Git Changelog

Git Changelog

Auto-generate changelogs from git commit history.

Use when creating release notes, changelogs, or summarizing git history between versions.

Requirements

• Git repository with commit history
• No API keys needed

Instructions

1. Detect version range:

   # Latest tag
   git tag --sort=-version:refname | head -1
   # Commits since last tag
   git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline
   # If no tags: last 50 commits
   git log -50 --oneline
   

2. Fetch commit history:

   git log <range> --pretty=format:"%H|%s|%an|%ai" --no-merges
   

3. Parse and categorize using Conventional Commits:

   Prefix	Category
   feat:	✨ Features
   fix:	🐛 Bug Fixes
   docs:	📝 Documentation
   refactor:	♻️ Refactoring
   perf:	⚡ Performance
   test:	✅ Tests
   chore:	🔧 Chores
   BREAKING CHANGE	💥 Breaking Changes

   Non-conventional commits go under 📦 Other Changes.

4. Generate commit links if remote exists:

   git remote get-url origin  # → extract GitHub/GitLab URL
   # Link format: [abc1234](https://github.com/user/repo/commit/abc1234)
   

5. Output format:

   # Changelog
   
   ## [1.2.0] — 2025-01-15
   
   ### 💥 Breaking Changes
   - Removed deprecated `oldAPI()` method ([abc1234])
   
   ### ✨ Features
   - Add user authentication flow ([def5678])
   
   ### 🐛 Bug Fixes
   - Fix memory leak in connection pool ([ghi9012])
   

6. Write to file if requested: append to top of CHANGELOG.md (preserve existing content).

Edge Cases

• No conventional commits: Group by date instead, use full commit messages.
• Monorepo: Filter by path with git log -- path/to/package.
• Custom date range: git log --since="2025-01-01" --until="2025-02-01".
• Empty range: Report "No changes since last release."
• Squash merges: Check --first-parent for cleaner history.

Troubleshooting

• fatal: No names found: No tags exist — fall back to commit count.
• Garbled author names: Check git config encoding settings.