How does AutoChangelog work?

AutoChangelog integrates with your GitHub repository and automatically generates changelog entries from your pull requests. When you merge a PR, our AI analyzes the changes and creates a clear, user-friendly changelog entry. You can review and publish entries from your dashboard.

Do I need to write changelogs manually?

No! That's the whole point. AutoChangelog reads your pull requests and generates changelog entries automatically using AI. You can review and edit them before publishing, but you never have to start from scratch.

What information does AutoChangelog use to generate entries?

AutoChangelog analyzes your PR title, description, code changes, and any related commits. Our AI then transforms this technical information into clear, user-friendly language that explains what changed and why it matters.

Can I edit the generated changelogs?

Yes! Every generated entry can be reviewed and edited before publishing. You have complete control over what gets published to your changelog.

What's the difference between draft and auto-publish?

In draft mode, generated entries are saved as drafts for you to review before publishing. With auto-publish enabled, entries are published immediately when generated. You can choose either mode per repository in your settings.

Which GitHub plan do I need?

AutoChangelog works with any GitHub plan, including free accounts. As long as you can create pull requests in your repository, AutoChangelog can generate changelogs for them.

Can I use AutoChangelog with private repositories?

Yes! AutoChangelog works with both public and private GitHub repositories. We securely access your repository through GitHub OAuth with the permissions you grant.

How many repositories can I connect?

The Free plan supports 1 repository. The Pro plan supports 1 repository with unlimited PR processing. The Team plan supports unlimited repositories with unlimited PR processing.

What happens if I exceed my plan's PR limit?

On the Free plan, you get 10 AI-generated changelogs per month. Once you reach this limit, new PRs won't generate changelog entries until your limit resets (monthly) or you upgrade to a paid plan.

Can I export my changelogs?

Your changelog entries are available via a public changelog page at autochangelog.com/c/[your-repo]. Each entry is written in Markdown and can be easily copied or accessed via our API.

How do I share my changelog with users?

Every repository gets a public changelog page at autochangelog.com/c/[your-repo]. You can link to this from your website, documentation, or GitHub repository. Pro and Team plans will support custom domains soon.

What happens to my changelogs if I cancel?

All your published changelogs remain accessible even after cancellation. You'll have a 7-day grace period where everything continues working. After that, repositories exceeding the free tier limit will be disabled, but your changelog data is never deleted.

Can I customize the changelog format?

Currently, AutoChangelog uses a clean, consistent format optimized for readability. Custom templates and formatting options are planned for future releases. You can always edit individual entries to match your style.

GitHub Integration | Documentation

Connecting Your GitHub Account

AutoChangelog uses GitHub OAuth to authenticate users and a GitHub App to access your repository data. When you sign in for the first time, you'll authenticate with your GitHub account, then be prompted to install our GitHub App on your personal account or organization. This installation grants us the permissions we need to read your commits, diffs, and pull requests when generating changelogs.

Permissions We Request

Our GitHub App requests read-only access to your repositories. We can read repository metadata like names and descriptions. We can read commits and their messages. We can read pull request titles, descriptions, and merge status. And we can read file change summaries to understand the scope of changes. We never write to your repositories. We don't create commits, issues, comments, or webhooks in your repos. The access is strictly read-only.

What We Store

We store the minimum data needed to operate AutoChangelog. This includes your GitHub username and email for your account, repository names and IDs to show in your dashboard, and the SHA of your last documented commit so we know where to start fetching from next time. We do not store your source code, commit history, pull request content, or file contents. When generating a changelog, we fetch data directly from GitHub's API in real-time. Once the AI generates your entry, the raw GitHub data is discarded.

How Changelog Generation Works

When you trigger a changelog through the webhook or manually, AutoChangelog uses your GitHub App installation to authenticate with GitHub's API. We fetch the commits and pull requests since your last documented commit, send that data to our AI for processing, save the generated entry, and then discard the raw GitHub data. We never store your code on our servers.

Private Repositories

AutoChangelog works with both public and private repositories. We can only access repos where the GitHub App is installed and granted permission. For private repos, your changelog page can be password-protected so only authorized users can view it. Enable password protection from your repository settings in the dashboard.

Installing on Organizations

To use AutoChangelog with organization repositories, install the GitHub App on your organization. During installation, you can choose whether to grant access to all repositories or only specific ones. Organization admins can manage which repos are accessible from GitHub's installed apps settings. You can update repository access at any time without reinstalling.

Revoking Access

You can revoke AutoChangelog's access at any time from GitHub. Go to Settings → Applications → Installed GitHub Apps, find AutoChangelog, and click "Configure" then "Uninstall". This disconnects all your repositories immediately. To use AutoChangelog again after uninstalling, you'll need to reinstall the GitHub App.

Troubleshooting

If you don't see a repository in AutoChangelog, check that the GitHub App is installed for that repo. For organization repos, ensure the app has access to that specific repository. Try refreshing your repository list from the dashboard. Make sure the repo isn't archived, as we don't support archived repositories.

If you see permission errors when fetching updates, check that the GitHub App still has access to the repository. For organization repos, an admin may have revoked access. Try reinstalling the GitHub App if the issue persists.

If you see "Installation not found" errors, this usually means the GitHub App was uninstalled from GitHub. Reinstall it from your GitHub settings to restore access to AutoChangelog.