This script automatically generates release notes by extracting Linear task IDs from Git commit messages and fetching their details from the Linear API.

• 📝 Extracts Linear task IDs (e.g., JS-1234) from commit messages
• 🔗 Fetches task titles, descriptions, and metadata from Linear API
• 📊 Groups tasks by priority (Urgent, High, Medium, Low)
• 📋 Includes commits without Linear task IDs
• 📄 Supports both Markdown and JSON output formats
• 🏷️ Works with tags or commit ranges

1. Linear API Key: Get your API key from Linear Settings
2. Node.js: The script uses Node.js built-in modules (no additional dependencies required)

You can set the API key in multiple ways:

Option A: Environment variable (temporary)

export LINEAR_API_KEY="lin_api_xxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Option B: .env file (recommended for development)

echo "LINEAR_API_KEY=lin_api_xxxxxxxxxxxxx" >> .env
# Then source it before running the script
source .env

Option C: In your shell profile (permanent) Add to ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or equivalent:

export LINEAR_API_KEY="lin_api_xxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Test that everything works:

LINEAR_API_KEY=your_key npm run release:notes -- --help

Generate release notes from the last tag to HEAD:

LINEAR_API_KEY=your_key npm run release:notes

Or if you've set the environment variable:

npm run release:notes

Generate notes between two specific tags:

npm run release:notes -- --from v0.51.17-alpha --to v0.51.18-alpha

Save to a file:

npm run release:notes -- --output RELEASE_NOTES.md

Generate JSON output:

npm run release:notes -- --format json --output release-notes.json

Use with specific commit range:

npm run release:notes -- --from abc123 --to def456

The script generates release notes with the following structure:

# Release Notes: v0.51.18-alpha

Changes from v0.51.17-alpha to v0.51.18-alpha

Generated: 2025-12-02T10:00:00.000Z

## 🔴 Urgent

### JS-8441: Fix critical authentication bug
Brief description of the task from Linear...

**Details:** Status: Done | Assignee: John Doe | Labels: bug, security

**Commits:**
- `de7281a` JS-8441: fix

## 🟠 High Priority

### JS-7802: Improve performance
...

## 📝 Other Commits

- `153c1a9` fix crash
- `7956004` add analyticsSpaceId

{
  "version": "v0.51.18-alpha",
  "from": "v0.51.17-alpha",
  "generatedAt": "2025-12-02T10:00:00.000Z",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": "JS-8441",
      "title": "Fix critical authentication bug",
      "description": "Full description...",
      "state": "Done",
      "priority": 1,
      "team": "JavaScript",
      "assignee": "John Doe",
      "labels": ["bug", "security"],
      "commits": [
        {
          "hash": "de7281ad42...",
          "subject": "JS-8441: fix",
          "author": "Developer Name",
          "date": "2025-12-02 10:00:00 +0000"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "otherCommits": [...]
}

Add to your .github/workflows/release.yml:

name: Create Release

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0  # Fetch all history for tags

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '18'

      - name: Generate Release Notes
        env:
          LINEAR_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.LINEAR_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          npm run release:notes -- --output RELEASE_NOTES.md

      - name: Create Release
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
        with:
          body_path: RELEASE_NOTES.md
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

You can integrate this with electron-builder's release process. Add to your build hooks:

electron/hook/afterpack.js (or create a new hook):

const { execSync } = require('child_process');
const fs = require('fs');

exports.default = async function(context) {
  // Generate release notes after packaging
  try {
    console.log('Generating release notes...');
    execSync('npm run release:notes -- --output dist/RELEASE_NOTES.md', {
      stdio: 'inherit'
    });
  } catch (error) {
    console.warn('Failed to generate release notes:', error.message);
  }
};

For the script to work effectively, use this commit message format:

JS-1234: Add new feature
JS-5678: Fix bug in editor
JS-9012: Update dependencies (JS-9013)

fix bug                    # No Linear ID
WIP                        # No Linear ID
JS1234: fix               # Missing hyphen

1. Start with the Linear ID: Begin your commit message with the task ID
2. Use descriptive messages: Even though the script fetches details from Linear, the commit message should be meaningful
3. One task per commit: Keep commits focused on a single task when possible
4. Multiple tasks: If a commit relates to multiple tasks, list them: JS-1234: Main task (also relates to JS-5678)

Make sure you've set the LINEAR_API_KEY environment variable. Get your key from https://linear.app/settings/api

If you don't have any Git tags yet, the script will include all commits. Create a tag first:

git tag v0.1.0

Your API key is invalid or expired. Generate a new one from Linear settings.

This means there are no commits between the specified range. Check your tag names:

git tag --list
git log --oneline v0.51.17-alpha..v0.51.18-alpha

Make sure your commit messages follow the correct format: TEAM-NUMBER (e.g., JS-1234). The pattern is case-sensitive and requires a hyphen.

Test with a small commit range:

LINEAR_API_KEY=your_key node scripts/generate-release-notes.js --from HEAD~5 --to HEAD

Add debug output by uncommenting console.log statements in the script, or use:

node --inspect scripts/generate-release-notes.js

This script is part of the Anytype project. See the main LICENSE.md for details.