the-own-lab/changelog-launch-post

Changelog → Launch Post

You just shipped something. Now tell people. This skill converts an internal CHANGELOG entry into external-facing copy without requiring the user to context-switch into "marketing brain."

Input

Either:

• A CHANGELOG.md entry (usually under ## [Unreleased] or a versioned heading)
• A list of commits (from weekly-ship output)
• A raw description of what shipped

Output (three formats from one source)

1. Tweet / short post (280 chars)

• Lead with the user outcome, not the feature
• One sentence of value prop + one concrete capability
• Link at the end
• Bad: "We refactored our auth layer to support OAuth 2.1"
• Good: "Sign in with Google in one click. (Also Apple, GitHub.) — link"

2. Blog post / release note (200–400 words)

Structure:

• Hook — the problem users had before
• What's new — the feature, in user language
• How to use it — 1–3 sentences of instruction
• What's next — optional tease

Avoid release-note boilerplate ("we're excited to announce..."). Get to the point.

3. Email (80–150 words)

• Subject line is a verb the user can now do
• First sentence = the outcome
• One link, one CTA
• Sign off with something specific (not "the team")

Translation Rules

Translate engineering language to user language:

| Engineering | User-facing | | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | "migrated to Postgres 16" | (don't mention unless user-visible) | | "added OAuth 2.1 support" | "sign in with Google / Apple / GitHub" | | "implemented idempotent retries" | "no more duplicate charges on flaky connections" | | "refactored pricing module" | (don't mention — it's invisible) |

Rule of thumb: if a user can't notice the change, don't announce it. Internal refactors don't deserve launch posts.

What NOT to Do

• Announce every merge — signal dies
• Use words like "revolutionary," "game-changing," "seamless" — instant-skip signals for readers
• Mention the tech stack unless the audience is developers
• Post before it's actually deployed to prod

Integration

• Pairs with weekly-ship: the "what shipped" section feeds directly in
• Output goes to the draft file in ${COMPANY_OF_ONE_PLUGIN_DATA}/launch-drafts/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug}.md
• For heavier marketing work (landing page copy, CRO, SEO), defer to coreyhaines31/marketingskills — this skill is only the engineering ↔ marketing bridge

Philosophy

Solo founders under-announce because shipping and marketing feel like different jobs. This skill makes announcing the tail of shipping — a cheap habit, not a context switch.