API Changelog Writer
Generate a human-readable, semver-aware changelog entry from merged commits or pull requests. Use at release time, or when asked to write the changelog or summarize what changed since a version.
Copy the file into your agent runtime. Cursor loads personal skills from ~/.cursor/skills/api-changelog-writer/SKILL.md and project skills from .cursor/skills/api-changelog-writer/SKILL.md. Claude Code looks in .claude/skills/api-changelog-writer/SKILL.md.
API Changelog Writer
When to use
Merged commits or PRs need to become a changelog developers can actually read. Triggers: write the changelog, what changed since v1.4, draft release notes.
What it does
Groups changes into Added, Changed, Deprecated, Fixed, and Breaking. Rewrites each from the consumer's point of view and proposes the next semver bump.
Steps
- Classify each commit by Keep a Changelog category.
- Rewrite terse commit messages into user-facing sentences ("Fixed a crash when …", not "fix npe").
- Surface breaking changes at the top with a migration note.
- Recommend the version bump: any breaking → major; any new feature → minor; else patch.
Output
Keep a Changelog sections, then a single line: Recommended bump: X.Y.Z → A.B.C (reason).
Guardrails
Only describe changes present in the provided commits. If a commit message is ambiguous, flag it for author review rather than inventing behavior. Do not hide breaking changes in Added or Fixed.