How to automatically generate release notes for your project

#github #productivity #opensource #maintainer

When you ship a new version for your product, the last thing you want to worry about are release notes. They can take a lot of time, you might forget things, and they are often so much hassle maintainers leave them out entirely.

Now, with GitHub's new automatically generated release notes feature, you'll never miss your changelog. Plus auto-generate notes will even include thanks to first time contributors ❤️.

Here's how to automatically generate release notes for your project's next release.

Create a release for your project

When you want to create a new release for your project, make sure you've merged all the pull requests you want to include for that release. Then follow these steps:

1. Navigate to your project's GitHub repo

2. Click "Releases" on the left side of the screen:

3. Click "Create a new release"

4. Click "Choose a tag":

5. Type a new version number to create a new tag:

6. Select the target branch:

7. If you've selected to create a release from a new tag, the "Auto-generate release notes" button will now be unlocked:

8. Instead of typing your release notes, click the "Auto-generate release notes" button:

Now your release notes will be automatically generated. A title will be created for your release notes along with the body content. You'll notice there are auto-generated headings, each change is listed along with the contributor, and link to the PR. First time contributors even get a special mentione ✨

9. Click "Publish release" to see your notes:

With this new feature, you'll never miss another changelog. Users can react to your release notes. Your release notes will also automatically generate a link to the full changelog where users can compare the changes. The more PRs merged since the previous release, the longer, and more detailed your new release notes.

Auto-generate release notes

We've also created a short video to show the above steps in action. You can check it out on our YouTube Shorts page.

Try this out on your project for your next version release. Read more about auto-generated release notes on the GitHub Docs. If you have a major version release coming up, considering submitting your project to be featured in the GitHub Release Radar.