Changelog Writer

Create and maintain changelogs following industry standards.

When to Use

• Preparing a new release
• Documenting recent changes
• Creating initial changelog
• Migrating to standard format

Changelog Format

Following Keep a Changelog:

# Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).

## [Unreleased]

### Added
- New feature description

### Changed
- Modified behavior description

### Deprecated
- Soon-to-be removed feature

### Removed
- Removed feature description

### Fixed
- Bug fix description

### Security
- Security fix description

## [1.0.0] - 2026-01-15

### Added
- Initial release
- Core functionality

[Unreleased]: https://github.com/user/repo/compare/v1.0.0...HEAD
[1.0.0]: https://github.com/user/repo/releases/tag/v1.0.0

Change Categories

Category	Use For
Added	New features
Changed	Changes in existing functionality
Deprecated	Features to be removed in future
Removed	Features removed in this release
Fixed	Bug fixes
Security	Security vulnerability fixes

Writing Good Entries

Do

### Added
- Add user authentication with JWT tokens
- Add rate limiting (100 requests/minute per IP)
- Add CSV export for reports

### Fixed
- Fix memory leak when processing large files (#234)
- Fix incorrect timezone handling in date picker

Don't

### Added
- Added stuff
- New feature
- Updates

### Fixed
- Fixed bug
- Fix issue

Entry Guidelines

Be Specific

# Bad
- Fixed a bug

# Good
- Fix crash when uploading files larger than 10MB (#156)

Include Context

# Bad
- Changed the API

# Good
- Change `/users` endpoint to require authentication (BREAKING)

Reference Issues/PRs

- Add dark mode support (#234)
- Fix memory leak in image processor (fixes #189)

Indicate Breaking Changes

### Changed
- **BREAKING**: Rename `getUser()` to `fetchUser()` for consistency
- **BREAKING**: Remove deprecated `v1` API endpoints

Conventional Commits to Changelog

Map commit types to changelog categories:

Commit Type	Changelog Category
feat:	Added
fix:	Fixed
docs:	(usually not included)
style:	(usually not included)
refactor:	Changed (if user-facing)
perf:	Changed
test:	(usually not included)
chore:	(usually not included)
BREAKING CHANGE:	Changed/Removed

Example Commits to Entries

feat: add user profile page
fix: resolve login timeout issue (#123)
feat!: change authentication to OAuth 2.0

Becomes:

### Added
- Add user profile page

### Changed
- **BREAKING**: Change authentication to OAuth 2.0

### Fixed
- Resolve login timeout issue (#123)

Version Numbering

Following Semantic Versioning:

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

1.0.0 → 1.0.1  (patch: bug fixes)
1.0.1 → 1.1.0  (minor: new features, backward compatible)
1.1.0 → 2.0.0  (major: breaking changes)

When to Bump

Change Type	Version Bump
Bug fix (backward compatible)	PATCH
New feature (backward compatible)	MINOR
Breaking change	MAJOR
Security fix	PATCH (or MINOR if new feature)

Release Checklist

When preparing a release:

1. Move items from [Unreleased] to new version section
2. Add release date: ## [1.2.0] - 2026-01-15
3. Update comparison links at bottom
4. Remove empty categories
5. Review for clarity and completeness
6. Commit changelog with version bump

Automation Tools

Conventional Changelog

npx conventional-changelog -p angular -i CHANGELOG.md -s

Release Please

# .github/workflows/release.yml
- uses: google-github-actions/release-please-action@v4
  with:
    release-type: node

Changesets

npx changeset        # Create changeset
npx changeset version # Update versions

Template: Initial Changelog

# Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).

## [Unreleased]

## [0.1.0] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
- Initial release
- [List initial features]

[Unreleased]: https://github.com/user/repo/compare/v0.1.0...HEAD
[0.1.0]: https://github.com/user/repo/releases/tag/v0.1.0