a period.
• Never put an @/api/... docs link in the title. That syntax resolves only on the docs site, and bin/changelog renders the title verbatim into the root CHANGELOG.md and the GitHub release body too, where it links to a literal @/api/... path and 404s. When a title needs a docs link, use an absolute https://handsontable.com/docs/... URL. Reference linking for new options, hooks, methods, and plugins happens later, on the docs changelog page - see .changelogs/README.md.
• Breaking changes ("breaking": true) appear first in the generated changelog. Make the title clearly describe what breaks and what to do instead.

Framework Field

CLI Tool

For interactive creation, run:

npm run changelog entry

This walks you through each field and writes the JSON file for you. Use it rather than writing the JSON by hand. It is the only thing that guarantees the filename, and a hand-written file is how every violation of the rule below has been created.

If the target filename already exists, a non-interactive run refuses to overwrite it. Edit or remove the existing JSON directly, or run the command in a terminal to confirm the overwrite.

Without a terminal (an agent session, CI), pass every field as a flag, and use the entry's own field names. The prompts only run in a TTY; otherwise the command reads the flags straight into the entry. --issue, the flag --help lists, never reaches the issueOrPR field, and issuesOrigin has no listed flag at all, so a run with only the listed flags dies with input.issuesOrigin must be one of: private,public (got: undefined). This works:

node bin/changelog entry --issuesOrigin private --issueOrPR 12345 --type fixed --no-breaking --framework none "Fixed ..."

One Entry Per Pull Request

A PR adds one entry. A second is correct only when it cites a different GitHub number. The authoritative rule lives in .changelogs/README.md; this section is the short form.

That holds even when the PR fixes several issues or makes several distinct user-facing changes. The title describes the overall change; it does not list individual issues.

Do not add a second entry because:

• the PR fixes a second bug that has no issue of its own — fold it into the one title;
• the fix also changes an API, or is changed as well as fixed — a different type is not a reason for a second file; describe both in the one title and let the type that matters most pick the section;
• the change spans the React, Vue, and Angular wrappers — a different framework is not a reason either; file it once with framework: none;
• the changes feel unrelated — if they are genuinely unrelated, they belong in separate PRs.

A second entry is correct for a public GitHub issue closed alongside the PR's own change: one file citing the issue number, one citing the PR number.

Never invent a filename. A file is always <issueOrPR>.json, a plain number and nothing else. 13442-changed.json, 13442-react.json, and 013442.json are all rejected, because a number owns exactly one file — that is what keeps one PR to one entry. If the name you need is already taken, the entry already exists: fold your title into it.

Two blocking checks assert this, so a violation reds the PR rather than reaching a reviewer: bin/changelog rejects a misnamed file (on every PR, via the consume --dry-run step of the changelog job, and locally via pre-push), and the changelog gate rejects a third entry file. A maintenance PR that back-fills entries for other PRs writes [multiple changelogs] in the PR description to lift the count limit; [skip changelog] does not lift it.

Before you commit, list what the branch adds:

git fetch origin develop
git diff --name-only --diff-filter=A origin/develop...HEAD -- '.changelogs/*.json'

More than two paths is wrong — fold the extra titles together and delete the files. Swap develop for the PR's base branch when you target a release branch.

Checklist

1. Confirm the PR already exists (open or draft). Capture its number from the gh pr create output or the PR URL.
2. Pick the correct type from the table above.
3. Write a clear, user-facing title ending with a period.
4. Set breaking to true only if the change breaks existing behavior.
5. Set framework to match the affected package, or "none" for core.
6. Leave issuesOrigin as "private" unless the entry cites a real public GitHub issue number — see Issue Origin.
7. Name the file <PR-number>.json and set "issueOrPR" to the same number — a plain number, with no suffix of any kind. Do not guess or infer the number — read it from the created PR. Write to <repo-root>/.changelogs/<PR-number>.json — not inside any package subdirectory (e.g. handsontable/.changelogs/ is wrong). With "public", both the filename and issueOrPR use the issue number instead.
8. Commit and push the new changelog file to the same feature branch so the open PR picks it up.
9. Confirm the branch adds one file under .changelogs/, or two citing different numbers, and that each filename equals its issueOrPR — see One Entry Per Pull Request.