======== Usage ======== Creating New Release Notes ========================== The ``reno`` command line tool is used to create a new release note file in the correct format and with a unique name. The ``new`` subcommand combines a random suffix with a "slug" value to create the file with a unique name that is easy to identify again later. :: $ reno new slug-goes-here Created new notes file in releasenotes/notes/slug-goes-here-95915aaedd3c48d8.yaml Within OpenStack projects, ``reno`` is often run via tox instead of being installed globally. For example :: $ tox -e venv -- reno new slug-goes-here venv develop-inst-nodeps: /mnt/projects/release-notes-generation/reno venv runtests: commands[0] | reno new slug-goes-here Created new notes file in releasenotes/notes/slug-goes-here-95915aaedd3c48d8.yaml venv: commands succeeded congratulations :) $ git status Untracked files: (use "git add ..." to include in what will be committed) releasenotes/notes/slug-goes-here-95915aaedd3c48d8.yaml The ``--edit`` option opens the new note in a text editor. :: $ reno new slug-goes-here --edit ... Opens the editor set in the EDITOR environment variable, editing the new file ... Created new notes file in releasenotes/notes/slug-goes-here-95915aaedd3c48d8.yaml By default, the new note is created under ``./releasenotes/notes``. The ``--rel-notes-dir`` command-line flag changes the parent directory (the ``notes`` subdirectory is always appended). It's also possible to set a custom template to create notes (see `Configuring Reno`_ ). Editing a Release Note ====================== The note file is a YAML file with several sections. All of the text is interpreted as having `reStructuredText`_ formatting. The permitted sections are configurable (see below) but default to the following list: prelude General comments about the release. The prelude from all notes in a section are combined, in note order, to produce a single prelude introducing that release. This section is always included, regardless of what sections are configured. features A list of new major features in the release. issues A list of known issues in the release. For example, if a new driver is experimental or known to not work in some cases, it should be mentioned here. upgrade A list of upgrade notes in the release. For example, if a database schema alteration is needed. deprecations A list of features, APIs, configuration options to be deprecated in the release. Deprecations should not be used for something that is removed in the release, use upgrade section instead. Deprecation should allow time for users to make necessary changes for the removal to happen in a future release. critical A list of *fixed* critical bugs. security A list of *fixed* security issues. fixes A list of other *fixed* bugs. other Other notes that are important but do not fall into any of the given categories. Any sections that would be blank should be left out of the note file entirely. :: --- prelude: > Replace this text with content to appear at the top of the section for this release. features: - List new features here, or remove this section. issues: - List known issues here, or remove this section. upgrade: - List upgrade notes here, or remove this section. deprecations: - List deprecation notes here, or remove this section critical: - Add critical notes here, or remove this section. security: - Add security notes here, or remove this section. fixes: - Add normal bug fixes here, or remove this section. other: - Add other notes here, or remove this section. Note File Syntax ---------------- Release notes may include embedded `reStructuredText`_, including simple inline markup like emphasis and pre-formatted text as well as complex body structures such as nested lists and tables. To use these formatting features, the note must be escaped from the YAML parser. The default template sets up the ``prelude`` section to use ``>`` so that line breaks in the text are removed. This escaping mechanism is not needed for the bullet items in the other sections of the template. To escape the text of any section and *retain* the newlines, prefix the value with ``|``. For example: .. include:: ../../examples/notes/add-complex-example-6b5927c246456896.yaml :literal: See :doc:`examples` for the rendered version of the note. .. _reStructuredText: http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/stable/rest.html Generating a Report =================== Run ``reno report `` to generate a report containing the release notes. The ``--branch`` argument can be used to generate a report for a specific branch (the default is the branch that is checked out). To limit the report to a subset of the available versions on the branch, use the ``--version`` option (it can be repeated). Notes are output in the order they are found when scanning the git history of the branch using topological ordering. This is deterministic, but not necessarily predictable or mutable. Configuring Reno ================ Reno looks for an optional ``config.yaml`` file in the release notes directory. If the values in the configuration file do not apply to the command being run, they are ignored. For example, some reno commands take inputs controlling the branch, earliest revision, and other common parameters that control which notes are included in the output. Because they are commonly set options, a configuration file may be the most convenient way to manage the values consistently. .. code-block:: yaml --- branch: master earliest_version: 12.0.0 collapse_pre_releases: false stop_at_branch_base: true sections: # The prelude section is implicitly included. - [features, New Features] - [issues, Known Issues] - [upgrade, Upgrade Notes] - [api, API Changes] - [security, Security Issues] - [fixes, Bug Fixes] template: | ... Many of the settings in the configuration file can be overridden by using command-line switches. For example: - ``--branch`` - ``--earliest-version`` - ``--collapse-pre-releases``/``--no-collapse-pre-releases`` - ``--ignore-cache`` - ``--stop-at-branch-base``/``--no-stop-at-branch-base`` The following options are configurable: `notesdir` The notes subdirectory within the `relnotesdir` where the notes live. Defaults to ``notes``. `collapse_pre_releases` Should pre-release versions be merged into the final release of the same number (`1.0.0.0a1` notes appear under `1.0.0`). Defaults to ``True``. `stop_at_branch_base` Should the scanner stop at the base of a branch (True) or go ahead and scan the entire history (False)? Defaults to ``True``. `branch` The git branch to scan. Defaults to the "current" branch checked out. `earliest_version` The earliest version to be included. This is usually the lowest version number, and is meant to be the oldest version. If unset, all versions will be scanned. Defaults to ``None``. `template` The template used by reno new to create a note. `release_tag_re` The regex pattern used to match the repo tags representing a valid release version. The pattern is compiled with the verbose and unicode flags enabled. Defaults to ``((?:[\d.ab]|rc)+)``. `pre_release_tag_re` The regex pattern used to check if a valid release version tag is also a valid pre-release version. The pattern is compiled with the verbose and unicode flags enabled. The pattern must define a group called `pre_release` that matches the pre-release part of the tag and any separator, e.g for pre-release version `12.0.0.0rc1` the default RE pattern will identify `.0rc1` as the value of the group 'pre_release'. Defaults to ``(?P\.\d+(?:[ab]|rc)+\d*)$``. `branch_name_re` The pattern for names for branches that are relevant when scanning history to determine where to stop, to find the "base" of a branch. Other branches are ignored. Defaults to ``stable/.+``. `sections` The identifiers and names of permitted sections in the release notes, in the order in which the final report will be generated. A prelude section will always be automatically inserted before the first element of this list. Debugging ========= The true location of formatting errors in release notes may be masked because of the way release notes are included into sphinx documents. To generate the release notes manually, so that they can be put into a sphinx document directly for debugging, use the ``report`` command. .. code-block:: console $ reno report . Within OpenStack ================ The OpenStack project maintains separate instructions for configuring the CI jobs and other project-specific settings used for reno. Refer to the `Managing Release Notes `__ section of the Project Team Guide for details.