Provides automated documentation updates by analyzing git changes between the current branch and the last release tag.

MITAuto-check: notesDevelopment

Install Docs Updater

skills CLI
$ npx skills add giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --skill docs-updater -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit docs-updater --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/developer-kit-core/skills/docs-updater .claude/skills/docs-updater && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
docs-updater
GitHub stars
357
Token cost
~2.6k tokens
SKILL.md length
800 words
Files
2 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
115
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Provides automated documentation updates by analyzing git changes between the current branch and the last release tag.

  • Works in 8 steps: Detect Last Release Version → Perform Git Diff Analysis → Discover Documentation Structure → …
  • Preparing a release
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, When to Use, Prerequisites and Instructions, plus 3 more sections
  • Calls git; reaches keepachangelog.com and semver.org

What it does

Docs Updater is an agent skill from giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit. Provides automated documentation updates by analyzing git changes between the current branch and the last release tag. Performs git diff analysis to identify modifications, then updates README.md, CHANGELOG.md following Keep a Changelog standard, and discovers documentation folders for contextual updates. Use when preparing a release, maintaining documentation sync, or before creating a pull request. Triggers on "update docs", "update changelog", "sync documentation", "update readme", "prepare release…

Its SKILL.md is about 2.6k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including reference files (for example `references/examples.md`).

It sits in Development, covering Changelog and release notes, Technical documentation and Git workflow. It works with Git. The repository describes itself as: Modular plugin marketplace for Claude Code and agentic CLIs, with validated, spec-driven skills, agents, commands, and workflows for Java, TypeScript, Python, PHP, AWS, and AI. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Preparing a release
  • Maintaining documentation sync
  • Before creating a pull request
  • Update changelog

Example prompts

  • “update docs”
  • “update changelog”
  • “sync documentation”
  • “/docs-updater”

Requirements

  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Edit, Bash

Workflow steps

8 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Detect Last Release Version
  2. Perform Git Diff Analysis
  3. Discover Documentation Structure
  4. Generate CHANGELOG Updates
  5. Update README.md
  6. Update Documentation Folders
  7. Present Changes for Review
  8. Apply Documentation Updates

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit fe73fb3. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • Read
    • Edit
    • Bash

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • git

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • keepachangelog.com
    • semver.org

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Docs Updater loads about 2.6k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4.9k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 134 tokens; SKILL.md has 800 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~134
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.6k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~4.9k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md
    allowed-tools: Read, Edit, Bash

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit at commit fe73fb3, republished under its MIT licence (© giuseppe-trisciuoglio). 800 words, ~2,572 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/docs-updater/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
docs-updater
description
Provides automated documentation updates by analyzing git changes between the current branch and the last release tag. Performs git diff analysis to identify modifications, then updates README.md, CHANGELOG.md following Keep a Changelog standard, and discovers documentation folders for contextual updates. Use when preparing a release, maintaining documentation sync, or before creating a pull request. Triggers on "update docs", "update changelog", "sync documentation", "update readme", "prepare release documentation".
allowed-tools
Read, Edit, Bash

Universal Documentation Updater

Analyzes git changes since the latest release tag and updates the documentation files that should change with them.

Overview

Use git history to identify release-relevant changes, then update README.md, CHANGELOG.md, and any relevant documentation folders. Keep the workflow focused on explicit user approval, precise edits, and repository-specific documentation structure.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

  • Preparing release notes or an Unreleased changelog update
  • Syncing README.md or documentation after feature work lands
  • Reviewing what changed since the last release before a PR or release

Prerequisites

Before starting, verify that the following conditions are met:

bash
# Verify we're in a git repository
git rev-parse --git-dir

# Check that git tags exist
git tag --list | head -5

# Verify documentation files exist
test -f README.md || echo "README.md not found"
test -f CHANGELOG.md || echo "CHANGELOG.md not found"

If no tags exist, inform the user that this skill requires at least one release tag to compare against.

Instructions

Phase 1: Detect Last Release Version

Goal: Identify the latest released version to compare against.

Actions:

  1. Detect the comparison baseline and display it:
bash
LATEST_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null)

if [ -z "$LATEST_TAG" ]; then
    echo "No git tags found. This skill requires at least one release tag."
    echo "Please create a release tag first (e.g., git tag -a v1.0.0 -m 'Initial release')"
    exit 1
fi

CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
VERSION=$(echo "$LATEST_TAG" | sed -E 's/^[^0-9]*([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+).*/\1/')

echo "Latest release tag: $LATEST_TAG"
echo "Version detected: $VERSION"
echo "Comparing: $LATEST_TAG -> $CURRENT_BRANCH"
Phase 2: Perform Git Diff Analysis

Goal: Analyze all changes between the last release and current branch.

