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Software Release Notes Template

Three notes, a migration guide, and the register that names every published page this release just left saying something false.

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What you get

Pack of 7 files: 4 documents, 3 spreadsheets

Software Release Notes Template

Change RegisterSpreadsheet
Documentation ImpactSpreadsheet
Publication ChecklistSpreadsheet
Release Notes by AudienceDocument
Breaking Change NoticeDocument
Migration GuideDocument
Documentation Impact NoteDocument

Software Release Notes Template

Documentation Impact Note

Release [version], cut [date]

Against a documentation set of [n] published pages

The release, in three counts

Merged pull requests since the last tag

—

Reader-facing changes

—

Published pages those changes touch

—

Impact rows, one per change and page

—

Rows where a page now says something false

—

Rows where a page is missing a section

—

Monthly reads on the pages carrying a falsehood

—

The rows that block publication

Every falsehood on a page above your reads threshold, with what it asserts today and what it has to assert instead. Both lines, written while the diff is open. This is the field a release note never carries and an audit spends forty hours reconstructing.

What each area owes

Rows per documentation area, each against the named person who owns it. A name, not a queue called docs.

What the mapping cost

Minutes per change to map, minutes per page to correct, and the same two figures multiplied by this product’s release cadence. Then, if the set has ever been audited retrospectively, what that cost instead.

Version number

The breaking count against the increment about to be tagged, and whether the two agree.

Rows carried forward

Everything still open, with an age in days, at the top of the next cycle rather than in a backlog.

Thornbeck 4.7.0 shipped on 12 February 2026 with 71 merged pull requests, 23 of which a reader could observe. Those 23 touch 23 published pages, and 19 of them now say something false: a flag that no longer exists, a default given as five minutes when it is fifteen, a scrape path that returns 404. Ninety thousand and six reads a month land on those 19 pages. Naming them took 69 minutes, because every diff was still open.

The same answer costs 40.6 hours to reconstruct a year later. That is what a documentation audit spends checking 128 pages against the shipped binary before it writes a word, and it turned up 70 findings that were each observable on the day they shipped. This pack records the answer while it is still cheap. One register row per change, one impact row per change and page, and a state on every one of them.

Two more checks read the same register. Six of the 23 changes remove, rename or newly require something, and semantic versioning reserves a major increment for exactly that, so a release tagged 4.7.0 makes a claim its own register disproves. Six changes carry no ticket, so a writer working from the tracker would have published without a security fix, a removed subcommand and a new endpoint. A field a specification never filled in is a different problem from a page that drifted, and it belongs to the OpenAPI gap workup.

23 changes a reader can see, 19 published pages that now say something else

The Documentation Impact sheet, the Change Register and the Publication Checklist.

Software Release Notes Template

Documentation ImpactChange RegisterPublication Checklist

Documentation Impact

Thornbeck 4.7.0, an invented workflow orchestration product, against 128 published pages. 31 rows, one per change and page. Falsehoods first, by descending monthly reads. Nine of the 31 shown.

Row	Change	Page	Reads	Effect	Says now	Has to say
D-07	C-04	getting-started/first-pipeline	22,419	false	first command passes --max-parallel 4	--concurrency 4
D-12	C-06	getting-started/first-pipeline	22,419	false	a run gives up after five minutes	fifteen
D-01	C-01	cli/thorn-run	22,236	false	--retry-backoff and its three values	the flag is gone, --retry-policy replaces it
D-06	C-04	cli/thorn-run	22,236	false	--max-parallel in the table and two examples	--concurrency, old name marked removed
D-11	C-06	cli/thorn-run	22,236	false	--timeout default given as 300s	900s
D-22	C-14	cli/thorn-runs	7,979	gap	no mention of thorn runs watch	the subcommand and what it streams
D-28	C-19	cli/thorn-runs	7,979	false	thorn jobs given as the primary form	thorn runs primary, alias deprecated
D-17	C-10	scheduling/timezones	7,370	false	examples use PST and EST	IANA names, and the error the old form returns
D-15	C-08	getting-started/first-deploy	5,758	false	tutorial polls for status after deploying	the poll step is gone

Row

Change

Page

Reads

Effect

Says now

Has to say

D-07

C-04

getting-started/first-pipeline

22,419

false

first command passes --max-parallel 4

--concurrency 4

D-12

C-06

getting-started/first-pipeline

22,419

false

a run gives up after five minutes

fifteen

D-01

C-01

cli/thorn-run

22,236

false

--retry-backoff and its three values

the flag is gone, --retry-policy replaces it

D-06

C-04

cli/thorn-run

22,236

false

--max-parallel in the table and two examples

--concurrency, old name marked removed

D-11

C-06

cli/thorn-run

22,236

false

--timeout default given as 300s

900s

D-22

C-14

cli/thorn-runs

7,979

gap

no mention of thorn runs watch

the subcommand and what it streams

D-28

C-19

cli/thorn-runs

7,979

false

thorn jobs given as the primary form

thorn runs primary, alias deprecated

D-17

C-10

scheduling/timezones

7,370

false

examples use PST and EST

IANA names, and the error the old form returns

D-15

C-08

getting-started/first-deploy

5,758

false

tutorial polls for status after deploying

the poll step is gone

19 distinct pages carry a falsehood and take 90,006 reads a month between them. Four more are missing a section. One change of the 23 touches no page at all, and the row says so rather than sitting blank.

