# App Store Changelog

> Create user-facing App Store release notes from git history. Use when asked to generate release changelog, App Store "What's New" text, or release notes based on git tags. Use when this capability is needed.

- Skill: `tomevault-io/app-store-changelog-3` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/app-store-changelog-3`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/app-store-changelog-3/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/app-store-changelog-3

---


# 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:

```bash
# 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:
```bash
git log v1.2.3..HEAD --oneline --no-merges
```

If no tags exist:
```bash
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

```bash
# 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

---
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<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-04-14 -->