---
title: "Changelog generator using Claude Agent SDK"
sidebarTitle: "Claude changelog generator"
description: "Automatically generate changelogs from your git commit history using the Claude Agent SDK and Trigger.dev."
---

## Overview

This demo how to build an AI agent using the Claude Agent SDK that explores GitHub commits, investigates unclear changes by fetching diffs on demand, and generates developer-friendly changelogs.

## Tech stack

- **[Next.js](https://nextjs.org)** – Frontend framework using App Router
- **[Claude Agent SDK](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/agents-and-tools/claude-agent-sdk)** – Anthropic's agent SDK for building AI agents with custom tools
- **[Trigger.dev](https://trigger.dev)** – workflow orchestration with real-time streaming, observability, and deployment
- **[Octokit](https://github.com/octokit/octokit.js)** – GitHub API client for fetching commits and diffs

## Demo video

<video
  controls
  className="w-full aspect-video"
  src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ea151c1d-f866-4da4-90e4-96d65008d51a"
></video>

## GitHub repo

<Card
  title="View the changelog generator repo"
  icon="GitHub"
  href="https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/tree/main/changelog-generator"
>
  Click here to view the full open source code for this project in our examples repository on
  GitHub. You can fork it and use it as a starting point for your own project.
</Card>

## How it works

The agent workflow:

1. **Receive request** – User provides a GitHub repo URL and date range
2. **List commits** – Agent calls `list_commits` MCP tool to get all commits
3. **Analyze commits** – Agent categorizes each commit:
   - Skip trivial commits (typos, formatting)
   - Include clear features/improvements directly
   - Investigate unclear commits by fetching their diffs
4. **Generate changelog** – Agent writes a categorized markdown changelog
5. **Stream output** – Changelog streams to the frontend in real-time

## Features

- **Two-phase analysis** – Lists all commits first, then selectively fetches diffs only for ambiguous ones
- **Custom tools** – `list_commits` and `get_commit_diff` called autonomously by Claude
- **Real-time streaming** – Changelog streams to the frontend as it's generated via Trigger.dev Realtime
- **Live observability** – Agent phase, turn count, and tool calls broadcast via run metadata
- **Private repo support** – Optional GitHub token for private repositories

## Relevant code

| File                                                                                                                                                 | Description                            |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| [`trigger/generate-changelog.ts`](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/blob/main/changelog-generator/trigger/generate-changelog.ts)             | Main task with custom tools            |
| [`trigger/changelog-stream.ts`](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/blob/main/changelog-generator/trigger/changelog-stream.ts)                 | Stream definition for real-time output |
| [`app/api/generate-changelog/route.ts`](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/blob/main/changelog-generator/app/api/generate-changelog/route.ts) | API endpoint that triggers the task    |
| [`app/response/[runId]/page.tsx`](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/blob/main/changelog-generator/app/response/%5BrunId%5D/page.tsx)         | Streaming display page                 |

## trigger.config.ts

You need to mark the Claude Agent SDK as external in your trigger.config.ts file.

```ts trigger.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export default defineConfig({
  project: process.env.TRIGGER_PROJECT_REF!,
  runtime: "node",
  logLevel: "log",
  maxDuration: 300,
  build: {
    external: ["@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk"],
  },
  machine: "small-2x",
});
```

<Note>
  Adding packages to `external` prevents them from being bundled, which is necessary for the Claude
  Agent SDK. See the [build configuration docs](/config/config-file#external) for more details.
</Note>

## Learn more

- [**Building agents with Claude Agent SDK**](/guides/ai-agents/claude-code-trigger) – Comprehensive guide for using Claude Agent SDK with Trigger.dev
- [**Realtime**](/realtime/overview) – Stream task progress to your frontend
- [**Scheduled tasks**](/tasks/scheduled) – Automate changelog generation on a schedule