Actions:

  1. Get the commit range and statistics:
bash
# Get commit count between tag and HEAD
COMMIT_COUNT=$(git rev-list --count ${LATEST_TAG}..HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
echo "Commits since $LATEST_TAG: $COMMIT_COUNT"

# Get file change statistics
git diff --stat ${LATEST_TAG}..HEAD
  1. Extract commit messages for analysis:
bash
# Get all commit messages in the range
COMMITS=$(git log ${LATEST_TAG}..HEAD --pretty=format:"%h|%s|%b" --reverse)

# Display commits for review
echo "$COMMITS"
  1. Get detailed file changes:
bash
# Get list of changed files
CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff --name-only ${LATEST_TAG}..HEAD)

# Show add/modify/delete status for quick categorization
git diff --name-status ${LATEST_TAG}..HEAD
  1. Identify component areas based on file paths:
bash
# Detect which components/areas changed
echo "$CHANGED_FILES" | grep -E "^plugins/" | cut -d'/' -f2 | sort -u
Phase 3: Discover Documentation Structure

Goal: Identify all relevant documentation locations in the project.

Actions:

  1. Find standard documentation folders:
bash
# Check for common documentation locations
DOC_FOLDERS=()

[ -d "docs" ] && DOC_FOLDERS+=("docs/")
[ -d "documentation" ] && DOC_FOLDERS+=("documentation/")
[ -d "doc" ] && DOC_FOLDERS+=("doc/")

# Find plugin-specific docs
for plugin_dir in plugins/*/; do
    if [ -d "${plugin_dir}docs" ]; then
        DOC_FOLDERS+=("${plugin_dir}docs/")
    fi
done

echo "Documentation folders found:"
printf '  - %s\n' "${DOC_FOLDERS[@]}"
  1. Identify existing documentation files:
bash
# Check for standard doc files
DOC_FILES=()

[ -f "README.md" ] && DOC_FILES+=("README.md")
[ -f "CHANGELOG.md" ] && DOC_FILES+=("CHANGELOG.md")
[ -f "CONTRIBUTING.md" ] && DOC_FILES+=("CONTRIBUTING.md")
[ -f "docs/GUIDE.md" ] && DOC_FILES+=("docs/GUIDE.md")

echo "Documentation files found:"
printf '  - %s\n' "${DOC_FILES[@]}"
Phase 4: Generate CHANGELOG Updates

Goal: Create categorized changelog entries following Keep a Changelog standard.

Actions:

  1. Parse commits using conventional commit semantics and map them into Keep a Changelog sections such as Added, Changed, Fixed, Removed, and Security.

  2. Read the existing CHANGELOG.md to understand structure, then generate new entries following Keep a Changelog format.

See references/examples.md for detailed bash commands and changelog templates.

Phase 5: Update README.md

Goal: Update the main README with relevant high-level changes.

Actions:

  1. Read the current README.md to understand its structure
  2. Identify sections needing updates (features list, skills/agents, setup instructions, version references)
  3. Apply updates using Edit tool: preserve structure, maintain tone, update version numbers
Phase 6: Update Documentation Folders

Goal: Propagate changes to relevant documentation in docs/ folders.

Actions:

  1. For each documentation folder found, check for files referencing changed code
  2. Map changed files to their documentation
  3. Generate updates: add new feature docs, update API references, fix outdated examples

See references/examples.md for detailed discovery patterns and update strategies.

Phase 7: Present Changes for Review

Goal: Show the user what will be updated before applying changes.

Actions:

  1. Present a summary of proposed changes:
markdown
## Proposed Documentation Updates

### Version Information
- Previous release: $LATEST_TAG
- Current branch: $CURRENT_BRANCH
- Commits analyzed: $COMMIT_COUNT

### Files to Update
- [ ] CHANGELOG.md - Add new version section with categorized changes
- [ ] README.md - Update [specific sections]
- [ ] docs/[specific files] - Update documentation

### Summary of Changes
**Added**: N new features
**Changed**: N modifications
**Fixed**: N bug fixes
**Breaking**: N breaking changes
  1. Ask the user for confirmation via AskUserQuestion:
  • Confirm which files to update
  • Ask if any changes should be modified
  • Get approval to proceed
Phase 8: Apply Documentation Updates

Goal: Write the approved updates, then verify they landed correctly.

Actions:

  1. Update CHANGELOG.md:
bash
# Read current changelog
CURRENT_CHANGELOG=$(cat CHANGELOG.md)

# Prepend new section
cat > CHANGELOG.md << 'EOF'
# 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/1.0.0/),
and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).

