Module 7: Release Notes

The Release Notes module drafts GitHub release notes from repository evidence. It reads merged pull requests, direct commits, labels, changed files, and the previous release range, then asks the configured LLM to classify and summarize the changes.

RepoKeeper only creates or updates a draft release. It does not publish the release, move tags, bump package versions, or edit CHANGELOG.md.

How It Works

1. Finds the latest published release, unless --base is provided.
2. Compares base...target to collect changed commits and files.
3. Searches merged pull requests since the previous release date.
4. Keeps direct commits as first-class release evidence.
5. Generates grouped markdown release notes with source references.
6. Creates or updates a matching GitHub draft release.

CLI

# Create or update a draft release using the latest published release as base
repokeeper release --repo owner/repo

# Preview without writing a GitHub draft release
repokeeper release --repo owner/repo --dry-run

# Override the range and target draft tag
repokeeper release --repo owner/repo --base v1.4.0 --target main --tag v1.4.1

GitHub Actions

Use the bundled release.yml workflow or call the root action directly:

- uses: shenxianpeng/repokeeper@v1
  with:
    module: release
    repo: ${{ github.repository }}
    llm_api_key: ${{ secrets.DEEPSEEK_API_KEY }}
    github_token: ${{ secrets.REPOKEEPER_GITHUB_TOKEN || secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

The workflow needs:

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: read

Configuration

Add a release section to repokeeper.yml:

release:
  enabled: true
  model: null
  temperature: 0.1
  audience: users and maintainers
  categories:
    - Breaking Changes
    - Features
    - Fixes
    - Documentation
    - Maintenance
  include_prereleases: false
  prerelease: false

Setting	Default	Description
enabled	true	Enable release note drafting
model	null	Per-module model, or inherit agent.model
temperature	0.1	LLM temperature
audience	users and maintainers	Who the notes should be written for
categories	see example	Preferred section order
include_prereleases	false	Consider prereleases when finding the previous release
prerelease	false	Mark the draft release as a prerelease

Boundary

This module is intentionally narrower than a release manager:

• It drafts notes; it does not publish.
• It suggests a next patch tag by default; it does not move tags.
• It uses labels as hints; it does not require labels to be correct.
• It includes direct commits instead of assuming every change came from a PR.