Getting started with ShipNotes

Step 1 — How do I install the ShipNotes GitHub App?

Create a free account at getshipnotes.app/signup, then install the ShipNotes GitHub App on your user or organization. During installation, GitHub asks which repositories the app may access — choose all repositories or select specific ones.

The app requests read-only access to three things and nothing else:

• Repository contents — to read release tag SHAs
• Pull requests — to read PR titles, bodies, and labels for note generation
• Repository metadata — required by GitHub for all apps

ShipNotes never asks for write access to your code. After you approve, GitHub redirects you back to ShipNotes automatically.

Step 2 — How do I pick which repositories to track?

After installation you land on the Repos page, which lists every repository the app can see. Toggle on the ones you want ShipNotes to track. The free plan tracks one repository; Starter tracks up to three; Pro and Enterprise are unlimited (see pricing).

Webhooks for repositories you leave inactive are accepted and ignored, so you can install the app broadly and activate repositories one at a time.

Step 3 — What happens when I tag a release?

Publish a GitHub release (or push a tag) exactly as you do today — from the GitHub UI, gh release create, or your CI pipeline. GitHub sends ShipNotes a webhook, and ShipNotes collects every pull request merged since your previous release and drafts categorized release notes with AI, in your configured voice.

The draft appears on your Releases page within seconds, grouped into Features, Fixes, and Improvements, phrased for the audience you chose (developer-facing or end-user-facing).

Step 4 — How do I publish the changelog?

Open the draft, edit anything you want to tweak (most teams publish drafts untouched), and click Publish. Publishing does three things at once:

• Updates your hosted changelog page at getshipnotes.app/changelog/<your-slug>, including its RSS feed
• Emails subscribers who follow your changelog
• Posts to Slack, if you connected a webhook

That is the whole loop. From now on, every release you tag arrives as a ready-to-review draft.

Troubleshooting — Why is my release not showing up?

Most missing-draft problems come down to the repository being inactive or the app not having access. Work through these in order:

I published a release but no draft appeared

First check the repository is toggled activeon your Repos page — webhooks for inactive repositories are deliberately ignored. Then confirm the GitHub App is installed on that specific repository (GitHub → Settings → Integrations → ShipNotes → Repository access) and that your plan's repository limit is not exhausted.

The GitHub App cannot see my repository

The app was probably installed with "Only select repositories" and the repository is not in the selection. Edit the installation on GitHub and add it — ShipNotes picks up the change automatically via the installation webhook.

The generated notes missed a change

ShipNotes builds notes from merged pull requests between releases. Commits pushed directly to the default branch without a PR carry too little context to summarize reliably, so they are not included. If your team pushes directly, route changes through PRs — even one-line PRs give the AI a title and description to work with.

My changelog page returns 404

The public page only exists after your first published release — drafts are private. Publish once and the page (and its RSS feed) goes live at your slug.

Where to go next

• How ShipNotes works — the pipeline in detail, including security and permissions
• The complete guide to changelogs for SaaS products — why changelogs matter and how to run yours
• FAQ — quick answers, including pricing and alternatives