semantic-release-keep-a-changelog

An opinionated semantic-release plugin that replaces both @semantic-release/release-notes-generator and @semantic-release/changelog, producing a Keep a Changelog formatted CHANGELOG.md from conventional commits — zero configuration, no options.

Install

npm install --save-dev @alexanderfortin/semantic-release-keep-a-changelog

Usage

In .releaserc.json:

{
  "plugins": [
    "@semantic-release/commit-analyzer",
    "@alexanderfortin/semantic-release-keep-a-changelog"
  ]
}

That's it. No configuration keys, no options. The plugin will:

1. Parse your conventional commits since the last release
2. Map them to Keep a Changelog sections
3. Generate a CHANGELOG.md with the standard KaC header and format

What it does

| Lifecycle | Responsibility | |---|---| | generateNotes | Parse conventional commits → map to Keep a Changelog sections → render markdown | | prepare | Merge new notes into existing CHANGELOG.md → write file |

Type Mapping

Conventional commit types are mapped to Keep a Changelog sections:

| Commit Type | KaC Section | |---|---| | feat | Added | | fix | Fixed | | perf, refactor, docs, style | Changed | | revert | Removed |

Breaking changes via ! suffix (e.g. feat!:) and BREAKING CHANGE: footers are fully supported.

Commit types test, ci, build, chore are silently omitted, with one exception: chore(deps) and chore(deps-dev) commits (the default format used by Dependabot and similar tools) are mapped to Changed instead of being dropped.

Limitations

• GitHub-only — repository URL parsing and compare links assume GitHub. GitLab, Bitbucket, and other hosting platforms are not supported.
• Fixed output — the changelog file is always CHANGELOG.md with the standard Keep a Changelog header. No customization.