changelog-heading
A rule that is off by default: it reports a changelog version heading that is not "## [version] - date" or "## [Unreleased]" once a decisions table turns it on.
What it catches
A changelog version heading that is not "## [version] - date" or "## [Unreleased]".
Dimension
conventions: a house or genre convention is broken. A finding is counted on
the dimension of its rule, the cost it names to the reader.
Why
Keep a Changelog heads each release "[version] - date", so a reader and a tool find a release by its number and see when it shipped; "[Unreleased]" carries no date because nothing has shipped. A fragment under changes/unreleased/ has no version heading and is not judged by it. Measured 2026-10-11 over the adjudicated labeling round 2: 27.3% precision (3 of 11) before, 100% (3 of 3) after. Every false positive was a tag-named version ("## [v0.4.3] - 2026-09-06"), which follows the shape, so a "v" inside the brackets is accepted. It stays off until a fresh labeling round measures it.
Default decision
The code is PRF1030. The decision depends on the kind of text judged:
| Kind | Default |
|---|---|
changelog |
off |
Changing it
A decisions table sets this rule to deny, advise or off, for everything judged
or for the files a glob matches. Proofread reads the table from the file its
-decisions flag names:
{
"rules": {"changelog-heading": "deny"},
"paths": {"blog/**": {"changelog-heading": "off"}}
}
rules applies to every file. A glob in paths applies to the files it matches, and the
last match wins. A rule set to off never reports.
Seeing it
A finding names the rule, its code and the decision that applies, and links here:
{"rule": "changelog-heading", "code": "PRF1030", "decision": "off", "url": "https://eli.gladman.cc/magus/reference/proofread/changelog-heading/"}
proofread rules prints this entry with every other rule's.
See also
- All proofread rules - every rule, grouped by what it checks
- Writing rules - how the rules apply to this repository's pages and pull requests
- The findings contract - the fields every finding carries