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Agent skill

Changelog Automation

by wshobson in wshobson/agents

Automates changelogs and release notes from commits, PRs and releases using the Keep a Changelog format, Conventional Commits and semantic versioning.

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Changelog Automation

skills CLI
$ npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill changelog-automation -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install wshobson/agents changelog-automation --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/wshobson/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/documentation-generation/skills/changelog-automation .claude/skills/changelog-automation && 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
changelog-automation
GitHub stars
40k
Used in
9 other repos
Token cost
~836 tokens
SKILL.md length
123 words
Files
2 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
142
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Automates changelogs and release notes from commits, PRs and releases using the Keep a Changelog format, Conventional Commits and semantic versioning.

  • Setting up automated changelog generation for a repository
  • SKILL.md covers When to Use This Skill, Core Concepts, Commit Message Examples and Best Practices
  • Reaches keepachangelog.com and semver.org
  • Adopting Conventional Commits and validating them in CI

What it does

The skill covers setting up automated changelog generation. It centers on the Keep a Changelog layout and on Conventional Commits, with examples of commit messages such as a feature with a scope, so that tools can derive changelog entries from the project history.

Use cases include creating release-note workflows, generating GitHub and GitLab release notes, standardizing commit formats and managing semantic versioning. The best-practice list asks for one logical change per commit, consistent scopes, issue references, commit validation with commitlint in CI, breaking changes marked with an exclamation mark or footer, and generated rather than hand-edited changelogs. Further material is in `references/details.md`.

When your agent uses it

  • Setting up automated changelog generation for a repository
  • Adopting Conventional Commits and validating them in CI
  • Generating GitHub or GitLab release notes from merged work
  • Deciding version bumps with semantic versioning

Example prompts

  • “Set up commitlint and automated changelog generation in this repo using Conventional Commits.”
  • “Generate release notes for the next version from the commits since the last tag, in Keep a Changelog format.”
  • “Rewrite these commit messages to follow Conventional Commits with scopes.”

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 46891e7. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown and bash).

    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

Changelog Automation loads about 836 tokens when it runs, and up to ~3.5k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 55 tokens; SKILL.md has 123 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~55
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~836
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~3.5k

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 passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

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 wshobson/agents at commit 46891e7, republished under its MIT licence (© wshobson). 123 words, ~836 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/changelog-automation/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
changelog-automation
description
Automate changelog generation from commits, PRs, and releases following Keep a Changelog format. Use when setting up release workflows, generating release notes, or standardizing commit conventions.

Changelog Automation

Patterns and tools for automating changelog generation, release notes, and version management following industry standards.

When to Use This Skill

  • Setting up automated changelog generation
  • Implementing Conventional Commits
  • Creating release note workflows
  • Standardizing commit message formats
  • Generating GitHub/GitLab release notes
  • Managing semantic versioning

Core Concepts

1. Keep a Changelog Format
markdown
# 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).

## Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in `references/details.md`. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

## Summary

This release introduces dark mode support and improves checkout performance
by 40%. It also includes important security updates.

## Highlights

### 🌙 Dark Mode

Users can now switch to dark mode from settings. The preference is
automatically saved and synced across devices.

### ⚡ Performance

- Checkout flow is 40% faster
- Reduced bundle size by 15%

## Breaking Changes

None in this release.

## Upgrade Guide

No special steps required. Standard deployment process applies.

## Known Issues

- Dark mode may flicker on initial load (fix scheduled for v2.1.1)

## Dependencies Updated

| Package | From    | To      | Reason                   |
| ------- | ------- | ------- | ------------------------ |
| react   | 18.2.0  | 18.3.0  | Performance improvements |
| lodash  | 4.17.20 | 4.17.21 | Security patch           |

Commit Message Examples

bash
# Feature with scope
feat(auth): add OAuth2 support for Google login

# Bug fix with issue reference
fix(checkout): resolve race condition in payment processing

Closes #123

# Breaking change
feat(api)!: change user endpoint response format

BREAKING CHANGE: The user endpoint now returns `userId` instead of `id`.
Migration guide: Update all API consumers to use the new field name.

# Multiple paragraphs
fix(database): handle connection timeouts gracefully

Previously, connection timeouts would cause the entire request to fail
without retry. This change implements exponential backoff with up to
3 retries before failing.

The timeout threshold has been increased from 5s to 10s based on p99
latency analysis.

Fixes #456
Reviewed-by: @alice

Best Practices

Do's
  • Follow Conventional Commits - Enables automation
  • Write clear messages - Future you will thank you
  • Reference issues - Link commits to tickets
  • Use scopes consistently - Define team conventions
  • Automate releases - Reduce manual errors
Don'ts
  • Don't mix changes - One logical change per commit
  • Don't skip validation - Use commitlint
  • Don't manual edit - Generated changelogs only
  • Don't forget breaking changes - Mark with ! or footer
  • Don't ignore CI - Validate commits in pipeline

© wshobson, 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/documentation-generation/skills/changelog-automation of wshobson/agents.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/details.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 46891e7

Used in 9 other repositories

We found 23 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 9 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in wshobson/agents, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Changelog Automation 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.

Changelog Automation compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Changelog Automation this skillwshobson/agents40k9 repos~836Automated safety check: PassMIT
Verdaccio Pull Request Workflowverdaccio/verdaccio18k—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Plane Release Notes Generatormakeplane/plane61k—~2.5kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Release Minorknuckleswtf/scribe2.3k—~437Automated safety check: PassMIT
Release NotesEvilBeaver/OneScript588—~779Automated safety check: PassMPL-2.0
Release WorkflowCaldis/react-zmage945—~3.6kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Changelog Automation

What does Changelog Automation do?

Automates changelogs and release notes from commits, PRs and releases using the Keep a Changelog format, Conventional Commits and semantic versioning. The skill covers setting up automated changelog generation. It centers on the Keep a Changelog layout and on Conventional Commits, with examples of commit messages such as a feature with a scope, so that tools can derive changelog entries from the project history.

When should I use Changelog Automation?

Changelog Automation fits situations like: setting up automated changelog generation for a repository; adopting Conventional Commits and validating them in CI; generating GitHub or GitLab release notes from merged work; deciding version bumps with semantic versioning.

How do I install Changelog Automation in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill changelog-automation -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/documentation-generation/skills/changelog-automation in wshobson/agents) into .claude/skills/changelog-automation in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Changelog Automation in Codex?

Run `npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill changelog-automation -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/documentation-generation/skills/changelog-automation in wshobson/agents) into .agents/skills/changelog-automation in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Changelog Automation 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 wshobson/agents --skill changelog-automation -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/changelog-automation, .gemini/skills/changelog-automation, .github/skills/changelog-automation and .opencode/skills/changelog-automation in your project.

What does Changelog Automation need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Changelog Automation is instructions for the agent only.

Does Changelog Automation 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 Changelog Automation safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Changelog Automation use?

Changelog Automation 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 Changelog Automation use?

About 836 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.3k 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 2.7k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Changelog Automation?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Changelog Automation: Verdaccio Pull Request Workflow (verdaccio/verdaccio, 18k stars), Plane Release Notes Generator (makeplane/plane, 61k stars), Release Minor (knuckleswtf/scribe, 2.3k stars) and Release Notes (EvilBeaver/OneScript, 588 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Changelog Automation?

wshobson (a GitHub user) maintains it in wshobson/agents, which has 40,314 GitHub stars. The repository holds 142 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.

Source: wshobson/agents on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.