Change Register

71 merged pull requests since 4.6.0. 23 a reader can observe; the other 48 carry a reason and appear in no note. Twelve rows shown.

ID	Kind	Change	Audience	Breaking	Replaces with	Ticket	False	Gap
C-01	Removed	thorn run --retry-backoff gone	integrator + operator	yes	--retry-policy	THN-2041	2	0
C-02	Removed	thorn cache purge gone	operator	yes	none	no ticket	2	0
C-03	Removed	THORN_LEGACY_AUTH no longer read	operator	yes	none	THN-1988	1	0
C-04	Changed	--max-parallel renamed	integrator + end user	yes	--concurrency	THN-2103	3	0
C-05	Changed	POST /v1/runs requires idempotency_key	integrator	yes	the header	THN-2117	2	0
C-06	Changed	default --timeout 300s to 900s	end user + integrator	no		THN-2062	2	0
C-07	Changed	default retry count 3 to 5	integrator	no		no ticket	1	0
C-12	Changed	metrics moved to /internal/metrics	operator	yes	the new path	THN-2091	2	0
C-16	Added	OpenTelemetry trace exporter	operator	no		THN-2099	0	1
C-17	Added	GET /v1/runs/{id}/events	integrator	no		no ticket	0	1
C-22	Fixed	connectors honour Retry-After on a 429	integrator	no		THN-2081	0	0
C-23	Security	scopes enforced on GET /v1/secrets	integrator + operator	no		no ticket	1	0

Kind

Change

Audience

Breaking

Replaces with

Ticket

False

Gap

C-01

Removed

thorn run --retry-backoff gone

integrator + operator

yes

--retry-policy

THN-2041

C-02

Removed

thorn cache purge gone

operator

yes

none

no ticket

C-03

Removed

THORN_LEGACY_AUTH no longer read

operator

yes

none

THN-1988

C-04

Changed

--max-parallel renamed

integrator + end user

yes

--concurrency

THN-2103

C-05

Changed

POST /v1/runs requires idempotency_key

integrator

yes

the header

THN-2117

C-06

Changed

default --timeout 300s to 900s

end user + integrator

THN-2062

C-07

Changed

default retry count 3 to 5

integrator

no ticket

C-12

Changed

metrics moved to /internal/metrics

operator

yes

the new path

THN-2091

C-16

Added

OpenTelemetry trace exporter

operator

THN-2099

C-17

Added

GET /v1/runs/{id}/events

integrator

no ticket

C-22

Fixed

connectors honour Retry-After on a 429

integrator

THN-2081

C-23

Security

scopes enforced on GET /v1/secrets

integrator + operator

no ticket

Six rows carry the breaking flag, in a release tagged 4.7.0. Six of the 23 have no ticket, and 17 closed tickets produced nothing a reader can observe, so the tracker would have missed a security fix, a removed subcommand, a changed default and a new endpoint.

Publication Checklist

The gate the notes pass before they publish. Evidence is a count read off the register, not a tick.

#	Gate	Evidence	State
1	Every merged change classed reader-facing or not, with a reason on each one that is not	48 of 71 carry a reason, 23 on the register	done
2	Every register row names its pages, or states that it touches none	23 of 23 resolved, 1 of them to no page	done
3	Every impact row has an owner and a state	31 of 31 assigned across three names	done
4	Breaking changes counted against the version number about to be tagged	6 breaking; the tag says 4.7.0 and needs to say 5.0.0	blocking
5	Migration guide has one entry per breaking change and none for anything else	6 entries, 4 naming a replacement and 2 naming none	done
6	Each audience note contains only what that audience can observe	6 end user, 10 integrator, 14 operator	done
7	Falsehoods on pages above 5,000 reads a month corrected before the notes publish	5 pages qualify and carry 9 rows between them	in progress
9	Any change with no ticket recorded against its pull request instead	6 of 6	done
10	Remaining impact rows carried to the next cycle with their age in days	22 rows behind the five heaviest pages, oldest 0 days	in progress

Gate

Evidence

State

Every merged change classed reader-facing or not, with a reason on each one that is not

48 of 71 carry a reason, 23 on the register

done

Every register row names its pages, or states that it touches none

23 of 23 resolved, 1 of them to no page

done

Every impact row has an owner and a state

31 of 31 assigned across three names

done

Breaking changes counted against the version number about to be tagged

6 breaking; the tag says 4.7.0 and needs to say 5.0.0

blocking

Migration guide has one entry per breaking change and none for anything else

6 entries, 4 naming a replacement and 2 naming none

done

Each audience note contains only what that audience can observe

6 end user, 10 integrator, 14 operator

done

Falsehoods on pages above 5,000 reads a month corrected before the notes publish

5 pages qualify and carry 9 rows between them

in progress

Any change with no ticket recorded against its pull request instead

6 of 6

done

Remaining impact rows carried to the next cycle with their age in days

22 rows behind the five heaviest pages, oldest 0 days

in progress

Step 4 is the one that cannot be marked done while the contradiction stands. Six changes remove, rename or newly require something, and a minor increment asserts that none of them is in the release.

