Store Changelog Standard

Priority: P1

Generate concise, user-benefit-focused release notes compliant with both App Store and Google Play limits.

Always-Apply Rules

• Character limits: App Store ≤ 4000 chars. Google Play ≤ 500 chars — validate before output.
• Benefit language: Write what the user gains, not what code changed. "Faster checkout" not "refactored cart service".
• Bullet-only format: One sentence per bullet. No paragraphs. No headers inside the notes.
• Drop internal commits: Exclude chore, refactor, ci, build, test, dependency bumps, and config changes — no user impact.
• Deduplicate: Merge commits touching the same feature into one bullet.

Workflow

1. Collect: Run git log <last-tag>..HEAD --oneline (or use provided commit list). If no tag exists, use full history.
2. Triage: Scan commits and touched files. Group by theme: New, Improved, Fixed. Drop internal-only.
3. Draft — App Store: Write 5–10 benefit-focused bullets. Optional What's New in [Version] header.
4. Draft — Google Play: Compress App Store draft to ≤ 500 chars. Prioritise top 3–5 user-facing changes.
5. Validate: Count characters per store. Check every bullet maps to a real commit. Remove jargon.

See Commit-to-Bullet Examples for mapping patterns.

Output Format

App Store (≤ 4000 chars):

What's New in Version X.Y
• [New] <user benefit — one sentence>
• [Improved] <user benefit — one sentence>
• [Fixed] <user benefit — one sentence>

Google Play (≤ 500 chars):

• <highest-impact change>
• <second change>
• <third change>
[Bug fixes and performance improvements.]

Anti-Patterns

• No jargon: Never use refactor, migrated, deprecated, PR, hotfix, or internal ticket IDs.
• No chore bullets: chore: upgrade Gradle → drop entirely, never paraphrase as a user feature.
• No bundled bullets: "Fixed login and improved search and added dark mode" → three separate bullets.
• No character overrun: Validate Play Store notes ≤ 500 chars before returning — truncate + rewrite if needed.

References

• Commit-to-Bullet Examples — load when mapping specific commits to bullets