action-changelog-generator

This action is designed to generate a changelog based on the merged pull requests between two git tags. It is particularly useful when you want to generate a changelog for a new release.

Inputs

fromTag

Required. The git tag to start from when generating the changelog. Usually the tag of the previous release.

Example : v1.0.0

---

toTag

Required. The git tag to end at when generating the changelog. Usually the tag of the new release.

Example : v1.1.0

---

token

Required. The GitHub token to use when fetching pull requests details. This can be set to ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} to use the default token provided by GitHub Actions.

Example : ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Outputs

changelog

The generated changelog as a Markdown string.

This output can be used in subsequent steps to save the changelog to a file, create a release, or send it to a chat application.

---

Example Workflow

name: Create Release

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [closed]
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  tag-release:
    # This action only works on linux runners
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    # Check if the PR is merged and if it is a release branch
    if:
      ${{ github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&
      startsWith(github.event.pull_request.head.ref, 'release/')}}

    # Define the permissions for the action
    permissions:
      contents: write
      pull-requests: read
      actions: write
      issues: read

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0 # Required to fetch tags and commits

      - name: Extract release branch version
        id: new-version
        run:
          echo "VERSION=$(echo ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} | awk
          -F/ '{print $NF}')" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

      - name: Get previous release Tag
        id: latest-version
        run: echo "TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

      - name: Create new release Tag
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            github.rest.git.createRef({
                owner: context.repo.owner,
                repo: context.repo.repo,
                ref: 'refs/tags/v${{ steps.new-version.outputs.VERSION }}',
                sha: context.sha
            })

      - name: Create tag locally
        run: git tag "v${{ steps.new-version.outputs.VERSION }}"

      - name: Generate Changelog
        id: changelog
        uses: teamaltevo/action-changelog-generator@v1.0.5
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          fromTag: ${{ steps.latest-version.outputs.TAG }}
          toTag: v${{ steps.new-version.outputs.VERSION }}

      - name: Create Release
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            github.rest.repos.createRelease({
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              tag_name: 'v${{ steps.new-version.outputs.VERSION }}',
              name: 'v${{ steps.new-version.outputs.VERSION }}',
              body: `${{ steps.changelog.outputs.changelog }}`
            });

      - name: Complete
        run:
          echo "**Tag v${{ steps.new-version.outputs.VERSION }} was created
          successfully** :white_check_mark:" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY

---

Development

Initial Setup

After you've cloned the repository to your local machine or codespace, you'll need to perform some initial setup steps before you can develop your action.

Note

You'll need to have a reasonably modern version of Node.js handy (20.x or later should work!). If you are using volta to manage your Node.js versions, this is already taken care of.

1. 🛠️ Install the dependencies

   npm install

2. 🏗️ Package the TypeScript for distribution

   npm run bundle

Publishing a New Release

This project includes a helper script, script/release designed to streamline the process of tagging and pushing new releases for GitHub Actions.

npm run bundle
git add -A
git commit -m "Release v1.x.x"
git push
./script/release