Change Log — Running Product Change Record

Purpose

Maintains a chronological, append-only record of all meaningful changes to a product. Unlike CLAUDE.local.md (which is AI context), the change log is a stakeholder-facing document suitable for sharing with leadership, auditors, and team members.

Process

Step 1: Determine Mode

• /change-log init — Create new change log, backfill from CLAUDE.local.md
• /change-log update — Find changes since last entry, propose new entries
• /change-log release {version} — Create release summary from accumulated entries
• /change-log (no args) — Same as update

Step 2: Read Context

Always read:

• CLAUDE.local.md — Recent Changes section (primary source of truth for what changed)
• Existing change log file (if update or release mode)

For init mode, also read:

• Meeting-Notes/ directory listing — to identify decision-bearing meetings
• PRD/ — version history sections
• .sync-watch.json — project name

For update mode:

• Find the date of the last change log entry
• Read any Meeting-Notes/ files dated after that
• Read CLAUDE.local.md Recent Changes entries dated after that

Step 3: Extract Changes

For each source, extract structured change data:

- Date: YYYY-MM-DD
- Summary: one-line description
- Type: Feature | Enhancement | Bug Fix | Configuration | Process | Security | Documentation
- Impact: High | Medium | Low
- Components: which modules/layers/documents were affected
- Author: who made or requested the change
- Approved By: who approved (if known from meeting notes)
- Details: bullet list of specific changes
- Rationale: why the change was made
- Downstream: what else was updated as a result

Impact classification:

• High — Changes product behavior, affects users, or modifies architecture
• Medium — Updates documentation, adds stakeholders, changes processes
• Low — Minor fixes, formatting, internal-only changes

Step 4: Propose Entries (update/init)

Present proposed entries to user before writing:

## Proposed Change Log Entries

### [2026-03-17] PRD v0.9 — User Journey Sections
**Type:** Enhancement | **Impact:** High
**Components:** ProductB PRD, ProductB PRD Presentation
- Added Current User Journey (6-step timeline)
- Added Future User Journey (3-layer cascading)
- Renumbered all sections (19 total)

Accept? [Y/n] or modify?

Step 5: Write

File location: Data/Change-Log-{ProjectName}.md

File structure:

# Change Log — {Product Name}

> Running record of all changes. Newest entries first.
> Generated and maintained via `/change-log` skill.

Last updated: {date}
Total entries: {count}

---

## [YYYY-MM-DD] v{X.Y} — {Summary}

**Type:** {type} | **Impact:** {impact}
**Components:** {affected components}
**Author:** {name} | **Approved By:** {name or "—"}

### Changes
- {specific change 1}
- {specific change 2}

### Rationale
- {why this change was made}

### Downstream Effects
- {what else was updated}

---

## [YYYY-MM-DD] ...

For release mode:

Collect all entries since the last release entry (or all entries if first release). Produce a summary:

## Release: v{version} — {date}

### Summary
{2-3 sentence overview of what this release includes}

### Changes Included
| Date | Type | Summary | Impact |
|------|------|---------|--------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

### Highlights
- {Most important change}
- {Second most important}

### Known Issues
- {Any caveats}

Critical Rules

1. Append-only. Never modify existing entries. Only add new ones at the top.
2. Propose before writing. Always show the user what entries will be added.
3. Don't duplicate. Check existing entries before proposing. If a change is already logged, skip it.
4. Real content only. Don't log trivial changes (typo fixes, formatting) unless the user specifically asks.
5. Dates from sources. Use the date from CLAUDE.local.md or meeting notes, not today's date, for the change date. Today's date is for entries about changes made today.