Semantic Release vs Manual Release Notes
Compare automated semantic release workflows with manually writing release notes.
Manual Release Notes
Writing notes manually involves a developer reviewing the Git history, compiling a list of changes, determining the new version number, and publishing the markdown. This is error-prone and time-consuming but allows for highly customized, marketing-friendly language.
Semantic Release
semantic-release entirely automates the versioning and publishing process. It relies on strict commit conventions to calculate semantic versioning and uses templates to generate the notes without human intervention.
Choosing the right approach
Open-source libraries and microservices benefit massively from semantic-release automation. Large consumer-facing applications often prefer manual release notes to control the public messaging.