changelog

User Guide

• When to use: Auto-generates a changelog from git commits, sprint data, and design documents. Game: player-facing content, gameplay, balance. Product: API changes, migrations, dependency updates.
• Inputs: Command arguments: /changelog [version|sprint-number]; project artifacts referenced below; user decisions and approvals before writes.
• Outputs: Primary artifacts, reports, or conversation guidance described below; write files only after user approval.
• Memory-bank writes: None.
• Next steps: Follow the workflow hand-off or next-step guidance below; recommendations do not auto-run and require explicit user command/approval.

Phase 0: Domain Detection

Detect the project domain by checking for concept documents in design/cdd/:

• Game: design/cdd/game-concept.md exists → use [Game] paths below
• Product: design/cdd/product-concept.md exists → use [Product] paths below
• Neither: default to game paths (preserves backward compatibility)

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Phase 1: Parse Arguments

Read the argument for the target version or sprint number. If a version is given, use the corresponding git tag. If a sprint number is given, use the sprint date range.

Verify the repository is initialized: run git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree to confirm git is available. If not a git repo, inform the user and abort gracefully.

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Phase 2: Gather Change Data

Read the git log since the last tag or release:

git log --oneline [last-tag]..HEAD

If no tags exist, read the full log or a reasonable recent range (last 100 commits).

Read sprint reports from production/sprints/ for the relevant period to understand planned work and context behind changes.

Read completed design documents from design/cdd/ for any new features implemented during this period.

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Phase 3: Categorize Changes

[Game] Game Categories

Categorize every change into one of these categories:

• New Features: Entirely new gameplay systems, modes, or content
• Improvements: Enhancements to existing features, UX improvements, performance gains
• Bug Fixes: Corrections to broken behavior
• Balance Changes: Tuning of gameplay values, difficulty, economy
• Known Issues: Issues the team is aware of but have not yet resolved
• Miscellaneous: Changes that do not fit the above categories, or commits whose messages are too vague to classify confidently

[Product] Product Categories

Categorize every change into one of these categories:

• New Features: New endpoints, CLI commands, SDK methods, capabilities
• Improvements: Performance gains, error handling improvements, documentation, accessibility
• Bug Fixes: Corrections to broken behavior
• Breaking Changes: API contract changes, removed endpoints, changed behaviour requiring consumer action
• Deprecations: Features scheduled for removal with sunset dates
• Dependency Updates: Notable library/framework version changes
• Security: Security fixes and vulnerability patches
• Migrations / Data Changes: Database schema changes, data transforms
• Known Issues: Issues the team is aware of but have not yet resolved
• Miscellaneous: Changes that do not fit the above categories

For each commit, check whether the message contains a task ID or story reference (e.g. [STORY-123], TR-, #NNN, or similar). Count commits that lack any task reference and include this count in the Phase 4 Metrics section as: Commits without task reference: [N].

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Phase 4: Generate Internal Changelog

[Game] Game Internal Changelog

# Internal Changelog: [Version]
Date: [Date]
Sprint(s): [Sprint numbers covered]
Commits: [Count] ([first-hash]..[last-hash])

## New Features
- [Feature Name] -- [Technical description, affected systems]
  - Commits: [hash1], [hash2]
  - Owner: [who implemented it]
  - Design doc: [link if applicable]

## Improvements
- [Improvement] -- [What changed technically and why]
  - Commits: [hashes]
  - Owner: [who]

## Bug Fixes
- [BUG-ID] [Description of bug and root cause]
  - Fix: [What was changed]
  - Commits: [hashes]
  - Owner: [who]

## Balance Changes
- [What was tuned] -- [Old value -> New value] -- [Design intent]
  - Owner: [who]

## Technical Debt / Refactoring
- [What was cleaned up and why]
  - Commits: [hashes]

## Miscellaneous
- [Change that didn't fit other categories, or vague commit message]
  - Commits: [hashes]

## Known Issues
- [Issue description] -- [Severity] -- [ETA for fix if known]

## Metrics
- Total commits: [N]
- Files changed: [N]
- Lines added: [N]
- Lines removed: [N]
- Commits without task reference: [N]

[Product] Product Internal Changelog

# Internal Changelog: [Version]
Date: [Date]
Sprint(s): [Sprint numbers covered]
Commits: [Count] ([first-hash]..[last-hash])

## New Features
- [Feature Name] -- [Technical description, affected modules]
  - Commits: [hash1], [hash2]
  - Owner: [who implemented it]
  - Design doc: [link if applicable]

