# Release Notes Creation Documentation

## Overview

The `release.go` script now supports a `--create-release-notes` flag that extracts changelog content from `UNRELEASED_CHANGELOG.md` and creates a clean `release_notes.md` file suitable for GitHub releases.

## How It Works

### 1. Command Usage

```bash
go run release.go --create-release-notes [output_path]
```

- `output_path` is optional, defaults to `../../release_notes.md`
- The script expects `UNRELEASED_CHANGELOG.md` to be at `../../UNRELEASED_CHANGELOG.md` (relative to the script location)

### 2. Extraction Process

The `extractChangelogContent()` function:

1. Reads the UNRELEASED_CHANGELOG.md file
2. Filters out:
   - The main "# Unreleased Changes" header
   - HTML comments (`<!-- ... -->`)
   - Empty sections (sections with no bullet points)
   - Everything after the `---` separator (example entries)
3. Preserves:
   - Section headers (## Added, ## Changed, etc.) that have content
   - Bullet points with actual text (both `-` and `*` styles)
   - Proper spacing between sections

### 3. File Structure Expected

```markdown
# Unreleased Changes

<!-- Comments are ignored -->

## Added
<!-- Section comments ignored -->
- Actual content preserved
- More content

## Changed
<!-- Empty sections are omitted -->

## Fixed
- Bug fixes included

---

### Example Entries:
Everything after the --- is ignored
```

### 4. Output Format

The generated `release_notes.md` contains only the actual changelog entries:

```markdown
## Added
- Actual content preserved
- More content

## Fixed
- Bug fixes included
```

## Testing Results

### ✅ Successful Tests

1. **Valid Content Extraction**: Successfully extracts and formats changelog entries
2. **Empty Changelog Detection**: Properly fails when no content exists
3. **Comment Filtering**: Correctly removes HTML comments
4. **Mixed Bullet Styles**: Handles both `-` and `*` bullet points
5. **Custom Output Path**: Supports specifying custom output file location
6. **Flag Compatibility**: Works with `--check-only` and `--extract-changelog` flags

### Test Commands Run

```bash
# Create release notes with default path
go run release.go --create-release-notes

# Create with custom path
go run release.go --create-release-notes /path/to/output.md

# Check if content exists
go run release.go --check-only

# Extract content to stdout
go run release.go --extract-changelog
```

## Integration with GitHub Workflow

The nightly release workflow should:

1. Run `go run release.go --create-release-notes` before the main release task
2. Use the generated `release_notes.md` for the GitHub release body
3. The main release task will clear UNRELEASED_CHANGELOG.md after processing

## Error Handling

The script will exit with status 1 if:
- UNRELEASED_CHANGELOG.md doesn't exist
- No actual content is found (only template/comments)
- File write operations fail

## Benefits

1. **Separation of Concerns**: Changelog extraction happens before the file is cleared
2. **Clean Output**: No template text or comments in release notes
3. **Testable**: Can be run and tested independently
4. **Flexible**: Supports custom output paths
5. **Consistent**: Same extraction logic used by all flags