Prepare Changelog for Release

VerifiedSafe

Updates the CHANGELOG.md file by replacing the [Unreleased] section with the current plugin version and date, then adds a new empty [Unreleased] section. Use when finalizing a release to prepare the changelog entries.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DocumentationBeginner
1706/2/2026
Claude CodeCursorWindsurfCopilotCodex
#changelog#release#versioning#documentation

Recommended for

Our review

Automates updating the CHANGELOG.md unreleased section with the current plugin version and date.

Strengths

  • Ensures a consistent, standardized format (Keep a Changelog)
  • Reduces manual errors during release preparation
  • Simple one-command execution

Limitations

  • Requires a specific CHANGELOG.md file structure
  • Only works for single-version projects (like a plugin)
  • Date is taken from the system, not user-configurable
When to use it

When preparing a software release that follows semantic versioning and Keep a Changelog.

When not to use it

For projects using a different changelog format or that have multiple unreleased sections.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score90/100

The skill only reads and writes local files (CHANGELOG.md, publishpress-hub-statistics.php) with no network access, code execution, or destructive operations. No dangerous tools are used.

No concerns found

Examples

Prepare changelog for release
Prepare the changelog for release.
Update changelog to version 1.2.0
Update CHANGELOG.md for version 1.2.0.
Finalize changelog entries
Finalize the changelog entries for today's release.

name: prepare-changelog-release description: Prepares the CHANGELOG.md file for release by updating the [Unreleased] section with the current plugin version and date. Use when the user asks to prepare changelog for release, update changelog for release, or finalize changelog entries.

Prepare Changelog for Release

Updates the unreleased section of CHANGELOG.md with the current plugin version and date, following the project's changelog format.

Instructions

When preparing the changelog for release:

  1. Read the current plugin version from publishpress-hub-statistics.php (Version field in the file header)

  2. Read CHANGELOG.md to identify:

    • The [Unreleased] section (typically starts at line 4)
    • All entries under [Unreleased] (bullet points between [Unreleased] and the next version)
  3. Update the changelog by replacing the [Unreleased] header with:

    [VERSION] - DD MMM, YYYY
    

    Where:

    • VERSION is the current version from the plugin file
    • DD is the day (2 digits)
    • MMM is the month (3-letter abbreviation: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec)
    • YYYY is the 4-digit year
  4. Add a new [Unreleased] section at the top (after line 3) with empty content:

    [Unreleased]
    
    

Format Requirements

  • Use exactly one blank line between sections
  • Maintain the existing bullet point format for entries
  • Follow the format: [VERSION] - DD MMM, YYYY (e.g., [1.0.0] - 02 Feb, 2026)
  • Add comma after day in the date
  • Use 3-letter month abbreviation

Example Transformation

Before:

The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/)
and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).

[Unreleased]

- Added: New feature X
- Fixed: Bug in feature Y

[1.0.0] - 02 Feb, 2026

After (assuming version 1.1.0 and date 05 Feb, 2026):

The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/)
and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).

[Unreleased]

[1.1.0] - 05 Feb, 2026

- Added: New feature X
- Fixed: Bug in feature Y

[1.0.0] - 02 Feb, 2026

Month Abbreviations Reference

| Month | Abbreviation | |-------|--------------| | January | Jan | | February | Feb | | March | Mar | | April | Apr | | May | May | | June | Jun | | July | Jul | | August | Aug | | September | Sep | | October | Oct | | November | Nov | | December | Dec |

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