.changelogrc-spec

There are multiple tools that work with commit message formats to generate changelogs and releases, provide help by writing good commit messages, lint your messages and many more (to come).

Although conceptual similar all these tools need to be configured individually which adds an unnecessary overhead to tooling setup.

Spec

1. File

   1. Custom configuration for changelog/commit formats CAN be placed in a .changelogrc file.
   2. A .changelogrc file MUST be formatted as JSON.
   3. Tools MUST search all parent directories of the current working directory for a .changelogrc file.

2. Inheritance

   1. The .changelogrc file closest to the current working directory MUST be used for configuration.
   2. .changelogrc files MUST NOT be merged with .changelogrc files in parent directories unless specified by the .changelogrc itself (see 5.i.).

3. Types

   1. A .changelogrc file CAN provide an array of change "types".
   2. A type MUST specify a "key" with which a commit may be identified as the type.
   3. A type SHOULD specify a "name" as a human readable reference to the type "key".
   4. A type CAN provide "hide" attribute, specifying if this type should occur in human readable formats or not.

   example .changelogrc with types:

   {
   	"types": [
   		{
   			"key": "feat",
   			"name": "Features"
   		},
   		{
   			"key": "test",
   			"name": "Tests",
   			"hide": true
   		}
   	]
   }

4. Notes

   1. A .changelogrc file CAN provide an array of change "notes".
   2. A note MUST specify a "keyword" with with a commit is identified as containing this note.
   3. A note CAN specify an array of "alias"-es that serve as alternative "keywords".
   4. A note CAN provide a "important" attribute, specifying this change as important.
   5. Important notes (see 4.iv.) MUST invalidate the hide attribute of types (see 3.iv.).
      [An important note MUST NOT be hidden.]

   example .changelogrc with note:

   {
   	"notes": [
   		{
   			"keyword": "BREAKING CHANGES",
   			"alias": [
   				"BREAKING CHANGE"
   			],
   			"important": true
   		}
   	]
   }

5. Extend

   1. A .changelogrc file CAN provide an "extend" property specifying a path to another .changelogrc file in with the configuration is deeply merged.

License

The MIT License

Copyright (C) 2016 Jimdo GmbH

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.