## [Unreleased]
[New content goes here]

[Rest of existing changelog]
EOF
  1. Update README.md using Edit tool:
  • Make targeted edits to specific sections
  • Preserve overall structure
  • Update version numbers if applicable
  1. Update documentation files:
bash
# For each documentation file that needs updates
# Use Edit tool to make precise changes
  1. Validate the applied changes:
bash
# Confirm key files still exist after editing
test -f CHANGELOG.md && echo "CHANGELOG.md present"
test -f README.md && echo "README.md present"

# Review the scope of markdown changes
git diff --stat -- '*.md'

# Spot-check the actual content written
git diff -- '*.md' | sed -n '1,240p'
  1. If the repository already defines documentation or markdown validation commands, run them before finishing.
Show full SKILL.md (309 more words)Show less

Examples

Example 1: Update After Feature Development

User request: "Update docs for the new features I just added"

Output:

  • Latest tag: v2.4.1 → Current branch: develop
  • 5 commits analyzed
  • CHANGELOG entry generated for new Spring Boot Actuator skill
  • README.md skills list updated
Example 2: Prepare Release Documentation

User request: "Prepare documentation for v2.5.0 release"

Output:

  • 47 commits analyzed since v2.4.1
  • 15 features, 8 fixes, 3 breaking changes detected
  • Complete CHANGELOG.md [2.5.0] section generated
  • README.md and plugin docs updated
Example 3: Incremental Sync

User request: "Sync docs, I've made some changes"

Output:

  • 2 commits analyzed
  • Focused CHANGELOG update for github-issue-workflow skill changes
  • No README or plugin doc updates needed

See references/examples.md for detailed session transcripts and troubleshooting.

Best Practices

  1. Preview before writing, verify after writing: Show the plan first, then confirm the final diff after edits
  2. Follow Keep a Changelog: Maintain consistent changelog formatting
  3. Categorize properly: Use correct categories (Added, Changed, Fixed, etc.)
  4. Be specific: Include plugin/component names in changelog entries
  5. Preserve structure: Maintain existing documentation structure and style
  6. Reference commits: Include commit hashes for traceability when helpful
  7. Handle breaking changes: Clearly highlight breaking changes with migration notes
  8. Update version refs: Keep version numbers consistent across documentation

Constraints and Warnings

  1. Requires git tags: This skill only works if the repository has at least one release tag
  2. Read-only analysis: The skill analyzes changes but asks before writing
  3. Manual review required: Generated changelog entries should be reviewed for accuracy
  4. Conventional commits: Works best with projects using conventional commit format
  5. Does not create tags: This skill updates docs but does not create release tags
  6. No auto-commit: Documentation changes are prepared but not committed automatically
  7. Project-specific patterns: Some projects may have custom changelog formats to respect
  8. File paths: All file paths use forward slashes (Unix style) for cross-platform compatibility

© giuseppe-trisciuoglio, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (references) in plugins/developer-kit-core/skills/docs-updater of giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/examples.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit fe73fb3

Compare with similar skills

Docs Updater next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Docs Updater compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Docs Updater this skillgiuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit357—~2.6kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Git Workflow and Versioningaddyosmani/agent-skills105k2 repos~3.5kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
pybind11 Release Preparationpybind/pybind1118k—~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
AionUi Version BumpiOfficeAI/AionUi33k—~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
ZCF Release AutomationUfoMiao/zcf6.1k—~3.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
WooCommerce Draft PR Creatorwoocommerce/woocommerce11k—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Docs Updater

What does Docs Updater do?

Provides automated documentation updates by analyzing git changes between the current branch and the last release tag. Docs Updater is an agent skill from giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit. Provides automated documentation updates by analyzing git changes between the current branch and the last release tag.

When should I use Docs Updater?

Docs Updater fits situations like: preparing a release; maintaining documentation sync; before creating a pull request; update changelog.

How do I install Docs Updater in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --skill docs-updater -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/developer-kit-core/skills/docs-updater in giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit) into .claude/skills/docs-updater in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Docs Updater in Codex?

Run `npx skills add giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --skill docs-updater -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/developer-kit-core/skills/docs-updater in giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit) into .agents/skills/docs-updater in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Docs Updater in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --skill docs-updater -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/docs-updater, .gemini/skills/docs-updater, .github/skills/docs-updater and .opencode/skills/docs-updater in your project.

What does Docs Updater need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Docs Updater needs the command-line tools its instructions call (git). Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Edit, Bash.

Does Docs Updater access the network?

SKILL.md names 2 domains. In commands or code: keepachangelog.com and semver.org; the agent is likely to contact these when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Docs Updater safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (pre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: bash)), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Docs Updater use?

Docs Updater is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Docs Updater use?

About 2.6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 10k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 2.3k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Docs Updater?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Docs Updater: Git Workflow and Versioning (addyosmani/agent-skills, 105k stars), pybind11 Release Preparation (pybind/pybind11, 18k stars), AionUi Version Bump (iOfficeAI/AionUi, 33k stars) and ZCF Release Automation (UfoMiao/zcf, 6.1k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Docs Updater?

giuseppe-trisciuoglio (a GitHub user) maintains it in giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit, which has 357 GitHub stars. The repository holds 115 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 10, 2026.

Source: giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.