Edit changelog

Generate changelog entries from git commit history then update CHANGELOG.md.

Purpose

This skill dynamically generates changelog entries from git commits:

• Tracks last processed commit via .last-aggregated-commit pointer in repository root
• Queries git for new commits since last run
• Parses conventional commit messages
• Categorizes changes into Keep a Changelog sections
• Deduplicates by issue number
• Updates CHANGELOG.md

When to use

Invoke this skill when the agent needs to update the changelog.

Prerequisites:

• CHANGELOG.md exists (invoke init-changelog first if missing)
• The project requires a git repository
• .last-aggregated-commit pointer exists (auto-initialized on first run)

Behavior:

• Processes only conventional commit format (feat:, fix:, etc.)
• Skips non-conventional commits
• Overwrites manual edits in Unreleased section
• Preserves manual edits in versioned sections

Workflow

• Run scripts/edit-changelog.sh
• Verify CHANGELOG.md section updates
• Communicate success or failure to user

Logic overview

The script performs the following steps:

1. Verify prerequisites: Checks for CHANGELOG.md and git repository.
2. Read last aggregated commit: Reads or bootstraps the .last-aggregated-commit pointer.
3. Get new commits: Queries git log for commits since the last run.
4. Parse and categorize: Parses Conventional Commits, filters types, and deduplicates by issue number.
5. Reconstruct CHANGELOG.md: Preserves header/history and inserts the new [Unreleased] section.
6. Update pointer: Updates .last-aggregated-commit to HEAD.

Output

Files modified:

• CHANGELOG.md - Unreleased section regenerated with new entries
• .last-aggregated-commit - Updated to current HEAD

Status communication:

• Exit code 0: Success or warning (no new commits)
• Exit code 1: Failure (missing prerequisites)

Stdout format: first line contains status:

• SUCCESS: Changelog updated with N new entries
• WARN: No new commits to process
• ERROR: CHANGELOG.md doesn't exist. Run 'init-changelog' first

References

See reference files for detailed specifications:

• references/keep-a-changelog-spec.md - Keep a Changelog format specification
• references/changelog-templates.md - Template variations and examples
• references/changelog-structure.md - Changelog structure documentation
• references/aggregation-patterns.md - Git-based aggregation patterns

Success criteria

Successful run:

• ✓ Processes commits since last aggregation
• ✓ Updates CHANGELOG.md with categorized entries
• ✓ Updates .last-aggregated-commit pointer to HEAD
• ✓ Deduplicates entries by issue number

Graceful exit without changes:

• No new commits since last run
• Pointer missing (initializes and exits)
• Pointer corrupted (reinitializes and exits)