Command Line Options
Many (though not all) of the options that can be set in the config file can also be set on the command line. This allows you to override the config file settings on a per-run basis.
--output / -o
By default the tool will create a CHANGELOG.md file in the current folder. You can specify a different filename using the --output or -o option.
$ github-changelog-md --output HISTORY.md
Equivalent to the output_file setting in the config file.
--next-release / -n
This option allows you to specify the name of the next release. By default, any PRs that are merged after the last existing release will be added to the Unreleased section of the changelog. If you specify a value for this option, the tool will create a new section with the specified name and add the PRs to that section instead.
Useful to prep for a release before it is actually released.
$ github-changelog-md --next-release 1.2.3
There is no equivalent setting in the config file.
--unreleased / --no-unreleased
Choose whether to include the Unreleased section in the changelog. By default the Unreleased section is included (--unreleased), but you can use the --no-unreleased option to exclude it
Equivalent to the unreleased setting in the config file.
--depends / --no-depends
Choose whether to include the Dependency Updates section in the changelog. By default this will be shown (--depends), but you can use the --no-depends to hide them. Some releases have a lot of dependency updates, so this can be useful to keep the changelog more readable.
Equivalent to the depends setting in the config file.
--issues / --no-issues
Hide the Closed Issues section. By default this section is shown, but you can use the --no-issues option to hide it.
Equivalent to the show_issues setting in the config file.
--contrib / --no-contrib
Choose whether to create the CONTRIBUTORS.md file. By default this will be False (--no-contrib), but you can use the --contrib option to enable it.
Possibly LONG operation
This can take a while to run, as it has to query the GitHub API for each contributor. If you have a lot of contributors or many PR's, it can take a few minutes to complete.
In this case it is recommended to only run this option when you are ready to release a new version, and not every time you run the tool.
In future versions I will add the ability to cache the contributors list, which should speed things up a lot
Equivalent to the contrib setting in the config file.
--quiet / -q
By default the tool will output some information about what it is doing, and some stats about the PRs and Issues it has found. You can use the --quiet or -q option to suppress this output.
Equivalent to the quiet setting in the config file.
--skip / -s
This option allows you to skip a release. You can specify this option multiple times to skip multiple releases. This is useful if you have a release that you do not want to include in the changelog for some reason.
$ github-changelog-md --skip 1.2.3 --skip 1.3-beta1
The string specified here is the actual release tag for that release, not the release name.
--ignore / -e
Ignore a PR or Issue. You can specify this option multiple times to ignore multiple PRs or Issues. This is useful if you have a PR or Issue that you do not want to include in the changelog for some reason.
The integer specified here is the actual PR or Issue number on GitHub.
$ github-changelog-md --ignore 123 --ignore 456
Tip
You can also add [no changelog] anywhere in the PR title, and it will be excluded from the changelog. This is case-insensitive, so [No Changelog] or [NO CHANGELOG] will also work.
Equivalent to the ignore_items setting in the config file.
--item-order / -i
This option allows you to specify the order of the PRs and Issues in each section. By default the order is newest_first, but you can use the --item-order or -i option to change this to oldest_first.
Equivalent to the item_order setting in the config file.
--max-depends / -m
This option allows you to specify the maximum number of dependency updates to show for each release. By default this is set to 10, but you can use the --max-depends or -m option to change this.
If you use Dependabot to handle your dependency updates, this setting can be useful to limit the noise in the changelog.
Equivalent to the max_depends setting in the config file.
--show-diff / --no-show-diff
Choose whether to show the diff links for each release. By default this will be shown (--show-diff), but you can use the --no-show-diff option to hide them.
Equivalent to the show_diff setting in the config file.
--show-patch / --no-show-patch
Choose whether to show the patch links for each release. By default this will be shown (--show-patch), but you can use the --no-show-patch option to hide them.
Equivalent to the show_patch setting in the config file.`