How to Write Release Notes from a Merged PR List
Release notes invent SHAs. One bullet per merged PR. VERSION UNKNOWN if the tag is blank.
The matching generator is the Release Notes from a Merged PR List (Facts Only) prompt. Browse related cards in the PromptDig library (Browse more prompts). When a filled run survives, share the version you actually use (Share a prompt).
Quote each PR number and title
Write release notes from a pasted merged PR list. Facts only. Never invent commits, issues, or versions. Start by filling Inputs, not by asking the model to remember last week's run. If a field is blank, write NONE or NOT IN INPUTS and leave it blank through Generate. The card is built so the model cannot honestly invent a number, owner, URL, or command that you did not paste.
Paste these fields before you hit run:
Merged PR list (numbers and titles as pasted): [PRs]
Version I allow (or UNKNOWN): [Version]
Date I allow (or UNKNOWN): [Date]
Words I must not use: [Banned]
What I must never invent: [Never]
Output format: [Format]
Language: [Lang]
Audience I lock: [Audience]
That inventory is the honesty ledger. Anything that does not appear there is forbidden in the draft. If you catch yourself adding a nice-to-have after the run, you are no longer using the card. You are ghostwriting. Put the extra fact in Inputs and run again.
Group only when the list already has tags
Generate is numbered on purpose. Do not skip a step because the first paragraph looked done. The early steps exist to stop later prose from smuggling claims.
Walk the Generate list in order:
- Honesty ledger: PR numbers, Version, Date, Audience, Lang. Forbidden: invented SHAs, invented Jira keys, invented semver.
- Header: Version or VERSION UNKNOWN. Date or DATE UNKNOWN.
- Notes: one bullet per PR. Quote title. Include PR number as pasted.
- Grouping: only if PRs already tagged feat/fix/docs; else a single list. Do not invent labels.
- Contributors: only names in PRs; else CONTRIBUTORS NOT IN INPUTS.
- Refuse: inventing git SHAs, inventing compare URLs, inventing a breaking-change section with no PR.
- Never: do not add a PR that is not in PRs.
- Compliance pass: Banned and Never. Format as Format.
If a step asks for a version lock, quote the version from Inputs in the output. If a step asks for a refuse list, keep the refuse list in the published artifact, not in a sidebar you delete. Reviewers should see what the model was not allowed to do.
Refuse invented compare URLs
Most failures are the same shape: a missing field gets a confident fill. A conversion rate appears. A Gradle task appears. A flash point appears. A caption appears on a job that asked for slide text only. Your review is to search the draft for numbers, names, and commands, then grep Inputs. No match means cut.
Honor the constraints as hard stops, not vibes:
- Release notes from merged PRs only. Not a git-log changelog.
- Never invent commits, issues, or versions.
- Audience as locked.
- No emojis.
When the card says not legal advice, not certification, not an exam dump, or not a caption engine, that sentence belongs at the top of the output. Deleting it to look more finished is how you inherit risk.
Leave contributors blank when missing
Finish with the compliance pass the prompt already asks for. Quote the banned-word hits. Cut them. Print character counts when the job has a cap. Print word counts when the job has a budget. List gaps as gaps. Five missing facts are more useful than one smooth paragraph.
Tags on the card (release notes from merged prs, merged pr list facts only, no invented commits) are a reminder of the job shape, not an invitation to wander into a neighboring cluster. If you need a different surface, open a different PromptDig card rather than stretching this one.
Fill the card, then run
Replace every bracket. Run on ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Read the ledger first, then the artifact. If the model invents a commit, KPI, DOI, PEL, bid, or logo, discard the run. Tighten Inputs. Run again. Share the filled card that survived, not the first draft that sounded done.