# Release Notes

> Generate release notes from git history and CHANGELOG. Formats for GitHub Release, Slack, or email. Use before tagging a release.

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-srnichols-plan-forge-release-notes`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [srnichols](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/srnichols)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Developer Tools](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/developer-tools)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [srnichols](https://github.com/srnichols)
- **Source:** https://github.com/srnichols/plan-forge/tree/master/presets/php/.github/skills/release-notes

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-srnichols-plan-forge-release-notes
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Release Notes Skill

## Trigger
"Generate release notes" / "Prepare release" / "What changed since last release?"

## Steps

### 1. Identify Release Range
```bash
# Find the last tag
git describe --tags --abbrev=0

# List commits since last tag
git log $(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)..HEAD --oneline --no-merges
```

### Conditional: No Tags Found
> If no tags found → ask user for the commit range to use.

### 2. Categorize Changes
Parse commit messages using conventional commit prefixes:

| Prefix | Category | Show In Notes |
|--------|----------|---------------|
| `feat` | New Features | ✅ Always |
| `fix` | Bug Fixes | ✅ Always |
| `perf` | Performance | ✅ Always |
| `docs` | Documentation | ✅ If significant |
| `refactor` | Internal | ⚠️ Only if user-visible |
| `test` | Tests | ❌ Skip |
| `chore` | Maintenance | ❌ Skip |
| `ci` | CI/CD | ❌ Skip |

### 3. Check CHANGELOG
Read `CHANGELOG.md` for additional context:
- Are there entries not yet in the CHANGELOG?
- Does the CHANGELOG match the git history?

### 4. Generate Release Notes

Format for **GitHub Release**:
```markdown
## What's New

### Features
- **Feature name**: brief description (#PR)

### Bug Fixes
- Fix description (#PR)

### Performance
- Improvement description (#PR)

## Breaking Changes
- (list any breaking changes with migration steps)

## Contributors
- @username (N commits)
```

### 5. Verify
- [ ] All features from this release are listed
- [ ] No unreleased features included
- [ ] Breaking changes have migration instructions
- [ ] Commit references are correct

## Safety Rules
- NEVER fabricate changes not in the git log
- ALWAYS flag breaking changes prominently
- Include migration steps for any breaking change
- Ask for human review before publishing

## Temper Guards

| Shortcut | Why It Breaks |
|----------|--------------|
| "The commit messages are good enough" | Commit messages are for developers. Release notes are for users — different audience, different detail level. |
| "Nobody reads release notes" | Users, support teams, and auditors rely on release notes. Missing notes cause support tickets and compliance gaps. |
| "I'll write them after release" | Post-release notes are always incomplete. Context fades fast — write them while the work is fresh. |

## Warning Signs

- Release notes don't mention breaking changes — API or behavior changes not flagged
- Version number missing or inconsistent — notes reference wrong version or omit it
- No link to CHANGELOG — notes generated but not persisted to the project's changelog
- New features undocumented — features merged but not mentioned in notes
- Generated from wrong commit range — notes include changes from a different release cycle

## Exit Proof

After completing this skill, confirm:
- [ ] Version number present and matches the release tag
- [ ] Breaking changes explicitly documented with migration guidance
- [ ] Generated from actual git history (`git log` range verified)
- [ ] CHANGELOG.md updated with the new entry
- [ ] All merged PRs and features accounted for in the notes
## Persistent Memory (if OpenBrain is configured)

- **Before generating notes**: `search_thoughts("release", project: "", created_by: "copilot-vscode", type: "decision")` — load prior release decisions, breaking change precedents, and versioning conventions
- **After release notes are finalized**: `capture_thought("Release: v — ", project: "", created_by: "copilot-vscode", source: "skill-release-notes")` — persist release history for future changelog continuity

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [srnichols](https://github.com/srnichols)
- **Source:** [srnichols/plan-forge](https://github.com/srnichols/plan-forge)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-srnichols-plan-forge-release-notes
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/srnichols
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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