relnote

Also listed in awesome-release-management (Changelog Generators), awesome-cli-apps-in-a-csv (git), awesome-efficient-devtools (Fast CLI Tools), and git-extra-commands (External Git Utilities).

Turn a git range into clean GitHub release notes.

python3 -m relnote

## What's changed

### Breaking

- replace JSON store with SQLite (`a11a11a`) — Ada Lovelace, Sam Rivera
  - BREAKING CHANGE: harbor dump --json now writes NDJSON.

### Features

- **cli:** add harbor sync --dry-run (`b22b22b`) — Ada Lovelace
- import Netscape bookmark files (`c33c33c`) — Grace Hopper

### Fixes

- do not drop tags that contain commas (`d44d44d`) — Ada Lovelace
- **parser:** accept single-quoted hrefs (`e55e55e`) — Sam Rivera, Grace Hopper

### Other

- **docs:** document the XBEL importer (`f66f66f`) — Grace Hopper
- **refactor:** split store module from cli (`333cccc`) — Ada Lovelace
- Initial floating-window layout for the TUI (`555eeee`) — Sam Rivera

---

Range: `v0.9.0` → `v1.0.0`.

_3 commit(s) omitted (bots or secret-looking subjects)._

Synthetic example from a fake commit list for a fictional CLI called harbor — not taken from any real repository. See samples/example-output.md.

Compared to gh, git-cliff, and swapnanil/relnotes

relnote is a stdlib Python changelog CLI (and GitHub Action) for offline conventional-commit release notes: no GitHub API, no config file. It groups commits into Features, Fixes, and Breaking.

Keep using gh release create --generate-notes when you want GitHub's official, PR-linked notes. Use git-cliff when you want a full changelog file, Tera templates, and a config.

swapnanil/relnotes is another stdlib Python conventional-commit notes CLI. Pick relnote for the GitHub Action and zero-config CI (--quiet / --output); pick that CLI if you want an optional .relnotes.toml or inferred semver bump.

Docs: https://loki-inu.github.io/relnote/ · Compare: https://loki-inu.github.io/relnote/compare.html · OSSDrop: https://ossdrop.com/tool/relnote

Install

Python 3.11+, git on PATH, no third-party packages.

From a checkout of this repository:

python3 -m relnote --help

Or install the relnote console script from GitHub (optional download on itch.io):

pip install git+https://github.com/loki-inu/relnote.git
relnote --help

Why not git log

Conventional commits already have the grouping; relnote just prints a Release body. stdlib-only, no config file.

What it does

Reads the current repository, from the latest tag (or --since <ref>) to HEAD, and prints a GitHub Release body:

• Features — feat / feat(scope)
• Fixes — fix / fix(scope)
• Breaking — feat!, fix!, any type!, or a BREAKING CHANGE: / BREAKING-CHANGE: footer
• Other — docs, chore, refactor, and anything that is not a conventional commit

Merge commits are omitted by default. Co-authored-by trailers are listed; names are not invented. Subjects that look like tokens or keys are dropped, never printed.

Examples

# latest tag → HEAD, GitHub markdown
python3 -m relnote

# explicit range
python3 -m relnote --since v1.2.0 --until v1.3.0

# cap length, hide dependabot / renovate / [bot]
python3 -m relnote --since v1.0.0 --max 25 --no-bots

# plain text
python3 -m relnote --format plain --include-merges

# write a file (still prints to stdout)
python3 -m relnote --output /tmp/notes.md

# CI: write a file, no stdout
python3 -m relnote --output notes.md --quiet

# another checkout
python3 relnote/__main__.py --repo /path/to/project

Paste stdout into a GitHub Release. If origin is a github.com remote, the footer includes a compare URL.

Flags

Flag	Default	Meaning
--since REF	latest tag, or full history	start of the range
--until REF	HEAD	end of the range
--format github|plain	github	markdown vs plain text
--max N	no cap	newest N commits after filters
--exclude-merges	on	skip merge commits
--include-merges	off	keep merge commits
--no-bots	off	drop dependabot, renovate, [bot]
--repo PATH	.	git working tree
--output FILE	off	also write notes to FILE (UTF-8); still print to stdout unless --quiet
--quiet / -q	off	with --output, do not print notes to stdout
--help		this explanation
--version		print relnote 0.1.5

Exit 1 if the path is not a git repo, a ref does not exist, nothing remains after filters, or --output points at a missing parent directory. Exit 2 if --quiet is set without --output.

GitHub Action

Use this repository from another workflow. The action first shipped in v0.1.1 — pin loki-inu/relnote@v0.1.5 or @main for current. The v0.1.0 tag is CLI-only.

name: Release notes

on:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  notes:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - id: relnote
        uses: loki-inu/relnote@v0.1.5
      - name: Print notes
        run: printf '%s\n' "${{ steps.relnote.outputs.notes }}"

Optional inputs: since, until, max, format (default github), no-bots (default true), repo.

A copy-paste workflow that opens a draft GitHub Release on tag push is in examples/draft-release.yml.

What it is not

• Not a GitHub App. It does not create the Release, open a PR, or bump versions.
• Not a secret scanner for the tree. It only refuses to print commit subjects that look like tokens.
• Not a rewrite of your history and not a substitute for reading the diff.

Licence and price

MIT. Copyright (c) 2026 loki-inu.

The useful core is here. A later paid band of $9–15 (or free OSS plus Polar extras such as a workflow wrapper) is a listing decision, not part of this tree. No wallet, no signup, no checkout in this product.