since

• Parse git history and generate changelog.
• Calculate the next version based on semver and conventional commits.
• Parse changelog files and extract changes for a given version.

Installation

Homebrew

brew install release-tools/tap/since

Go

go install github.com/release-tools/since

Usage

Changelog - Parse and update changelog files.

• generate
• update
• extract
• init

Project - List the changes since the last release in the project repository, or determine the next semantic version based on those changes.

• changes
• version
• release

---

changelog generate

Generates a new changelog based on an existing changelog file, adding a new release section using the commits since the last release, then prints it to stdout.

Usage:
  since changelog generate [flags]

Flags:
  -g, --git-repo string   Path to git repository (default ".")
  -h, --help              help for generate
  -o, --order-by string   How to determine the latest tag (alphabetical|commit-date|semver)) (default "semver")

Global Flags:
  -c, --changelog string     Path to changelog file (default "CHANGELOG.md")
      --output-file string   Path to output file (otherwise stdout)
  -l, --log-level string     Log level (debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic) (default "debug")
  -q, --quiet                Disable logging (useful for scripting)

---

changelog update

Updates the existing changelog file with a new release section, using the commits since the last release.

Usage:
  since changelog update [flags]

Flags:
  -g, --git-repo string   Path to git repository (default ".")
  -h, --help              help for update
  -o, --order-by string   How to determine the latest tag (alphabetical|commit-date|semver)) (default "semver")

Global Flags:
  -c, --changelog string   Path to changelog file (default "CHANGELOG.md")
  -l, --log-level string   Log level (debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic) (default "debug")
  -q, --quiet              Disable logging (useful for scripting)

---

changelog extract

Extracts changes for a given version in a changelog file. If no version is specified, the most recent version is used.

Usage:
  since changelog extract [flags]

Flags:
      --header           whether to include the version header in the output
  -h, --help             help for extract
  -v, --version string   Version to parse changelog for

Global Flags:
  -c, --changelog string     Path to changelog file (default "CHANGELOG.md")
      --output-file string   Path to output file (otherwise stdout)
  -l, --log-level string     Log level (debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic) (default "debug")
  -q, --quiet                Disable logging (useful for scripting)

---

changelog init

Initialises a new changelog file based on the specified git repository.

Usage:
  since changelog init [flags]

Flags:
  -g, --git-repo string   Path to git repository (default ".")
  -h, --help              help for init
  -o, --order-by string   How to determine the latest tag (alphabetical|commit-date|semver)) (default "semver")
      --unique            De-duplicate commit messages (default true)

Global Flags:
  -c, --changelog string     Path to changelog file (default "CHANGELOG.md")
      --output-file string   Path to output file (otherwise stdout)
  -l, --log-level string     Log level (debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic) (default "debug")
  -q, --quiet                Disable logging (useful for scripting)

---

project changes

Reads the commit history for the current git repository, starting from the most recent tag. Lists the commits categorised by their type.

Usage:
  since project changes [flags]

Flags:
  -h, --help   help for changes

Global Flags:
  -g, --git-repo string    Path to git repository (default ".")
  -l, --log-level string   Log level (debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic) (default "debug")
  -o, --order-by string    How to determine the latest tag (alphabetical|commit-date|semver)) (default "semver")
  -q, --quiet              Disable logging (useful for scripting)
  -t, --tag string         Include commits after this tag

---

project version

Reads the commit history for the current git repository, starting from the most recent tag. Returns the next semantic version based on the changes.

Changes influence the version according to conventional commits

Usage:
  since project version [flags]

Flags:
  -c, --current   Just print the current version
  -h, --help      help for version

Global Flags:
  -g, --git-repo string    Path to git repository (default ".")
  -l, --log-level string   Log level (debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic) (default "debug")
  -o, --order-by string    How to determine the latest tag (alphabetical|commit-date|semver)) (default "semver")
  -q, --quiet              Disable logging (useful for scripting)
  -t, --tag string         Include commits after this tag

---

project release

Generates a new changelog based on an existing changelog file, using the commits since the last release.

The changelog is then committed and a new tag is created with the new version.

Usage:
  since project release [flags]

Flags:
  -c, --changelog string   Path to changelog file (default "CHANGELOG.md")
  -h, --help               help for release

Global Flags:
  -g, --git-repo string    Path to git repository (default ".")
  -l, --log-level string   Log level (debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic) (default "debug")
  -o, --order-by string    How to determine the latest tag (alphabetical|commit-date|semver)) (default "semver")
  -q, --quiet              Disable logging (useful for scripting)
  -t, --tag string         Include commits after this tag

The since.yaml file

You can also use a since.yaml file to configure the tool. This file should be placed in the root of your project repository.

# require us to be on the main branch
requireBranch: main

ignore:
  - "commit message with this string will be ignored"

before:
  - script: |
      # run some tests before the release
      # e.g. npm test

after:
  - script: |
      # any post-release steps
      # e.g. npm publish

---

Using since with GitHub Actions

You can use since with GitHub Actions to automate the release process.

name: Release

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - "v*.*.*"

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Extract entries from most recent release in CHANGELOG.md
        uses: release-tools/since@main
        with:
          output-file: release-changes.md

      - name: Create Release
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        with:
          body_path: release-changes.md