changelog-gen

Zero-config changelog generator from git commits. Understands conventional commits. Zero dependencies.

One command generates a clean, grouped, markdown changelog — either to stdout or written directly into CHANGELOG.md.

Why?

• conventional-changelog requires a config file and plugin ecosystem
• standard-version was deprecated
• release-it is a full release automation suite — heavy
• AI-based tools need API keys

changelog-gen does one thing: reads your git log and produces a formatted markdown changelog. No config, no plugins, no API keys, works on Windows.

Install

npm install -g changelog-gen

Or without installing:

npx changelog-gen

Usage

# Generate changelog since last git tag → print to stdout
changelog-gen

# Write directly to CHANGELOG.md
changelog-gen --write

# Since a specific tag
changelog-gen --from v1.0.0

# Label the release
changelog-gen --version-name 2.1.0 --write

# Between two tags
changelog-gen --from v1.0.0 --to v2.0.0

# See all tags
changelog-gen --list-tags

Example Output

## [2.1.0] — 2026-05-27

### 🚀 Features

- **auth:** add refresh token support (`a3f7c2d`)
- add dark mode toggle (`8e4b1f9`)

### 🐛 Bug Fixes

- **payments:** handle expired card gracefully (`b6c31d5`)
- fix race condition in session store (`1e7f2a8`)

### 🔧 Chores

- upgrade dependencies to latest (`4a5b0d1`)

### 📦 Other

- update staging config (`c2e3f4a`)

Commit Format

Works best with Conventional Commits:

feat(scope): description
fix: description
feat!: breaking change description

Non-conventional commits are grouped under "Other" — they're not lost.

Supported Types

| Type | Section | |---|---| | feat | 🚀 Features | | fix | 🐛 Bug Fixes | | perf | ⚡ Performance | | refactor | ♻️ Refactors | | docs | 📚 Documentation | | test | 🧪 Tests | | chore | 🔧 Chores | | build | 🏗️ Build | | ci | 👷 CI | | style | 💄 Style | | revert | ⏪ Reverts |

Breaking Changes

Commits with ! after the type or BREAKING CHANGE: in the body are collected into a dedicated ⚠️ BREAKING CHANGES section at the top.

CI Integration

# .github/workflows/release.yml
- name: Generate changelog
  run: |
    npx changelog-gen --version-name ${{ github.ref_name }} --write
    git add CHANGELOG.md
    git commit -m "chore: update CHANGELOG for ${{ github.ref_name }}"

License

MIT

Keywords

changelog · conventional commits · release notes · changelog generator · keep a changelog · auto changelog · semantic release · git changelog · zero dependencies · cli

Scan your dependencies for free

This tool has zero dependencies by design — but your other projects might not be so lean. DepWarden scans any package.json, pom.xml, requirements.txt, go.mod, or lockfile for vulnerabilities, licence issues, and supply-chain risks. Anonymous, no account needed, results in seconds.

Support & Feedback

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Email [email protected] or raise a support ticket.

Built to solve, shared to help — Rushabh Shah 🛠️✨

One of 40+ zero-dependency developer CLI tools — no node_modules, ever.