The average SaaS changelog is updated once a month, reluctantly, by whoever remembered to do it. The result is vague entries like "Bug fixes and performance improvements" that tell users nothing.
The problem isn't that teams don't want to keep users informed — it's that writing changelog entries is friction. You're shipping constantly. Stopping to document each change feels like overhead.
ShipPulse's GitHub integration removes that friction entirely. When you push to your configured branch, ShipPulse reads your commits and AI-drafts a human-readable changelog entry for you to review and publish.
Step 1: Connect your GitHub repository
In ShipPulse, go to Project → Settings → Integrations → GitHub. Click Connect and authorize ShipPulse to access your repository. You'll select which repository and which branch to monitor (usually main).
ShipPulse installs a webhook on your repository. From this point on, every push to the configured branch sends the commit data to ShipPulse.
Step 2: Write conventional commits (optional but recommended)
ShipPulse can generate changelogs from any commits — but the output is significantly better if you use conventional commits:
feat(auth): add Google OAuth login
fix(billing): prevent duplicate charge on plan upgrade
perf(dashboard): reduce initial load time by 40%
docs(api): update webhook payload examplesWhen commits follow this format, the AI can reliably distinguish features from fixes from performance improvements — and generate appropriately grouped, user-friendly copy.
Step 3: Review the AI draft
After each push, ShipPulse creates a draft changelog entry in your dashboard. Go to Changelog → Drafts to see it. The AI has:
- Grouped commits by type (features, fixes, improvements)
- Rewritten technical commit messages into user-readable language
- Suggested a title and tags for the entry
- Left out commits that are purely internal (chore, test, ci, refactor)
You can edit the draft, add screenshots or a hero image, and then publish with one click — or schedule it for a specific date.
Step 4: Embed the changelog widget
Once published, your changelog entry appears in any embedded changelog widget. Add the widget to your site:
<script src="https://cdn.shippulse.dev/widget.js"
data-project="proj_your_id"
data-widget="changelog-badge">
</script>The changelog badge shows a pulsing dot when there are unread entries. Users click it to see a slide-out sidebar of recent changes. The modal widget shows a full changelog. The banner widget pins a dismissible notice at the top of your page.
GitLab and Bitbucket also supported
ShipPulse works the same way with GitLab and Bitbucket. The connection flow is identical — OAuth → select repo → select branch. The webhook handles push events the same way.
What this looks like in practice
You ship a batch of commits on Friday afternoon. ShipPulse creates a draft changelog entry automatically. Monday morning, you open the dashboard, tweak the copy for two minutes, and hit publish. Your users see a badge notification that there are new updates.
That's the goal: remove the activation energy from changelog maintenance until it becomes something you do reflexively, not reluctantly. ShipPulse's free plan includes the GitHub integration — so you can try it without committing to a paid tier.