# GitHub Release Notes: Changelog Between Versions (`bowmark-ai/github-release-notes`) Actor

Give GitHub repositories and get their release notes, newest first: version, date, full notes and link. Pass the version you run today to get only what changed since.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/bowmark-ai/github-release-notes.md
- **Developed by:** [Bowmark AI](https://apify.com/bowmark-ai) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, MCP servers, Agents
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $6.00 / 1,000 repository reads

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

### What does GitHub Release Notes: Changelog Between Versions do?

GitHub Release Notes reads **a GitHub repository's own release notes**, newest first, and can give you **only what changed since the version you run today**.

Give it repositories like `facebook/react` or a github.com link. For each one you get its latest stable version and every release with its version tag, name, publish date, full release notes and link. Add `sinceVersion` (say `18.2.0`) and the row holds just the releases you would cross by upgrading.

You pay **one flat price per repository**, not per release, so 100 releases cost the same as 1.

It never signs in anywhere and never changes anything. It only reads public repositories.

### Why use it?

- **Planning an upgrade.** "We are on Next.js 15.3, what changed since?" One row with every release note in between, ready to read or hand to a model for breaking changes.
- **Watching dependencies.** Run your list of repositories on a schedule and see each one's latest version and date in one table.
- **AI agents.** Connect it as an MCP server and let an agent answer "what is new in React since 19.0?" while it works.

### How it works

For each repository:

1. It reads the repository's published releases on GitHub, up to the 100 most recent.
2. It drops drafts, and prereleases (canary, beta, release candidates) unless you ask for them.
3. With `sinceVersion`, it keeps only releases that are newer than that version both in date and in version number, so an older line's patch release published later does not show up in your upgrade.

### Input

| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `repos` | Yes | One repository per entry: `"owner/repo"` or any github.com link inside it. |
| `sinceVersion` | No | The version you run today, like `"18.2.0"` or `"v14.2.3"`. Only newer releases come back. |
| `maxReleases` | No | At most this many releases per repository, 1 to 100. Default `20`. |
| `includePrereleases` | No | Also list canary, beta and release candidate versions. Default `false`. |
| `maxConcurrency` | No | Repositories processed at once, 1 to 8. Default `4`. |

Example input:

```json
{ "repos": ["facebook/react", "https://github.com/vercel/next.js"], "sinceVersion": "19.2.0" }
```

### Output

One dataset row per repository, with every matching release in the `releases` column. Download it as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or read it through the Apify API.

```json
{
  "input": "facebook/react",
  "sinceVersion": "v19.2.0",
  "status": "found",
  "repo": "facebook/react",
  "latestVersion": "v19.3.1",
  "latestPublishedAt": "2026-10-14T17:06:15Z",
  "releaseCount": 11,
  "releases": [
    {
      "version": "v19.3.1",
      "name": "19.3.1 (October 14th, 2026)",
      "prerelease": false,
      "publishedAt": "2026-10-14T17:06:15Z",
      "notes": "## React Server Components\r\n\r\n- Improve transport protocol ([#37845](https://github.com/facebook/react/pull/37845) by @unstubbable and @eps1lon)",
      "url": "https://github.com/react/react/releases/tag/v19.3.1"
    }
  ],
  "warnings": [],
  "error": null
}
```

`status` is `found`, `not_found` or `error`. `not_found` means the repository was read and has no releases matching your filters, or publishes no GitHub releases at all (some projects only push tags); that is a real answer and `warnings` says which. `error` means GitHub has no public repository by that name.

### Pricing

**$0.006 per repository**, with no monthly fee, however many releases it returns.

- A repository is charged when its release history is read, even if no release matches your filters.
- A repository that does not exist, or that fails with an error, is not charged.
- Set a spending limit on the run and the Actor stops cleanly when it reaches it.
- On Apify's free plan, each run processes the first 10 repositories (10 tool calls per MCP session). Any paid Apify plan removes the limit.

### Use it as an MCP server

This Actor also runs as an MCP server with one tool, `get_release_notes`. Point any MCP client (Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, your own agent) at:

```
https://bowmark-ai--github-release-notes.apify.actor/mcp
```

with your Apify API token as a bearer token. Each tool call is billed like one repository in a normal run.

### Limits and good practice

- It reads only **public** repositories. It never signs in anywhere and never changes anything.
- It reads the 100 most recent releases. For a project that ships many canaries a day, `sinceVersion` far in the past may reach back only that far; the row warns you when it does.
- Release notes come from the project's GitHub Releases page. A project that keeps its changelog only in a file in the repository (Go, for one) has no releases to read and comes back `not_found`.
- Notes longer than 20,000 characters are cut, with the link to the full release.

### Questions or a wrong result?

Open an issue on the **Issues** tab with the input you used and what you expected. We read every one.

# Actor input Schema

## `repos` (type: `array`):

One public GitHub repository per entry: "owner/repo" ("facebook/react") or any github.com link inside it. Up to 500 per run (10 on Apify's free plan).

## `sinceVersion` (type: `string`):

Optional. The version you run today, like "18.2.0" or "v14.2.3". Only releases published after it come back, which is the changelog for your upgrade. Leave empty for the latest releases.

## `maxReleases` (type: `integer`):

At most this many releases per repository, newest first.

## `includePrereleases` (type: `boolean`):

Also list canary, beta and release candidate versions. Off by default.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many repositories are processed in parallel.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "repos": [
    "facebook/react"
  ],
  "maxReleases": 20,
  "includePrereleases": false,
  "maxConcurrency": 4
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per repository: its latest stable version and every matching release with its full notes.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "repos": [
        "facebook/react"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("bowmark-ai/github-release-notes").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "repos": ["facebook/react"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("bowmark-ai/github-release-notes").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "repos": [
    "facebook/react"
  ]
}' |
apify call bowmark-ai/github-release-notes --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,bowmark-ai/github-release-notes"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Rax5kdwm0j5pRi3cU/builds/5BsBgJPopiwshUsfx/openapi.json