## Improvements
- [Improvement] -- [What changed technically and why]
  - Commits: [hashes]
  - Owner: [who]

## Bug Fixes
- [BUG-ID] [Description of bug and root cause]
  - Fix: [What was changed]
  - Commits: [hashes]
  - Owner: [who]

## Breaking Changes
- [Change description] -- [Why it was necessary]
  - Migration: [link to migration guide or steps]
  - Affected consumers: [who needs to update]
  - Owner: [who]

## Deprecations
- [Deprecated feature/API] -- Will be removed in [version/date]
  - Replacement: [what to use instead]
  - Owner: [who]

## Dependency Updates
| Dependency | Old | New | Reason |
| ---------- | --- | --- | ------ |
| [name] | [old] | [new] | [why] |

## Security
- [Fix description] -- [CVE or internal reference]
  - Severity: [Critical/High/Medium/Low]
  - Owner: [who]

## Migrations / Data Changes
- [Migration name] -- [What changed in the schema or data]
  - Forward: [tested?]
  - Reverse: [tested?]
  - Owner: [who]

## Miscellaneous
- [Change that didn't fit other categories]
  - Commits: [hashes]

## Known Issues
- [Issue description] -- [Severity] -- [ETA for fix if known]

## Metrics
- Total commits: [N]
- Files changed: [N]
- Lines added: [N]
- Lines removed: [N]
- Commits without task reference: [N]

---

Phase 5: Generate Public-Facing Changelog

[Game] Player-Facing Changelog

# What's New in [Version]

## New Features
- **[Feature Name]**: [Player-friendly description of what they can now do
  and why it is exciting. Focus on the experience, not the implementation.]

## Improvements
- **[What improved]**: [How this makes the game better for the player.
  Be specific but avoid jargon.]

## Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where [describe what the player experienced, not what was
  wrong in the code]
- Fixed [player-visible symptom]

## Balance Changes
- [What changed in player-understandable terms and the design intent.
  Example: "Healing potions now restore 50 HP (up from 30) -- we felt
  players needed more recovery options in late-game encounters."]

## Known Issues
- We are aware of [issue description in player terms] and are working on a
  fix. [Workaround if one exists.]

---
Thank you for playing! Your feedback helps us make the game better.
Report issues at [link].

[Product] Developer-Facing Changelog

# Changelog: [Version]
*[Date]*

## Breaking Changes
- **[Change]**: [What changed and why]. See [migration guide link] for upgrade steps.

## New Features
- **[Feature Name]**: [What it does, how to use it, link to docs]

## Improvements
- **[What improved]**: [How this benefits users/developers. Be specific.]

## Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where [describe the observable symptom]
- Fixed [observable symptom]

## Deprecations
- **[Deprecated feature]**: Will be removed in [version]. Use [replacement] instead.

## Security
- **[Fix]**: [What was fixed, impact]. [CVE reference if applicable].

## Dependency Updates
- [dependency]: [old] → [new]

## Known Issues
- We are aware of [issue description] and are working on a fix.
  [Workaround if one exists.]

---
[Footer with links to docs, migration guide, issue tracker]

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Phase 6: Output

Output both changelogs to the user. The internal changelog is the primary working document. The public-facing changelog is ready for review and publication.

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Phase 7: Offer File Write

After presenting the changelogs, ask the user:

"May I write this changelog to docs/CHANGELOG.md? [A] Yes, append this entry (recommended if the file already exists) [B] Yes, overwrite the file entirely [C] No — I'll copy it manually"

• Check whether docs/CHANGELOG.md exists before asking. If it does, default the recommendation to [A] append.
• If the user selects [A]: append the new internal changelog entry to the top of the existing file (newest entries first).
• If the user selects [B]: overwrite the file with the new changelog.
• If the user selects [C]: stop here without writing.

After a successful write: Verdict: CHANGELOG WRITTEN — changelog saved to docs/CHANGELOG.md. If the user declines: Verdict: COMPLETE — changelog generated.

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Phase 8: Next Steps

• Use /patch-notes [version] to generate a styled, saved version for public release.
• Use /release-checklist before publishing the changelog externally.

Guidelines

• Never expose internal code references, file paths, or developer names in the public-facing changelog
• Group related changes together rather than listing individual commits
• If a commit message is unclear, check the associated files and sprint data for context
• [Game] Balance changes should always include the design reasoning, not just the numbers
• [Product] Breaking changes must always include migration steps
• Known issues should be honest — transparency builds trust
• If the git history is messy (merge commits, reverts, fixup commits), clean up the narrative rather than listing every commit literally