Newsletter Integration for Release Notes

[faithveloro09]

Specification

We want to start utilizing the “Subscribe to Newsletter” section on the website to deliver curated release updates to our users. The goal is to set up a release notes newsletter pipeline, where changes to Polykey are compiled and sent to subscribers on a regular basis.

Currently, changes are made and committed frequently—sometimes multiple times a day—and we are not maintaining any structured release notes. While we follow semantic versioning (major.minor.patch), the GitHub release tags (e.g., v0.18.10) currently only include the version number without context or changelogs.

Rather than sending an email with every change (which would be overwhelming), the proposal is to send a monthly digest containing:

• Highlighted features
• Any major/minor version updates
• Summary of relevant patches
• Links to GitHub or documentation for deeper dives

We should also explore using AI tools to assist in generating changelogs from commit history, ideally filtered and curated to include only user-relevant updates.

Additional context

• We currently do not write structured release notes.
• Semantic versioning is in place (Patch = backwards-compatible fixes, Minor = backwards-compatible features, Major = breaking changes).
• There is already a subscribe section on the website that can be activated for this.
• Automated changelog generation tools (possibly AI-assisted) may help batch and summarize updates more efficiently.
• We need to strike a balance between update frequency and email fatigue.
• Figma's release update model may serve as a good reference (to be reviewed separately).

Tasks

1. Review and document current commit and release processes across all Polykey repositories.
2. Identify or implement a system for structured release note generation, potentially AI-assisted.
3. Define a newsletter format and tone (monthly digest, curated highlights).
4. Integrate the newsletter backend with the existing subscribe section on the website.
5. Set up mailing infrastructure (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or similar) with automated or semi-automated pipelines.
6. Draft a sample newsletter and test internal review flow.
7. Create a process for approving monthly changelogs and scheduling email campaigns.
8. (Optional) Investigate how tools like Figma handle release updates for inspiration.

[linear]

PRO-265