Gitlab LogLady - Group Milestone Changelog Generator

Automated changelog generation from GitLab group milestones with Slack integration.

Overview

Gitlab LogLady automates the process of generating changelogs from GitLab group milestones and publishing them to Slack. When a sprint milestone is completed, it collects all closed issues from configured repositories, organizes them by product based on repository URLs, and sends formatted changelogs to your team's Slack channels.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9+
• GitLab account with API access
• Slack workspace with webhook configured

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

cd /path/to/local_repository

2. Create and activate virtual environment:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

3. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Configure the application:

cp config.ini.example config.ini
# Edit config.ini with your GitLab URL, tokens, and Slack webhook

Usage

Basic Usage

# Dry run (preview without publishing to Slack)
python generate_changelog.py --milestone "09/10/2025" --dry-run

# Generate and publish to Slack (default behavior)
python generate_changelog.py --milestone "09/10/2025"

How It Works

When you run the command:

1. Fetches closed issues from the GitLab group milestone
2. Extracts the year from milestone dates (e.g., 2025)
3. Appends to year file changelog_archive/2025.md:
   • If milestone doesn't exist → adds it at the top
   • If milestone already exists → replaces the existing entry (no duplicates)
4. Generates temporary file changelog.md for Slack
5. Publishes to Slack (unless --dry-run is specified)

Publish Existing Changelog File

python generate_changelog.py --milestone "09/10/2025" --publish-only

Custom Output File

python generate_changelog.py --milestone "09/10/2025" --output my_changelog.md

Example Output

**Changelog - 09/10/2025** (2025-09-26 → 2025-10-16)

**Product1** (3 issues)
* Issue / lorem ipsum (repository#123) (label1, label2)
* Issue / lorem ipsum (repository#1) (label1, label2)
* Issue / lorem ipsum (repository#2) (label1, label2)

**Product2** (1 issue)
* Issue / lorem ipsum (repository#123) (label1, label2)

---
Total: 4 issues closed | Estimated: 42.0h (6d)

Format details:

• Issues sorted alphabetically within each product
• Format: * Title (repository#123) (label1, label2)
• Shows repository name with issue number
• No alias labels (labels starting with @)
• Time shown in both hours and working days (8h = 1d)

Setup Steps

1. Create .env

   # Edit with your GitLab token and Slack webhook
   LOGLADY_GITLAB_TOKEN = ...
   SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL = ...

2. Create Group Milestone

   • Go to your gitlab > group > then milestone.
   • Click "New milestone"
   • Create milestone (e.g., "09/10/2025", "Sprint 42")

3. Test Configuration

   python generate_changelog.py --milestone "Your Milestone" --dry-run

4. Deploy

   • Use manually via command line
   • Or set up GitLab CI/CD pipeline (see .gitlab-ci.yml)

GitLab CI/CD Pipeline

The project includes a .gitlab-ci.yml file for automated execution.