gocs

A Go tool for generating changesets markdown files without requiring the node package from NPM.

Note: This tool only generates .changeset/*.md files. It does not replace the full @changesets/cli functionality—you still need changesets in CI for changeset version and changeset publish commands.

Installation

go install github.com/smartcontractkit/gocs/cmd/gocs@latest

Or add as a tool dependency (Go 1.24+):

go get -tool github.com/smartcontractkit/gocs/cmd/gocs@latest
go tool gocs

Or run directly without installing:

go run github.com/smartcontractkit/gocs/cmd/gocs@latest

Usage

Interactive Mode (TUI)

gocs

This launches an interactive terminal UI where you can:

1. Select one or more packages from discovered package.json files
2. Choose version bump type (major/minor/patch) for each package
3. Enter a changelog message

Non-Interactive Mode

# Single package
gocs -pkg chainlink -m "Fix memory leak #internal"

# Multiple packages (same version type)
gocs -pkg chainlink,contracts -type minor -m "Add new feature"

# Specify version type
gocs -pkg mypackage -type major -m "Breaking API change"

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
-pkg	Package name(s), comma-separated	-
-m	Changelog message	-
-type	Version bump: major, minor, patch	patch
-version	Print version	-
-help	Show help	-

Output

Creates a markdown file in .changeset/ with a random name:

---
"package-name": patch
---

Your changelog message here

How It Works

Package Discovery

gocs scans your repository for package.json files and extracts the name field from each. These become the selectable packages in interactive mode or valid values for the -pkg flag. Only packages with a name field are discovered.

Changeset Format

Each generated changeset markdown file contains:

• Package name(s): The npm package name from package.json
• Impact type: major, minor, or patch — determines how the version number changes
• Changelog message: Description of the change for the changelog

CI Integration with Changesets

The generated .changeset/*.md files are consumed by the Changesets CLI in CI:

1. changeset version: Reads all pending changesets and:

   • Updates the version field in each package's package.json based on the impact type:
     • major: 1.2.3 → 2.0.0
     • minor: 1.2.3 → 1.3.0
     • patch: 1.2.3 → 1.2.4
   • Appends the changelog message to the package's CHANGELOG.md
   • Deletes the consumed changeset files

2. changeset publish: Publishes the updated packages to npm

This separation allows gocs to handle changeset creation without Node.js, while still leveraging the full Changesets workflow in CI.

Adding to a Go Project

Add to your go.mod as a tool dependency:

go get -tool github.com/smartcontractkit/gocs/cmd/gocs@latest

Then use with:

go tool gocs

License

MIT