Claude Code Release Notes Generator

A comprehensive multi-format release notes generation command for Claude Code that analyzes Git commits and produces release notes for different audiences.

Features

• Technical Release Notes - GitHub releases with conventional commit grouping
• Marketing Release Notes - App store descriptions with character limits
• Internal Release Notes - Team communication with business impact
• Security Release Notes - CVE disclosures and vulnerability documentation
• Changelog Maintenance - Keep a Changelog format automation

Requirements

• Claude Code CLI installed and configured
• A Git repository with commit history

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository
2. Copy the folders to your project's .claude/ directory:

# From your project root
cp -r path/to/claude-code-release-notes/commands .claude/
cp -r path/to/claude-code-release-notes/release .claude/

Your project structure should look like:

your-project/
├── .claude/
│   ├── commands/
│   │   └── release-notes.md
│   └── release/
│       ├── agents/
│       │   ├── technical-notes.md
│       │   ├── marketing-notes.md
│       │   ├── internal-notes.md
│       │   ├── security-notes.md
│       │   └── changelog.md
│       └── templates/
│           ├── technical-release.template.md
│           ├── marketing-release.template.md
│           ├── internal-release.template.md
│           └── CHANGELOG.template.md
├── src/
└── ...

3. (Optional) Add release-notes/ to your .gitignore:

echo "release-notes/" >> .gitignore

Optional: Optimize for Your Project

After installation, you can optimize the release notes generator for your specific project. This produces more relevant release notes by understanding your commit conventions and release workflow.

Run this prompt in Claude Code:

I just installed the release-notes command in .claude/. Please:

1. Analyze my repository to detect my commit conventions, versioning strategy, and release workflow
2. Read the command files in .claude/commands/release-notes.md and .claude/release/agents/
3. Optimize each release notes agent by:
   - Adjusting commit pattern detection to match my commit message format
   - Customizing the marketing template for my product type (SaaS, mobile app, library, etc.)
   - Configuring internal notes format based on my team communication style
   - Setting up changelog format to match my existing CHANGELOG.md if present
4. Keep the agent structure, output formats, and Git analysis logic unchanged

Show me what you'll change before applying.

Usage

In Claude Code, run the release notes command:

/release-notes

Command Arguments

Argument	Description	Example
--from=<ref>	Starting point (tag, commit, branch)	--from=v1.0.0
--to=<ref>	Ending point (default: HEAD)	--to=v1.1.0
--version=<semver>	Version number for the release	--version=1.1.0
--date=<date>	Release date (default: today)	--date=2025-01-15

Generation Modes

Command	Description
/release-notes	Interactive mode - asks which format to generate
/release-notes technical	GitHub-style technical release notes
/release-notes marketing	App store release notes with character limits
/release-notes internal	Team/stakeholder communication format
/release-notes security	Security-focused release notes (CVEs, vulnerabilities)
/release-notes full	Generate all formats

Examples

# Generate technical notes for a specific version range
/release-notes technical --from=v1.0.0 --to=v1.1.0 --version=1.1.0

# Generate marketing notes for the latest release
/release-notes marketing --from=v1.0.0 --version=1.1.0

# Generate all formats
/release-notes full --from=v1.0.0 --version=1.1.0 --date=2025-01-15

# Interactive mode
/release-notes

Output Formats

Technical Release Notes

Perfect for GitHub releases, includes:

• Version number with semantic versioning
• Release date
• Breaking Changes section
• New Features (from feat: commits)
• Bug Fixes (from fix: commits)
• Performance Improvements (from perf: commits)
• Dependencies Updated
• Deprecations
• Migration Guide (if breaking changes exist)
• Full commit list with conventional commit grouping
• Contributors list
• Compare link to previous version

Marketing Release Notes

Optimized for app stores and end-user communication:

• Catchy headline summarizing the release
• What's New section with user benefits
• Bug fixes in user-friendly language
• Performance improvements with tangible benefits
• Coming soon teaser

Character Limits:

• App Store (iOS): 4000 characters
• Play Store (Android): 500 characters
• Tweet-length summary: 280 characters

Internal Release Notes

For team and stakeholder communication:

• Release summary
• Business impact assessment
• Technical changes summary
• Risk assessment
• Rollback plan
• Monitoring checklist
• Known issues
• Support team notes
• Sales enablement notes

Security Release Notes

For security-focused releases:

• CVE references
• Vulnerability descriptions
• Severity ratings (CVSS)
• Affected versions
• Fixed versions
• Mitigation steps
• Credits to security reporters
• Timeline of disclosure

Changelog (CHANGELOG.md)

Maintains a changelog following Keep a Changelog:

• Unreleased section for ongoing work
• Version sections with release dates
• Category grouping:
  • Added (new features)
  • Changed (changes in existing functionality)
  • Deprecated (soon-to-be removed features)
  • Removed (now removed features)
  • Fixed (bug fixes)
  • Security (vulnerability fixes)
• Links to issues and PRs
• Compare URLs between versions

Commit Analysis

The generator analyzes commits for:

Pattern	Detection
feat: / feature:	New features
fix: / bugfix:	Bug fixes
perf:	Performance improvements
docs:	Documentation changes
style:	Code style changes
refactor:	Code refactoring
test:	Test additions/changes
chore:	Maintenance tasks
build:	Build system changes
ci:	CI/CD changes
BREAKING CHANGE:	Breaking changes
! after type	Breaking changes (e.g., feat!:)

Scope Extraction

Commits with scopes like feat(auth): are grouped by their scope for better organization.

Issue/PR References

Automatically detects:

• #123 - Issue/PR number
• Fixes #123 - Closing references
• Closes #123 - Closing references
• Resolves #123 - Closing references

Agent Specifications

Agent	ID	Purpose
Technical Notes	REL01	GitHub/developer-focused release notes
Marketing Notes	REL02	App store/end-user release notes
Internal Notes	REL03	Team/stakeholder communication
Security Notes	REL04	CVE and vulnerability documentation
Changelog	REL05	CHANGELOG.md maintenance

Customization

To adapt for your specific needs:

1. Commit patterns - Modify pattern recognition in agent files
2. Output format - Edit templates in release/templates/
3. Character limits - Adjust limits in marketing agent
4. Categories - Add/remove categories in changelog agent

Output Location

Generated release notes are saved to:

• release-notes/YYYY-MM-DD-<version>-technical.md
• release-notes/YYYY-MM-DD-<version>-marketing.md
• release-notes/YYYY-MM-DD-<version>-internal.md
• release-notes/YYYY-MM-DD-<version>-security.md
• CHANGELOG.md (project root, updated in place)

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file.

Tips for Best Results

1. Use Conventional Commits - The generator works best with conventional commit format
2. Include Scopes - Use scopes like feat(api): for better categorization
3. Mark Breaking Changes - Use BREAKING CHANGE: in commit body or ! after type
4. Reference Issues - Include issue numbers for automatic linking
5. Write Good Commit Messages - First line should be a clear summary

References

• Conventional Commits
• Keep a Changelog
• Semantic Versioning
• Claude Code Documentation