Changelog Generator

A Python script to generate a changelog from merged GitHub pull requests based on labels. It organizes changes into categories like New Features, API Changes, and Documentation Changes, and outputs a Markdown file suitable for documentation.

Features

• Fetches merged pull requests from a specified GitHub repository.
• Groups PRs by month and label, with deduplication for Documentation Changes.
• Supports categories: New Features, API Changes, Documentation Changes, Example Updates, Deprecated, and Documentation Platform Updates.
• Configurable via command-line arguments or environment variables.
• Outputs a clean Markdown changelog with a customizable header.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.6+
• A GitHub Personal Access Token with repo scope.
• The requests library (pip install requests).

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/username/changelog-generator.git
   cd changelog-generator

2. Install the required dependency:

   pip install requests
   

Usage

Running Locally

1. Set your GitHub token as an environment variable:

   export GITHUB_TOKEN="your-personal-access-token"

2. Run the script, specifying your repository:

   python changelog.py --repo "username/repository" --output CHANGELOG.md
   

Alternatively, use environment variables for configuration:

export CHANGELOG_REPO="username/repository"
export CHANGELOG_TOKEN="your-personal-access-token"
python changelog.py

Command-Line Options

• --repo: GitHub repository (e.g., username/repository). Default: username/repository or CHANGELOG_REPO env variable.
• --token-env: Environment variable name for the GitHub token. Default: CHANGELOG_TOKEN or GITHUB_TOKEN.
• --output: Output file for the changelog. Default: CHANGELOG.md.

Example with custom token variable:

python changelog.py --repo "username/repository" --token-env MY_TOKEN --output my-changelog.md

Output

The script generates a CHANGELOG.md file (or your specified output file) with the following structure:

Changelog

This changelog is auto-generated from merged pull requests.

May 2025

✨ New Features

• Added new feature X (#123)

📝 Documentation Changes

• Updated guide Y (#124)

---

April 2025

🗑 Deprecated

• Removed deprecated endpoint Z (#125)

Customization

To use different labels or categories, edit the LABELS and CATEGORY_ORDER variables in changelog.py. The default configuration supports:

• Labels and Categories:
  • New Features → ### ✨ New Features
  • API Changes → ### 📚 API Changes
  • Documentation and Feature Enhancements, Information Architecture Changes, Documentation Fixes → ### 📝 Documentation Changes
  • Example Updates → ### 📋 Example Updates
  • Deprecated → ### 🗑 Deprecated
  • Platform Updates → ### 🛠 Documentation Platform Updates
  • Skip Changelog: Skips PRs with this label.
• Category Order:
  • Categories appear in the order defined in CATEGORY_ORDER.
  • Group categories together if you have many labels and you want to consolidate.

Modify these in the script to match your repository’s labels.

Notes

• Ensure your GitHub token has repo scope to access pull request data.
• The script deduplicates PRs under Documentation Changes to avoid repetition when multiple labels apply.
• PRs with the Skip Changelog label are excluded from the output.

License

MIT License (see LICENSE file for details).