jclfocused App Store Changelog
Overview
Generate comprehensive, user-facing changelog from git history since the last tag, then translate commits into clear App Store release notes.
Workflow
1) Collect Changes
Get commits since the last tag:
# Find the last tag
git describe --tags --abbrev=0
# List commits since last tag
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline
# Or with more detail
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --pretty=format:"%h %s" --no-merges
If comparing specific refs:
git log v1.2.3..HEAD --oneline --no-merges
If no tags exist:
git log --oneline --no-merges -50 # Last 50 commits
2) Triage for User Impact
Scan commits and identify user-visible changes:
Include:
- New features
- UI changes
- Behavior changes
- Bug fixes users would notice
- Performance improvements with visible impact
Exclude:
- Refactors
- Dependency bumps
- CI changes
- Developer tooling
- Internal logging
- Analytics changes (unless affecting user privacy/behavior)
Group changes by theme:
- New: New features and capabilities
- Improved: Enhancements to existing features
- Fixed: Bug fixes
3) Draft App Store Notes
Write short, benefit-focused bullets:
- Use clear verbs and plain language
- Avoid internal jargon, ticket IDs, file paths
- Prefer 5-10 bullets unless user specifies different length
- Each bullet: one sentence, starts with a verb
Language guidance:
- Translate technical terms to user-facing descriptions
- Avoid: "API", "refactor", "nil", "crash log", "dependency"
- Use: "Improved", "Added", "Fixed", "Updated"
- Keep tense consistent (present or past)
Examples:
- "Added account switching from the profile menu."
- "Improved timeline loading speed on slow connections."
- "Fixed media attachments not opening in full screen."
4) Validate
- Every bullet maps to a real change in the range
- No duplicate bullets describing the same change
- No internal jargon or file paths
- Final list fits App Store text limits (if provided)
Output Format
What's New
• Added [feature description]
• Improved [enhancement description]
• Fixed [bug fix description]
Or with sections:
What's New in [Version]
New
• [Feature 1]
• [Feature 2]
Improved
• [Enhancement 1]
Fixed
• [Bug fix 1]
• [Bug fix 2]
Quick Commands
# Full workflow: commits since last tag with files changed
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --stat --no-merges
# Just commit messages
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --pretty=format:"- %s" --no-merges
# List all tags
git tag -l --sort=-v:refname
# Compare two specific tags
git log v1.1.0..v1.2.0 --oneline --no-merges
Tips
- If a change is ambiguous, ask for clarification
- Drop changes that are clearly internal-only
- When in doubt, describe as "small improvement" only if user-visible
- Respect storefront character limits if provided