# Introduction

> chamoji writes changelogs and cuts releases from your git history, however your team writes commits.

Source: https://www.chamoji.dev/docs

chamoji writes changelogs from your git history, however your team writes commits. It groups them into readable sections, suggests the next version and cuts the release: the CHANGELOG.md section, the version bumps, the commit and the tag.

## The commits it reads

You don't have to change how you write commits. chamoji reads three styles, and a repo can mix them:

- emoji commits in the [gitmoji](https://gitmoji.dev) convention, such as `✨ Add login`;
- [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org), such as `feat: add login`;
- plain messages, such as `Add login`.

It has its own engine. It isn't a wrapper around gitmoji tools, and gitmoji is one of the styles it understands. [How commits are read](https://www.chamoji.dev/docs/reference/how-commits-are-read.md) has every rule.

## What it does

- **Changelogs.** Commits go into sections such as Added, Fixed and Documentation. Dependency updates become one line, and you can ask AI to sort the commits no rule can place.
- **Versions.** `chamoji next-version` reads the commits since the last tag and prints the next semver version.
- **Releases.** `chamoji release` writes the notes, bumps your version files, then makes the release commit and an annotated tag. In a monorepo, each app or package can have its own version.
- **Better commits.** `chamoji commit` opens a composer that writes commits which sort themselves, and keeps the reason in a `Why:` line.
- **Workstreams and memory.** Group a piece of work into one Highlight in the changelog, and ask `chamoji why` why a line of code is there.

## The commands

```bash
chamoji changelog                          # Markdown to stdout
chamoji changelog --output CHANGELOG.md    # write a file
chamoji changelog --format html --output changelog.html
chamoji changelog --format json            # machine-readable
chamoji next-version                       # e.g. 1.3.0
chamoji release                            # cut a release
chamoji commit                             # write a commit
chamoji ws                                 # list workstreams
chamoji why src/auth.ts:42                 # why is this line here?
chamoji setup                              # set up releases, memory and more
```

A bare `chamoji` draws the wordmark and a short help, then exits 0. In a repo with nothing set up yet, it ends by pointing you to `chamoji setup`:

```txt title="chamoji"
…
Changelogs, workstreams and project memory, all kept in your git history.

Release       changelog              Write a changelog from git history
              next-version           Print the next version
              release                Cut a release: notes, bump, tag

Workstreams   ws                     List workstreams
              ws start <title>       Start one and make it active
              ws switch <slug>       Make one active
              ws ship [slug]         Mark one shipped
              ws drop [slug]         Mark one dropped

Memory        why <file:line>        Why a line is there
              memory                 What past workstreams left behind
              memory search <query>  Find commits and workstreams
              memory sync            Merge memory with origin

Commit        commit                 Write a commit with the composer
              hook install           Offer the composer on git commit

Setup         init                   Share memory in this clone
              init --agents          The same, and set up Claude Code
              card                   Print the URL of the repo's card
              mcp                    Serve project memory to AI agents

Every option: chamoji --help

Run `chamoji setup` to get started.
```

`chamoji --help` lists every option.

## Where to start

- [Install](https://www.chamoji.dev/docs/install.md): Install the CLI, or run it with npx.
- [Quickstart](https://www.chamoji.dev/docs/quickstart.md): Your first changelog and your first release, in a few minutes.
- [Set up a repo](https://www.chamoji.dev/docs/set-up-a-repo.md): Releases for a monorepo, shared memory and Claude Code, in one command.
- [Config](https://www.chamoji.dev/docs/reference/config.md): Every key in chamoji.config.json, with its default.

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