---
name: patch-notes
description: "Generate player-facing patch notes from git history, sprint data, and internal changelogs. Translates developer language into clear, engaging player communication."
argument-hint: "[version] [--style brief|detailed|full]"
user-invocable: true
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep, Write, Bash
---

When this skill is invoked:

1. **Parse the arguments**:
   - `version`: the release version to generate notes for (e.g., `1.2.0`)
   - `--style`: output style — `brief` (bullet points), `detailed` (with context),
     `full` (with developer commentary). Default: `detailed`.

2. **Gather change data from multiple sources**:
   - Read the internal changelog at `production/releases/[version]/changelog.md` if it exists
   - Run `git log` between the previous release tag and current tag/HEAD
   - Read sprint retrospectives in `production/sprints/` for context
   - Read any balance change documents in `design/balance/`
   - Read bug fix records from QA if available

3. **Categorize all changes** into player-facing categories:
   - **New Content**: new features, maps, characters, items, modes
   - **Gameplay Changes**: balance adjustments, mechanic changes, progression changes
   - **Quality of Life**: UI improvements, convenience features, accessibility
   - **Bug Fixes**: grouped by system (combat, UI, networking, etc.)
   - **Performance**: optimization improvements players might notice
   - **Known Issues**: transparency about unresolved problems

4. **Translate developer language to player language**:
   - "Refactored damage calculation pipeline" → "Improved hit detection accuracy"
   - "Fixed null reference in inventory manager" → "Fixed a crash when opening inventory"
   - "Reduced GC allocations in combat loop" → "Improved combat performance"
   - Remove purely internal changes that don't affect players
   - Preserve specific numbers for balance changes (damage: 50 → 45)

5. **Generate the patch notes** using the appropriate style:

### Brief Style
```markdown
# Patch [Version] — [Title]

**New**
- [Feature 1]
- [Feature 2]

**Changes**
- [Balance/mechanic change with before → after values]

**Fixes**
- [Bug fix 1]
- [Bug fix 2]

**Known Issues**
- [Issue 1]
```

### Detailed Style
```markdown
# Patch [Version] — [Title]
*[Date]*

## Highlights
[1-2 sentence summary of the most exciting changes]

## New Content
### [Feature Name]
[2-3 sentences describing the feature and why players should be excited]

## Gameplay Changes
### Balance
| Change | Before | After | Reason |
| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
| [Item/ability] | [old value] | [new value] | [brief rationale] |

### Mechanics
- **[Change]**: [explanation of what changed and why]

## Quality of Life
- [Improvement with context]

## Bug Fixes
### Combat
- Fixed [description of what players experienced]

### UI
- Fixed [description]

### Networking
- Fixed [description]

## Performance
- [Improvement players will notice]

## Known Issues
- [Issue and workaround if available]
```

### Full Style
Includes everything from Detailed, plus:
```markdown
## Developer Commentary
### [Topic]
> [Developer insight into a major change — why it was made, what was considered,
> what the team learned. Written in first-person team voice.]
```

6. **Review the output** for:
   - No internal jargon (replace technical terms with player-friendly language)
   - No references to internal systems, tickets, or sprint numbers
   - Balance changes include before/after values
   - Bug fixes describe the player experience, not the technical cause
   - Tone matches the game's voice (adjust formality based on game style)

7. **Save the patch notes** to `production/releases/[version]/patch-notes.md`,
   creating the directory if needed.

8. **Output to the user**: the complete patch notes, the file path, a count of
   changes by category, and any internal changes that were excluded (for review).