chlog

Builds a Keep a Changelog style CHANGELOG.md from your conventional commits and git tags. If you write Conventional Commits, chlog reads the history, groups commits by type, splits them by version using your tags, and links each entry back to its commit. No dependencies, no AI.

Install

npm install -g @bobfromarcher/chlog
# or once:
npx @bobfromarcher/chlog --write

Usage

chlog [path] [options]

| Option | Description | | --- | --- | | --write | Write CHANGELOG.md in the target directory | | --unreleased | Only the commits since your latest tag | | --hide-other | Drop commits that do not follow the conventional format | | --json | Structured JSON for your own templates or release tooling | | -h, --help | Show help | | -v, --version | Show version |

Examples

chlog --write              # regenerate the whole CHANGELOG.md
chlog --unreleased         # preview the next release notes
chlog --json | jq '.[0]'   # the latest section as data

What it understands

• Types become headings: feat is Features, fix is Bug Fixes, plus perf, refactor, docs, build, ci, test, style, chore, revert.
• Scopes: fix(api): ... renders with an "api:" prefix.
• Breaking changes: feat!: or feat(x)!: are collected under a BREAKING CHANGES section.
• Tags: each tag starts a new version section, dated from the tag.
• Commit links are detected from your origin remote.

Commits that do not follow the convention are not lost. They land under an "Other" section, or you can drop them with --hide-other.

Development

git clone https://github.com/bobfromarcher/chlog
cd chlog
node test/test.js

CI runs the suite on Node 18, 20 and 22 across Linux, macOS and Windows.

License

MIT, bobfromarcher.