update-changelog_skill

Overview

This skill updates CHANGELOG files following Keep a Changelog conventions for projects and individual skills. It creates or updates version sections, groups entries by change type, and can update skill-specific manifest metadata when present. Use it to keep release notes consistent and machine-friendly.

How this skill works

The skill locates a changelog file (CHANGELOG.md or changelog.md) or creates one if missing. It finds or creates a version section with today’s date, inserts the message under the correct change-type heading (Added, Changed, Deprecated, Removed, Fixed, Security), and reformats the file to match Keep a Changelog rules. Optionally it updates the skill manifest version field when a skill path is supplied, then writes the file back to disk.

When to use it

• Preparing a release and you need a standardized changelog entry
• Adding a change for a skill in a mono-repo or nested skill folder
• Automating release-note updates in CI or pre-release workflows
• Ensuring changelog entries follow Keep a Changelog formatting rules
• Updating both changelog and skill manifest version together

Best practices

• Use semantic version numbers (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH) when invoking the skill
• Choose the correct change type from: added, changed, deprecated, removed, fixed, security
• Keep messages concise and descriptive—one change per invocation when possible
• Run the skill from CI with a controlled authoring script to avoid merge conflicts
• Commit changelog changes in the same PR as associated code changes

Example use cases

• Add a bugfix entry before creating a patch release: /update-changelog 1.1.1 fixed "Corrected null pointer in parser"
• Record a new feature in a skill folder and bump its manifest: /update-changelog path/to/skill 1.2.0 added "Support for streaming responses"
• Automate changelog updates in a pipeline step after tagging a release
• Create an initial changelog file and version section when onboarding a new project