Git Release Notes

Generate formatted release notes from git commit history. Analyzes commits between any two refs (tags, branches, SHAs) and produces categorized, human-readable release notes.

Quick Usage

Generate Notes Between Tags

scripts/gather_commits.sh v1.2.0 v1.3.0

Then format the JSON output into release notes using the formatting rules below.

Generate Notes Since Last Tag

scripts/gather_commits.sh $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0) HEAD

Generate Notes Between Branches

scripts/gather_commits.sh main release/2.0

Workflow

1. Gather Commits

Run scripts/gather_commits.sh <from_ref> <to_ref> to get structured commit data (JSON array).

If no refs provided, ask user for:

• The starting point (tag, branch, or SHA)
• The ending point (default: HEAD)

2. Categorize Commits

Group commits by type using conventional commit prefixes and content analysis:

If commits don't follow conventional commits, analyze the commit message content to infer categories.

3. Format Release Notes

Default format (GitHub Release style):

# v1.3.0

> Released on 2026-03-26 | 47 commits | 5 contributors

## 💥 Breaking Changes
- Remove deprecated `legacy_auth` endpoint (#234)

## ✨ Features
- Add dark mode support (#220)
- Implement batch export for CSV/JSON (#215)

## 🐛 Bug Fixes
- Fix race condition in queue processor (#228)
- Correct timezone handling for UTC offset (#225)

## ⚡ Performance
- Optimize database queries for dashboard load (#222)

## 📦 Dependencies
- Bump express from 4.18 to 4.21

## 🔧 Other
- Update CI pipeline for Node 22

**Full Changelog:** v1.2.0...v1.3.0

4. Alternative Formats

Compact (for small releases):

v1.3.0 — Dark mode, batch export, 5 bug fixes. Breaking: removed legacy_auth.

Keep a Changelog (keepachangelog.com):

## [1.3.0] - 2026-03-26
### Added
- Dark mode support
### Changed
- Optimized dashboard queries
### Removed
- Deprecated legacy_auth endpoint
### Fixed
- Race condition in queue processor

Slack/Discord announcement:

🚀 **v1.3.0 is out!**

Highlights:
→ Dark mode support
→ Batch CSV/JSON export
→ 5 bug fixes

⚠️ Breaking: `legacy_auth` endpoint removed — migrate to `/v2/auth`

Customization

Users can specify:

• Format — github (default), compact, keepachangelog, slack
• Include/exclude categories — "skip docs and chore commits"
• Group by — category (default), author, scope
• PR links — auto-detect GitHub PR numbers (#NNN)
• Contributors — list contributors at the bottom
• Scope filter — only include commits touching certain paths

Scripts

• scripts/gather_commits.sh <from> <to> — Outputs JSON array of commits with hash, author, date, subject, body