In cynkra/fledge: Smoother Change Tracking and Versioning for R Packages

What you need to do in practice is, no matter your fledge commitment level:

• For important commit messages you want recorded in the changelog, you can

  • Use the conventional commits syntax. For instance feat: Enhanced support for time series. Only using conventional commits syntax will provide automatic grouping of changelog items into groups (Documentation, Bug Fixes, etc.).

  • Add a hyphen - or * at the beginning of the commit message. Exclude housekeeping parts of the message by typing them after a line ---.

  ```text

  • Add support for bla databases.

  ```

  or

  ```text

  • Add support for bla databases.

  ---

  Also tweak the CI workflow accordingly. :sweat_smile:

  ```

  • Use informative merge commit messages as those will also be included by default in the changelog. On GitHub you can control the default commit message when merging a pull request.

  • (GitHub repositories only) For merge commits with the default not self-contained message ("Merge pull request..."), rely on fledge's querying GitHub API to get the PR title and include it in the changelog.

For informative commit messages refer to the Tidyverse style guide.

Then, for full fledge use = fledge-assisted management of NEWS.md, DESCRIPTION version numbers, and git tags:

• Run fledge::bump_version() regularly e.g. before every coffee break or at the end of the day or of the week. If you forgot to merge one PR run fledge::unbump_version(), merge the PR with an informative squash commit message, then run fledge::bump_version() and go drink that coffee!

• Run fledge::finalize_version() if you need to edit NEWS.md manually e.g. if you made a typo or are not happy with a phrasing in retrospect. Even if you edit a lot, what's been written in by fledge is still a good place-holder.

• Follow the recommended steps at release (see vignette("fledge") usage section).

OR, for light fledge use = filling of NEWS.md between releases:

• Have a development version header as produced by usethis::use_development_version().

# mypackage (development version)

• Regularly run fledge::update_news(), preferentially on the main branch to avoid merge conflicts.

These habits are worth learning!

cynkra/fledge documentation built on April 17, 2025, 3:56 a.m.