Plugin System for Changelogen

[mmeester]

Describe the feature

Problem

Users often need to extend changelogen with custom functionality like:

• Integrating with issue trackers (Jira, Linear, etc.)
• Adding custom formatting or sections
• Sending notifications (Slack, Discord, etc.)
• Organization-specific workflow customizations

Currently, this requires forking the project or complex workarounds.

Proposed Solution

Add a plugin system that allows users to extend changelogen through configuration:

// changelog.config.js
export default {
  plugins: {
    "@changelogen/jira-plugin": {
      baseUrl: "https://company.atlassian.net",
      projectKeys: ["PROJ", "TASK"],
    },
    "./custom-plugin.js": {
      customOption: "value",
    },
  },
};

Plugin Example: Jira Integration

export class JiraPlugin {
  name = "jira-plugin";

  afterCommitParsing(commits) {
    return commits.map((commit) => {
      // Find Jira tickets in commit message (e.g., "PROJ-123")
      const tickets = this.extractJiraTickets(commit.message);

      // Add clickable links to changelog
      tickets.forEach((ticket) => {
        commit.references.push({
          type: "jira-ticket",
          value: ticket,
          url: `${this.config.baseUrl}/browse/${ticket}`,
        });
      });

      return commit;
    });
  }
}

Key Features

• Hook-based architecture with lifecycle events (init, beforeCommitParsing, afterCommitParsing, etc.)
• NPM package support (@changelogen/plugin-name) and local plugins
• Type-safe with full TypeScript support
• Zero breaking changes - completely backward compatible
• Error handling - plugin failures don't break core functionality

Benefits

• Extensible without forking the project
• Community ecosystem for sharing plugins
• Maintainable - keeps core focused while enabling customization
• Real-world use cases like Jira integration, Slack notifications, custom formatting

Implementation Status

This feature is fully implemented and includes:

• Complete plugin system with manager and type definitions
• Example Jira plugin demonstrating the concept
• Comprehensive tests and documentation
• Integration with existing configuration system

Ready for review and integration! 🚀

Additional information

• Would you be willing to help implement this feature?

[bitbytebit1]

Drive by comment here so forgive me, but why not build the hooking system around https://github.com/unjs/hookable