Skip to content

docs: clarify when changesets and server-changes files are needed - #4617

Merged
ericallam merged 1 commit into
mainfrom
docs/clarify-changesets-and-server-changes
Aug 14, 2026
Merged

docs: clarify when changesets and server-changes files are needed#4617
ericallam merged 1 commit into
mainfrom
docs/clarify-changesets-and-server-changes

Conversation

@ericallam

@ericallam ericallam commented Aug 14, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Member

Summary

Clarifies when to add a changeset or a .server-changes/ file. The friction that keeps coming up is treating these as "I touched a public package or a server app, so I owe a note." They are user-facing release notes that go straight into the changelog customers read, not a catalog of every change.

The guidance now leads with the real test: would a user or customer care about this change? Add a note when the change is something they would notice, act on, or want to hear about. Skip it otherwise, even when a public package or server app is touched, for example:

  • internal-only or admin-only changes, refactors, test-only changes, chores
  • performance or query tuning with no user-visible behavior change
  • public packages that are not consumed independently (e.g. @trigger.dev/redis-worker), where a version bump means nothing to a user

Anyone who wants the exact history reads the commits.

Updates every place that encoded the old "touched a package or app, so add a note" rule so they agree: AGENTS.md, .server-changes/README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, CHANGESETS.md, .claude/rules/server-apps.md, and .claude/REVIEW.md (the last drives automated review flagging, so it stops flagging exactly the changes the new guidance says to skip). Also handles the mixed-PR case where the package change needs no changeset but the server change is user-facing.

@changeset-bot

changeset-bot Bot commented Aug 14, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown

⚠️ No Changeset found

Latest commit: 32d2f02

Merging this PR will not cause a version bump for any packages. If these changes should not result in a new version, you're good to go. If these changes should result in a version bump, you need to add a changeset.

This PR includes no changesets

When changesets are added to this PR, you'll see the packages that this PR includes changesets for and the associated semver types

Click here to learn what changesets are, and how to add one.

Click here if you're a maintainer who wants to add a changeset to this PR

@ericallam
ericallam marked this pull request as ready for review August 14, 2026 10:53
devin-ai-integration[bot]

This comment was marked as resolved.

@coderabbitai

coderabbitai Bot commented Aug 14, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Review Change Stack

Note

Reviews paused

It looks like this branch is under active development. To avoid overwhelming you with review comments due to an influx of new commits, CodeRabbit has automatically paused this review. You can configure this behavior by changing the reviews.auto_review.auto_pause_after_reviewed_commits setting.

Use the following commands to manage reviews:

  • @coderabbitai resume to resume automatic reviews.
  • @coderabbitai review to trigger a single review.

Use the checkboxes below for quick actions:

  • ▶️ Resume reviews
  • 🔍 Trigger review

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info
⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Repository UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: 4a517d9b-9641-4c1c-b66f-a482ea0d98d6

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 7a878e5 and 32d2f02.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)
  • .claude/REVIEW.md
  • .claude/rules/server-apps.md
🚧 Files skipped from review as they are similar to previous changes (1)
  • .claude/REVIEW.md
📜 Recent review details
🧰 Additional context used
🪛 LanguageTool
.claude/rules/server-apps.md

[grammar] ~8-~8: Ensure spelling is correct
Context: .... When a user-facing server app change (webapp, supervisor, etc.) is in a PR with **no...

(QB_NEW_EN_ORTHOGRAPHY_ERROR_IDS_1)

🔇 Additional comments (2)
.claude/rules/server-apps.md (2)

8-8: LGTM!


23-23: LGTM!


Walkthrough

Updated release-note guidance across repository documentation. User-facing package changes require changesets. User-facing server-only changes require .server-changes/ entries. Internal, administrative, refactor, test-only, chore, and non-user-facing performance changes do not require release notes. Mixed package and server changes now follow conditional changeset and .server-changes/ rules. Descriptions must use user-oriented language.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5
✅ Passed checks (5 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Title check ✅ Passed The title clearly and concisely describes the documentation change to changeset and server-change guidance.
Description check ✅ Passed The description gives a detailed, relevant summary and identifies all affected files, but it omits the template checklist, testing, changelog, and screenshots sections.
Docstring Coverage ✅ Passed No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
✨ Finishing Touches 💡 1
🛠️ Fix failing CI checks 💡
  • Create stacked PR
  • Commit on current branch
🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)
  • Create PR with unit tests
  • Commit unit tests in branch docs/clarify-changesets-and-server-changes

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.

coderabbitai[bot]

This comment was marked as resolved.

@ericallam
ericallam force-pushed the docs/clarify-changesets-and-server-changes branch from f7fbf45 to 6cebbff Compare August 14, 2026 11:04
devin-ai-integration[bot]

This comment was marked as resolved.

coderabbitai[bot]

This comment was marked as resolved.

@ericallam
ericallam force-pushed the docs/clarify-changesets-and-server-changes branch from 6cebbff to 0adb150 Compare August 14, 2026 11:15
coderabbitai[bot]

This comment was marked as resolved.

@ericallam
ericallam force-pushed the docs/clarify-changesets-and-server-changes branch from 0adb150 to 7a878e5 Compare August 14, 2026 12:20
devin-ai-integration[bot]

This comment was marked as resolved.

coderabbitai[bot]

This comment was marked as resolved.

Reframe changesets and .server-changes notes as user-facing release notes
rather than a catalog of every change. The test is whether a user or
customer would care, not whether a public package or server app was touched.
Call out the skip cases: internal/admin-only changes, refactors, chores,
performance tuning with no user-visible effect, and public packages that are
not consumed independently.
@ericallam
ericallam force-pushed the docs/clarify-changesets-and-server-changes branch from 7a878e5 to 32d2f02 Compare August 14, 2026 12:27
@ericallam
ericallam merged commit 603c278 into main Aug 14, 2026
39 of 46 checks passed
@ericallam
ericallam deleted the docs/clarify-changesets-and-server-changes branch August 14, 2026 12:36
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

2 participants