Skill

Official

Pass

Audit score 90

docs-changelog

google-gemini/gemini-cli

Generates and formats changelog files for new releases with standardized highlights and version tracking.

What is docs-changelog?

Automates changelog updates for new releases by processing version strings, timestamps, and raw release notes into standardized changelog files. Use this when releasing new versions (stable, preview, or patch) to maintain consistent changelog formatting across latest.md, preview.md, and index.md.

Analyzes version strings to determine release type (stable minor, stable patch, preview minor, preview patch) and routes to appropriate update procedure
Converts timestamps and formats release dates in multiple formats (yyyy-mm-dd and Month dd, yyyy)
Generates 3-5 key highlight points from changelog data, prioritizing new features and excluding experimental/preview features from stable releases
Reformats pull request URLs to markdown links and removes contributor sections from raw changelog content
Updates changelog file headers, release dates, and prepends new changes to existing changelog lists for patch releases
Replaces entire changelog templates for new minor releases with populated version, date, highlights, and full changelog links

How to install docs-changelog

npx skills add https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli --skill docs-changelog

Prerequisites

npm installed and available in the environment
Access to the project repository with docs/changelogs/ directory structure
Reference templates in .gemini/skills/docs-changelog/references/ (highlights_examples.md, latest_template.md, preview_template.md, index_template.md)
npm run format command configured in the project

Claude Code

Cursor

Windsurf

Cline

How to use docs-changelog

1.Provide the skill with three inputs: version string (e.g., v0.28.0), TIME timestamp (e.g., 2026-02-12T20:33:15Z), and BODY containing raw markdown release notes with 'What's Changed' section
2.The skill analyzes the version string to determine the release path (nightly versions are skipped, .0 versions follow new minor version path, others follow patch version path)
3.For new minor stable releases: the skill generates an announcement for index.md and comprehensive highlights for latest.md, then replaces the entire latest.md file with the populated template
4.For new minor preview releases: the skill generates highlights and replaces preview.md with the populated template
5.For patch releases: the skill updates the version header and release date, prepends new changes to the existing 'What's Changed' section, and updates the Full Changelog URL
6.After changes are made, the skill runs npm run format to ensure consistency (running npm install first if needed), then deletes temporary files

Use cases

Good for

Automating changelog generation during CI/CD release pipelines for the Gemini CLI project
Creating standardized release announcements for stable releases with curated highlights and PR links
Updating preview release documentation with new features while maintaining separate preview.md tracking
Maintaining consistent changelog formatting across multiple release types without manual editing
Prepending patch release changes to existing changelogs while preserving historical entries

Who it's for

Release engineers automating version publication workflows
Project maintainers managing multi-version changelog documentation
DevOps teams standardizing release note generation across projects
CLI tool developers maintaining stable and preview release tracks

docs-changelog FAQ

What happens if the version contains 'nightly'?

The skill stops and makes no changes to any changelog files.

How are highlights different between stable and preview releases?

Stable releases must exclude experimental or preview features from highlights, while preview releases can include features marked as preview. Both follow the same 3-5 key point format with bold titles.

What's the difference between Path A and Path B?

Path A (new minor versions ending in .0) creates new changelog entries and may update index.md for stable releases. Path B (patch versions) updates existing changelog files by prepending new changes and updating version/date headers.

Are PR numbers and author names included in the highlights?

No, PR numbers, links, and author names are excluded from latest.md and preview.md highlights. However, they are included in the index.md announcement for stable releases.

What if there's no 'What's Changed' section in the raw changelog?

The skill skips the step of prepending changes to the existing list and proceeds to update the Full Changelog URL instead.

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from google-gemini/gemini-cli.

name: docs-changelog description: >- Generates and formats changelog files for a new release based on provided version and raw changelog data.

Procedure: Updating Changelog for New Releases

Objective

To standardize the process of updating changelog files (latest.md, preview.md, index.md) based on automated release information.

Inputs

version: The release version string (e.g., v0.28.0, v0.29.0-preview.2).
TIME: The release timestamp (e.g., 2026-02-12T20:33:15Z).
BODY: The raw markdown release notes, containing a "What's Changed" section and a "Full Changelog" link.

Guidelines for `latest.md` and `preview.md` Highlights

Aim for 3-5 key highlight points.
Each highlight point must start with a bold-typed title that summarizes the change (e.g., **New Feature:** A brief description...).
Prioritize summarizing new features over other changes like bug fixes or chores.
Avoid mentioning features that are "experimental" or "in preview" in Stable Releases.
DO NOT include PR numbers, links, or author names in these highlights.
Refer to .gemini/skills/docs-changelog/references/highlights_examples.md for the correct style and tone.

