- How do I install claudiodekker/changelog-updater in a Laravel app?
- Install it with Composer as a development dependency, for example composer require --dev claudiodekker/changelog-updater:^1.2. There is no service provider binding, database migration, or config publishing required to get a first run, so setup is essentially just the Composer step. Because it is developer tooling rather than runtime infrastructure, it belongs in require-dev alongside tools like Pint, PHPStan, and Pest.
- Does changelog-updater work with plain PHP projects or only Laravel?
- It works in any PHP project. The package has no framework requirements and simply parses and rewrites a CHANGELOG.md file in the repository, with Laravel projects just getting convenient Artisan command exposure. That makes it a reasonable standard choice for a monorepo that mixes Laravel and non-Laravel packages instead of maintaining per-stack scripts.
- Which PHP and Laravel versions does claudiodekker/changelog-updater support?
- PHP 8.4 support was added in v1.2.0, which removes the last runtime compatibility blocker for teams already running 8.4 in CI images. Because it is framework-agnostic dev tooling, it does not impose Laravel version constraints the way runtime packages do. Check the package's composer.json for the exact PHP floor before pinning, and keep an explicit ^1.2 constraint rather than a floating one.
- Does changelog-updater affect my application at runtime or in production?
- No. It is release and development tooling that rewrites a markdown file in your repository and is never loaded by the running application. Keep it in require-dev so it stays out of the production dependency graph. Its blast radius on application architecture is effectively zero, with no bindings, queues, HTTP surface, or database involvement.
- What changelog format does changelog-updater expect?
- It expects a Keep a Changelog style CHANGELOG.md with version sections and headings such as Added, Changed, and Fixed. Entries are inserted into the correct existing section while the surrounding markdown structure and formatting are preserved. If your file deviates heavily from that structure, normalize it by hand before enabling automation.
- How do I stop changelog-updater from corrupting or losing content in CHANGELOG.md?
- Treat v1.2.0 as a hard floor and pin an explicit ^1.2 constraint, because the duplicate-section data loss defect (issue #9, fixed in #10) exists in v1.1.x and earlier. Before enabling automation, dry-run the tool against your existing changelog on a branch and diff the output. If the file already contains duplicate section headings, remediate that structure manually first, since the fix prevents new loss but does not repair an already ambiguous file.
- Can I run changelog-updater in CI instead of locally?
- Yes, it is designed to slot into release scripts and CI pipelines, either rewriting the changelog during a release step or running as a check that fails when the file drifts. The check-mode approach requires a bot identity with permission to write to main, plus whatever branch-protection allowances your repository enforces. Decide deliberately whether a CI bot commits the change or whether the tool stays constrained to local and pre-release use.
- How can I preview or dry-run a changelog update before committing?
- Run the tool against your CHANGELOG.md on a scratch branch and inspect the diff before committing anything. Land the tooling configuration plus one regenerated entry as a standalone commit so the change is reviewable and trivially revertible if the rewrite is wrong. Keeping changelog changes in their own commit is a cheap mitigation for any tool that mutates a tracked file.
- Why does changelog-updater conflict with my other branches on CHANGELOG.md?
- Concurrent feature branches that both touch CHANGELOG.md will conflict at the same insertion point because the tool writes to a shared file. This is inherent to changelog-on-branch workflows rather than a defect in the package. Choose a policy up front, such as editing the changelog only on a release branch or accepting per-PR edits with predictable conflicts.
- Is claudiodekker/changelog-updater actively maintained, and what are the alternatives?
- It is a single-maintainer package with small scope and an active release cadence, so the realistic failure mode is abandonment rather than compromise. Recovery cost is low because the changelog format is human-readable and a replacement can be as simple as a short script or a conventional-commits based generator. The main alternative is hand-writing entries during release, which is exactly the error-prone step this tool removes.