Changelog Generator Skill

Generate changelogs from conventional commits for Java projects.

When to Use

• Before a release
• User says "generate changelog" / "update changelog" / "what changed since last release"
• After completing a milestone

Versioning Convention Detection

Detect versioning style using this priority order:

1. Check CLAUDE.md (if exists)

grep -A5 "## Versioning" CLAUDE.md 2>/dev/null

Look for explicit convention:

## Versioning
This project uses Semantic Versioning (x.y.z).
Tag format: `release-x.y.z`

2. Fallback: Detect from git tags

git tag --sort=-version:refname | head -10

Pattern detected	Versioning style
v3.15.0, 3.15.0	SemVer (x.y.z)
release-3.15.0	SemVer with prefix
v2.1, 2.1	Two-component (x.y)
2026.01, 26.1	CalVer
No pattern	Ask user

3. Fallback: Detect from CHANGELOG.md

grep -E "^\#+ \[.*\]" CHANGELOG.md | head -5

Extract version format from existing entries.

4. Last resort: Ask user

No versioning convention detected. Which format does this project use?
- Semantic Versioning (x.y.z) - e.g., 3.15.0
- Two-component (x.y) - e.g., 2.1
- Calendar Versioning - e.g., 2026.01

Supported Versioning Styles

Style	Format	Tag examples	Version bump
SemVer	x.y.z	v3.15.0, release-3.15.0	major.minor.patch
Two-component	x.y	v2.1, 2.1	major.minor
CalVer	YYYY.MM[.patch]	2026.01, 2026.01.1	year.month[.patch]

Legacy Projects (CLAUDE.md without versioning section)

If CLAUDE.md exists but has no versioning info:

1. Don't assume - detect from tags/changelog
2. If detected, optionally suggest adding to CLAUDE.md:

   Detected versioning: SemVer (x.y.z) with tag prefix 'release-'
   Want me to add this to CLAUDE.md for future reference?
   

Output Format