Edit with AI

What's in the pack

Change Register

One row per reader-facing change, with the breaking flag the version check reads and a reference where no ticket exists.

Documentation Impact

One row per change and page: what it asserts today, what it has to say, the monthly reads, an owner.

Publication Checklist

Ten gates the notes clear before publishing, each carrying a count read off the register rather than somebody's tick.

Release Notes by Audience

Three notes cut by what each reader can observe, using the six changelog categories, removals first.

Breaking Change Notice

The changes that need action, sent ahead of the release, with the version-number contradiction stated at the top.

Migration Guide

One entry per breaking change and nothing else, ordered so the failures that would page somebody get fixed first.

Documentation Impact Note

The counts, the blocking rows, what each area owes, and the mapping cost against an audit later.

How it works

1
Open or download
Edit with AI installs the pack as a private Space and asks for your merge log, your documentation and the version you are about to tag. Download gives you the blank files, no account.
2
Filter the merge log
Every merged change since the last tag is either observable by a reader or carries a recorded reason it is not. The merge log is the source, because changes ship without tickets.
3
Name the pages
For each observable change, the published set is searched for what it renamed, removed or added, and every hit becomes a row: a page now saying something false, or a page missing a section.
4
Publish and carry forward
The three documents are written from the register, the falsehoods on your busiest pages are corrected first, and whatever is still open opens the next cycle with an age on it.

Frequently asked questions

What does it need from me?

The merged pull requests or commits since your last tag with their titles, your documentation in whatever form is searchable, and the version you are about to tag. Per-page traffic if you have it, because it decides which corrections block publication. Tickets are useful context and are not the filter, because plenty of changes ship without one and plenty of tickets close without shipping anything.

What format are the downloaded files?

Four Word documents and three CSV sheets, zipped. The documents open in Word, Pages and Google Docs; the sheets open in Excel, Numbers and Sheets. Nothing needs converting and nothing is in a format you have to look up. Add a PDF query string if you want to read rather than fill in.

What does Edit with AI actually do?

It installs this pack as a private Space, then runs the two passes that cost the most by hand: sorting your merge log into what a reader can observe, and searching your published pages for every name the release changed. You get the register filled in, with the rows that block publication at the top.

We already publish release notes for customers. Is this different?

Different job, different reader. Announcing a release to accounts, ranked by how many will notice, is the product release notes pack. This one is for whoever owns the documentation, and its output is the list of pages the release just made wrong.

What happens to deprecations?

They keep working, so they are not breaking changes and get no migration entry. The register records the version each one is removed in, which makes the next major release's migration guide writable in advance. Setting the notice period is the deprecation policy pack; tracking which supported versions still carry the old behavior is the versioning and release mapping pack.

Can it decide our version number for us?

It counts the breaking changes and says which increment that count requires. It does not retag anything. Retagging moves the deprecation clock for everything currently marked for removal in the next major line, which makes it a decision for whoever owns the release rather than a correction.

Is any of this free?

The download is free and needs no account: the real documents and sheets, blank, as Word and CSV. Edit with AI creates a free account and fills them in from your own release. The pack in the zip is the same pack the AI works from, not a trimmed sample of it.

Sources

Written by

Chandler Supple

Co-founder & CEO, River

Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.

LinkedIn GitHub X

Reviewed by

Brian Joseff, Co-founder, River

LinkedIn X

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Find out which pages this release just broke

Download the blank Change Register, Documentation Impact sheet and Publication Checklist as Word and CSV, or have River fill them in from your own merge log.

Edit with AI

Software Release Notes Template

Release [version], cut [date]

The release, in three counts

What each area owes

What the mapping cost

Version number

Rows carried forward

23 changes a reader can see, 19 published pages that now say something else

Documentation Impact

Change Register

Publication Checklist

What's in the pack

Change Register

Documentation Impact

Publication Checklist

Release Notes by Audience

Breaking Change Notice

Migration Guide

Documentation Impact Note

How it works

Open or download

Filter the merge log

Name the pages

Publish and carry forward

Frequently asked questions

What does it need from me?

What format are the downloaded files?

What does Edit with AI actually do?

We already publish release notes for customers. Is this different?

What happens to deprecations?

Can it decide our version number for us?

Is any of this free?

Sources

Chandler Supple

More free templates

Find out which pages this release just broke