Claude-Code-Game-Studios/.claude/skills/patch-notes/SKILL.md

name, description, argument-hint, user-invocable, allowed-tools, model, agent

name	description	argument-hint	user-invocable	allowed-tools	model	agent
patch-notes	Generate player-facing patch notes from git history, sprint data, and internal changelogs. Translates developer language into clear, engaging player communication.	[version] [--style brief|detailed|full]	true	Read, Glob, Grep, Write, Bash	haiku	community-manager

Phase 1: Parse Arguments

• version: the release version to generate notes for (e.g., 1.2.0)
• --style: output style — brief (bullet points), detailed (with context), full (with developer commentary). Default: detailed.

If no version is provided, ask the user before proceeding.

---

Phase 2: Gather Change Data

• Read the internal changelog at production/releases/[version]/changelog.md if it exists
• Run git log between the previous release tag and current tag/HEAD
• Read sprint retrospectives in production/sprints/ for context
• Read any balance change documents in design/balance/
• Read bug fix records from QA if available

---

Phase 3: Categorize and Translate

Categorize all changes into player-facing categories:

• New Content: new features, maps, characters, items, modes
• Gameplay Changes: balance adjustments, mechanic changes, progression changes
• Quality of Life: UI improvements, convenience features, accessibility
• Bug Fixes: grouped by system (combat, UI, networking, etc.)
• Performance: optimization improvements players might notice
• Known Issues: transparency about unresolved problems

Translate developer language to player language:

• "Refactored damage calculation pipeline" → "Improved hit detection accuracy"
• "Fixed null reference in inventory manager" → "Fixed a crash when opening inventory"
• "Reduced GC allocations in combat loop" → "Improved combat performance"
• Remove purely internal changes that don't affect players
• Preserve specific numbers for balance changes (damage: 50 → 45)

---

Phase 4: Generate Patch Notes

Brief Style

# Patch [Version] — [Title]

**New**
- [Feature 1]
- [Feature 2]

**Changes**
- [Balance/mechanic change with before → after values]

**Fixes**
- [Bug fix 1]
- [Bug fix 2]

**Known Issues**
- [Issue 1]

Detailed Style

# Patch [Version] — [Title]
*[Date]*

## Highlights
[1-2 sentence summary of the most exciting changes]

## New Content
### [Feature Name]
[2-3 sentences describing the feature and why players should be excited]

## Gameplay Changes
### Balance
| Change | Before | After | Reason |
| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
| [Item/ability] | [old value] | [new value] | [brief rationale] |

### Mechanics
- **[Change]**: [explanation of what changed and why]

## Quality of Life
- [Improvement with context]

## Bug Fixes
### Combat
- Fixed [description of what players experienced]

### UI
- Fixed [description]

### Networking
- Fixed [description]

## Performance
- [Improvement players will notice]

## Known Issues
- [Issue and workaround if available]

Full Style

Includes everything from Detailed, plus:

## Developer Commentary
### [Topic]
> [Developer insight into a major change — why it was made, what was considered,
> what the team learned. Written in first-person team voice.]

---

Phase 5: Review Output

Check the generated notes for:

• No internal jargon (replace technical terms with player-friendly language)
• No references to internal systems, tickets, or sprint numbers
• Balance changes include before/after values
• Bug fixes describe the player experience, not the technical cause
• Tone matches the game's voice (adjust formality based on game style)

---

Phase 6: Save Patch Notes

Present the completed patch notes to the user along with: a count of changes by category, and any internal changes that were excluded (for review).

Ask: "May I write this to production/releases/[version]/patch-notes.md?"

If yes, write the file, creating the directory if needed.

---

Phase 7: Next Steps

Verdict: COMPLETE — patch notes generated and saved.

• Run /release-checklist to verify all other release gates are met before publishing.
• Share the patch notes draft with the community-manager for tone review before posting publicly.