Input formats

Fragments

The fragment linker accepts filenames such as +short-name.feature.md. It reads each fragment’s introducing commit from Git and asks GitHub for the merged pull request associated with that commit. The commit subject needs no PR marker. The default fragment directory is changelog.d. --numbered-prs makes numeric Towncrier stems the source of PR numbers and author lookup; named fragments still use their introducing commits.

With --format knope, the default directory is .changeset. A Knope fragment has a Markdown name such as trust-roots.md, YAML front matter, and a level-one heading. The linker changes that heading and preserves the rest of the file. After Knope writes CHANGELOG.md, run release-creator anchors --changelog CHANGELOG.md to keep version and category anchors attached to their headings.

The package ships Markdown and reStructuredText Towncrier templates. After installing release-creator, select the template matching the tracked changelog in [tool.towncrier]:

template = "release_creator.fragments:template.jinja2"

For a .rst changelog, use release_creator.fragments:template.rst.jinja2 instead. Both templates omit empty categories and add stable version and category anchors.

For RST, set Towncrier’s underlines to match the headings already in the changelog. Use ["*", "=", "-"] when versions have star overlines, ["-", "~"] when versions have dash underlines, or ["=", "-", "~"] when versions have equals underlines. The first character marks the version and the second marks categories.

Towncrier still requires category definitions in the project’s pyproject.toml.

Changelog sections

Markdown versions use ## 1.2.3 (date), ## v1.2.3 (date), or ## [1.2.3] - date with level-three category headings. With --package, the package heading is level two, versions are level three, and categories are level four. Package-prefixed Git tags such as pyproject-fmt/2.30.4 retain that prefix in comparison links. RST versions use 1.2.3 (date) and category headings with underlines. Historical headings may link to the Git tag with or without a date, have two or four numeric parts (0.2, 1.2.3.4), a v prefix (v2.0.0), or an a, b, or rc suffix (2.0.0a3). The renderer accepts these forms when backfilling old Releases; new releases use three-part versions. Empty categories are omitted.

Each release item belongs under a listed category. Uncategorized bullets, loose prose, and headings without entries fail rendering, so they cannot become GitHub Release notes. A version with no entries can still render its comparison link for historical first releases.

Category names

Changelog	GitHub Release
Added	Features
Changes	Changes
Fixed	Bug fixes
Documentation	Documentation
Breaking changes	Breaking changes
Security	Security
Performance	Performance
Deprecated	Deprecations
Removed	Removals
Packaging	Packaging
Other changes	Other changes

Use Other changes only when converting an older uncategorized release entry whose user impact cannot be established from its source. New fragments need a specific user-facing category or the pull request’s skip news label.

GitHub output uses level-three headings and stable release-<version>-<category> anchors. Each entry may credit one or more people with linked @handle text in the changelog; GitHub uses mentions. Bot authors are not credits.