Initial Processing

Analyze Version: Determine the release path based on the version string.
- If version contains "nightly", STOP. No changes are made.
- If version ends in .0, follow the Path A: New Minor Version procedure.
- If version does not end in .0, follow the Path B: Patch Version procedure.
Process Time: Convert the TIME input into two formats for later use: yyyy-mm-dd and Month dd, yyyy.
Process Body:
- Save the incoming BODY content to a temporary file for processing.
- In the "What's Changed" section of the temporary file, reformat all pull request URLs to be markdown links with the PR number as the text (e.g., [#12345](URL)).
- If a "New Contributors" section exists, delete it.
- Preserve the "Full Changelog" link. The processed content of this temporary file will be used in subsequent steps.

Path A: New Minor Version

Use this path if the version number ends in .0.

Important: Based on the version, you must choose to follow either section A.1 for stable releases or A.2 for preview releases. Do not follow the instructions for the other section.

A.1: Stable Release (e.g., `v0.28.0`)

For a stable release, you will generate two distinct summaries from the changelog: a concise announcement for the main changelog page, and a more detailed highlights section for the release-specific page.

Create the Announcement for index.md:
- Generate a concise announcement summarizing the most important changes. Each announcement entry must start with a bold-typed title that summarizes the change.
- Important: The format for this announcement is unique. You must use the existing announcements in docs/changelogs/index.md and the example within .gemini/skills/docs-changelog/references/index_template.md as your guide. This format includes PR links and authors. Stick to 1 or 2 PR links and authors.
- Add this new announcement to the top of docs/changelogs/index.md.
Create Highlights and Update latest.md:
- Generate a comprehensive "Highlights" section, following the guidelines in the "Guidelines for latest.md and preview.md Highlights" section above.
- Take the content from .gemini/skills/docs-changelog/references/latest_template.md.
- Populate the template with the version, release_date, generated highlights, and the processed content from the temporary file.
- Completely replace the contents of docs/changelogs/latest.md with the populated template.

A.2: Preview Release (e.g., `v0.29.0-preview.0`)

Update preview.md:
- Generate a comprehensive "Highlights" section, following the highlight guidelines.
- Take the content from .gemini/skills/docs-changelog/references/preview_template.md.
- Populate the template with the version, release_date, generated highlights, and the processed content from the temporary file.
- Completely replace the contents of docs/changelogs/preview.md with the populated template.

Path B: Patch Version

Use this path if the version number does not end in .0.

Important: Based on the version, you must choose to follow either section B.1 for stable patches or B.2 for preview patches. Do not follow the instructions for the other section.

B.1: Stable Patch (e.g., `v0.28.1`)

Target File: docs/changelogs/latest.md
Perform the following edits on the target file:
1. Update the version in the main header. The line should read, # Latest stable release: {{version}}
2. Update the rease date. The line should read, Released: {{release_date_month_dd_yyyy}}
3. Determine if a "What's Changed" section exists in the temporary file If so, continue to step 4. Otherwise, skip to step 5.
4. Prepend the processed "What's Changed" list from the temporary file to the existing "What's Changed" list in latest.md. Do not change or replace the existing list, only add to the beginning of it.
5. In the "Full Changelog", edit only the end of the URL. Identify the last part of the URL that looks like ...{previous_version} and update it to be ...{version}.
  
  Example: assume the patch version is v0.29.1. Change Full Changelog: https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/compare/v0.28.2…v0.29.0 to Full Changelog: https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/compare/v0.28.2…v0.29.1

B.2: Preview Patch (e.g., `v0.29.0-preview.3`)

Target File: docs/changelogs/preview.md
Perform the following edits on the target file:
1. Update the version in the main header. The line should read, # Preview release: {{version}}
2. Update the rease date. The line should read, Released: {{release_date_month_dd_yyyy}}
3. Determine if a "What's Changed" section exists in the temporary file If so, continue to step 4. Otherwise, skip to step 5.
4. Prepend the processed "What's Changed" list from the temporary file to the existing "What's Changed" list in preview.md. Do not change or replace the existing list, only add to the beginning of it.
5. In the "Full Changelog", edit only the end of the URL. Identify the last part of the URL that looks like ...{previous_version} and update it to be ...{version}.
  
  Example: assume the patch version is v0.29.0-preview.1. Change Full Changelog: https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/compare/v0.28.2…v0.29.0-preview.0 to Full Changelog: https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/compare/v0.28.2…v0.29.0-preview.1

Finalize

After making changes, if npm run format fails, it may be necessary to run npm install first to ensure all formatting dependencies are available. Then, run npm run format to ensure consistency.
Delete any temporary files created during the process.