External Fast Forward Changelog

Runtime

Run cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog from the consumer project. Omitting a version constraint selects the latest published release. Inspect its help before choosing command options. Make CPX available on PATH with PHP 8.5. This isolated tool installation does not raise the consumer package's PHP 8.3 requirement or add Changelog to its Composer dependency graph. Consult the official CPX setup before installation.

Inspect the selected runtime before running its commands:

cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog list --raw
cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog help add
cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog help check
cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog help version

Use add for authoring, check for contribution validation, status for pending/version planning, version for consolidation, and notes for release-note extraction. The external package owns these command contracts.

Contribution fragments

Each observable change adds one independent .changelog/*.md file. For example:

---
category: fixed
type: patch
---

Preserves Markdown links when exporting release notes.

Or create it once through the CLI:

cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog add "Preserves Markdown links when exporting release notes." --category=fixed --no-interaction
cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog check --no-interaction

add creates the fragment directory when necessary and leaves central history unchanged. Categories describe the nature of the change; type separately records its semantic-version impact. Preserve other contributions' fragments. After committing the contribution, validate it against the intended Git base:

cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog check --since=origin/main --no-interaction

No new Unreleased section is used. PR metadata may remain absent before a PR exists. Automation enables resolve-pull-requests: true consistently for planning, preparation, ownership checks and publication. It proves fragment origins from committed bytes and merged PR evidence without rewriting fragment metadata; no follow-up fragment edit is required after opening a PR. Unknown origins receive no invented PR, author or commit reference. Local previews require the explicit --resolve-pull-requests option for equivalent lookup.

History and release preparation

cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog status --source=tags --no-interaction
cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog format --dry-run --no-interaction
cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog backfill --dry-run --source=tags --no-interaction
cpx --skip-local fast-forward/changelog notes <version> --no-interaction

Read help <command> before selecting write options. Test version and other history-writing operations only in a disposable checkout: consolidation writes CHANGELOG.md and deletes consumed fragments. Use the canonical GitHub origin when repository discovery and comparison links depend on it. Review introductions, published dates, descriptions, existing link bytes, footer order and the single new version link after every rehearsal.

The repository caller selects the external workflow's @v0 channel, which tracks published 0.x releases. Local CPX examples select the latest published CLI without a version constraint. Resolve the workflow channel and record the CLI version used when validating release operations; review their compatibility. The repository caller uses changelog/version and configures version-pr-title: 'chore(release): fast-forward/dev-tools v{current_version} → v{next_version}' . The placeholders resolve to the current and next versions from the validated plan. The Bot owns that branch: let automation regenerate its PR and inspect the new exact head rather than editing the branch or forging ownership trailers.

The caller sets publish: true under the owner's explicit approval. Merging the reviewed managed version PR automatically publishes its tag and GitHub Release at the exact approved commit; the workflow never merges the PR itself. Direct manual publication requires separate authorization. The external notes command extracts the selected version body; verify any reference-style links also resolve when that body is rendered independently.

See GitHub Actions Workflows and Release and Publishing Workflow for automation and approval boundaries.