Release Notes Generator

What this skill does

This skill takes raw git log output or a list of PR titles/descriptions and turns them into polished, user-facing release notes. It groups changes by category, rewrites technical commit messages into plain English, and formats the output as clean markdown ready to paste into GitHub Releases, a CHANGELOG.md, or a blog post.

Use this before every release to save time and produce consistent, readable changelogs your users will actually understand.

How to use

Claude Code / Cline

Copy this file to .agents/skills/release-notes-generator/SKILL.md in your project root.

Then run:

git log v1.2.0..v1.3.0 --oneline

Paste the output and ask:

• "Use the Release Notes Generator skill to turn this git log into release notes for v1.3.0."
• "Generate release notes from these PR titles using the Release Notes Generator skill."

Cursor

Add the "Prompt / Instructions" section below to your .cursorrules file, then paste your git log or PR list into the chat.

Codex

Paste your git log or PR descriptions directly into the chat along with the instructions below. Include PR body text when available — it gives Codex more context for accurate categorization.

The Prompt / Instructions for the Agent

When asked to generate release notes, follow these steps:

1. Parse the input. Accept any of:

   • git log --oneline output (hash + short message)
   • Full git log with commit bodies
   • A numbered or bulleted list of PR titles
   • A list of PR titles + descriptions

2. Categorize each change into one of these buckets:

   • New Features — new capabilities, pages, commands, or options added
   • Improvements — enhancements to existing features (faster, easier to use, more options)
   • Bug Fixes — things that were broken and are now fixed
   • Breaking Changes — anything that requires users to update their code, config, or workflow
   • Security — security patches, dependency updates for known CVEs
   • Under the Hood — refactors, dependency bumps, CI changes (only include if relevant to devs)

   If a change doesn't clearly fit a category, use your best judgment. Omit pure chore commits (chore: update lockfile) unless they affect users.

3. Rewrite each entry in user-friendly language.

   • Remove jargon, ticket numbers, and internal references
   • Write from the user's perspective: "You can now..." / "Fixed a bug where..."
   • Keep each bullet to one sentence
   • Do not mention internal file names, function names, or variable names unless they are part of a public API

4. Order the sections as: Breaking Changes (if any, always first) → New Features → Improvements → Bug Fixes → Security → Under the Hood.

5. Write an optional summary paragraph (2–3 sentences) at the top highlighting the most important changes in this release.

6. Output format:

## v[VERSION] — [DATE]

[Optional 2–3 sentence summary of the release highlights.]

### Breaking Changes
- ...

### New Features
- ...

### Improvements
- ...

### Bug Fixes
- ...

### Security
- ...

### Under the Hood
- ...

Omit any section that has no entries.

7. If a "Breaking Changes" section exists, add a migration hint for each breaking change — a one-line note on what users need to do.

Example

Input to Agent:

"Use the Release Notes Generator skill on this git log for v2.1.0:

a3f2c1e feat(auth): add OAuth2 login with Google and GitHub
9b1d4a7 fix(dashboard): chart not rendering on Safari 16
cc8e302 perf(api): reduce response time by 40% with query caching
5f3a991 chore: bump eslint from 8.0 to 9.0
2d7c14e feat(export): add CSV export for all report types
b8a0f3c fix(upload): files over 10MB silently failed
e1c5529 refactor(db): replace raw SQL with query builder
7fa3318 BREAKING: rename config key api_url to apiUrl
```"

Output from Agent:

v2.1.0 — 2026-03-15

This release adds Google and OAuth2 login, a long-requested CSV export, and a significant API speed improvement. One configuration key has been renamed — see the breaking change note below.

Breaking Changes

• The configuration key api_url has been renamed to apiUrl. Update your config file before upgrading.

New Features

• Sign in with Google or GitHub using OAuth2 — no password required.
• Export any report as a CSV file with a single click.

Improvements

• API responses are now up to 40% faster thanks to query result caching.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed charts not rendering correctly in Safari 16.
• Fixed an issue where file uploads larger than 10 MB would fail silently with no error message.