Changelog and release notes generator
Write down what changed, one line each, and get a Markdown file and an HTML file for the release. Choose a changelog with the usual sections or plain release notes for your users, and add the new release above the changelog you already have. It is free, needs no account and runs in your browser.
A changelog answers one question for people who use your product: what is different since the last time I looked. Short lines grouped by type are easier to scan than a paragraph, and a date and version let people match a change to the release they run. The tool lays the file out, and you decide what each line says.
Write a changelog or release notes
Free, no login, and processed in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or saved, and what you enter is gone when you reload the page.
How to use the changelog generator
- Enter the version, and optionally a product name, a release date and a one line summary. The date must be a real day written as YYYY-MM-DD, and you can leave it empty.
- Write the changes, one per line. Start a line with feat, fix, improve, remove, deprecate or security and a colon to set its type, or leave the prefix out and the line gets the type you chose.
- Pick the format. A changelog uses the headings Added, Changed, Deprecated, Removed, Fixed and Security. Release notes use plainer headings for your users, such as New and Improved.
- Paste your current CHANGELOG.md if you have one, and the new release is placed above the older ones. Then copy the Markdown or download it as a file, and do the same with the HTML.
Example with a made up product
Take a fictional editor called Paperplane, version 1.4.0, released on 2027-03-15. Six lines go in: two with feat, one with improve, one with fix, one with security and one with remove. The changelog format turns them into a heading for the release followed by the sections Added, Changed, Removed, Fixed and Security, each with its lines as a list. Press Use example above to see the exact files.
The same lines in the release notes format give a title with the product and version, the date, and the headings New, Improved, Removed, Fixed and Security. That is the version to paste into an announcement or a help page.
Writing lines people can use
Describe the effect, not the work. A line such as the editor opens large files faster says more to a reader than a line about refactoring the loader. Keep one change per line, and put the most important change of each type first.
Only write what is live. A changelog that lists a feature before it ships sends people looking for something they cannot find. If you are launching, the launch date planner has a task for publishing short release notes a few days after launch, and the product launch checklist covers the rest of the launch.
Release notes are also a good reason to share an update. Build a tracked link for it with the UTM link builder and check how the link looks when shared with the social card checker.
Frequently asked questions
Is anything I type sent to a server?
No. The files are built in your browser, and nothing is uploaded or stored. The page keeps nothing in your browser either, so your text is gone when you reload. Download the files before you leave.
Which line prefixes does the tool understand?
Feat, feature, add, added and new become Added. Change, update, improve, improved, perf and refactor become Changed. Fix, bug and bugfix become Fixed. Remove, delete and removed become Removed. Deprecate becomes Deprecated, and security becomes Security. A scope in brackets after the prefix, as in fix(editor): text, is accepted and dropped. Any other line keeps its text and takes the default type.
What happens to the text I write?
It is treated as plain text. Text between backticks stays code. In the Markdown file, other characters that Markdown would read as formatting, such as asterisks, underscores and angle brackets, are escaped, so the file reads the same as the HTML. In the HTML file everything is escaped, so a pasted snippet of markup shows as text and cannot run.
How does the existing changelog work?
The new release is inserted above the first release heading, a line that starts with two number signs, so your title and any intro stay where they are. If your text has no release heading yet, the release is added at the end. The tool refuses a version that is already there. The HTML file holds only the new release, because your existing text is plain Markdown that the tool does not rewrite.
Are the files real Markdown and HTML?
Yes. Downloads are a .md file with the Markdown media type and a standalone .html document with a title, a viewport tag and a small embedded style sheet, with no scripts or outside files. A changelog downloads as CHANGELOG.md. Release notes download as release-notes with the version in the name.
Ready to share your product?
Once your release notes are written, add your product to RadarMakers so people can find it and follow what you ship.
RadarMakers is a free directory for indie projects and SaaS. Prepare a clear tagline, explain who your product helps and include real screenshots when you submit.