Automated, label-driven, and cross-repository GitHub Release Notes builder using closed issues from milestones.
Release Notes Automator is a GitHub Action that:
- Collects all closed issues assigned to a milestone matching your release tag (e.g.
v1.2.3). - Supports cross-repository workflows (issues from Repository B, releases in Repository A).
- Groups issues by labels (
feature,bug, etc.) in configurable sections with customizable templates. - Updates the release body of the GitHub Release in your repository (Repo A) automatically.
- Supports draft, pre-release, publish, and edit release events.
✅ Automate release notes generation directly from issues
✅ Ensure consistent and well-formatted changelogs
✅ Support multiple repositories workflows (issues managed separately from code/releases)
| Input | Description | Required | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
repo |
Repository to fetch issues from (owner/repo). Defaults to current repository. |
No | Current repository |
label_config |
JSON array defining labels, templates, and section titles. See example below. | Yes | - |
milestone_version |
Milestone name to match. Defaults to release tag (v1.2.3). |
No | Tag name with v |
| Variable | Description | Required if |
|---|---|---|
ISSUES_REPOSITORY_TOKEN |
Token with read:issues access to issues repository (Repo B) |
Using external issues repository |
GITHUB_TOKEN |
GitHub Actions default token (auto-injected) with write:contents permission |
Always |
name: Generate Custom Issue Changelog
on:
release:
types:
- published
- edited
- prereleased
jobs:
build_changelog:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Run release-notes-automator
uses: your-org/release-notes-automator@v1
with:
repo: 'lodovicoazzini/set-saver'
label_config: |
[
{
"label": "feature",
"template": "- 🚀 $TITLE",
"section_title": "Features"
},
{
"label": "bug",
"template": "- 🐛 $TITLE",
"section_title": "Bug Fixes"
}
]
env:
ISSUES_REPOSITORY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.LODOVICOAZZINI_SETSAVER_READ_ISSUES }}
GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}