Should we consider adopting https://www.conventionalcommits.org/ to generate the changelog automatically from commit messages?

The first thought in my head is only allowing the change to happen in the Unreleased section, which needs write a tool to parse markdown.

Ah, that's a great idea and much less intrusive.

As an alternative, could we keep the unreleased changes section in a separate file, and move it into the CHANGELOG as part of the release process? The tooling would be easier and contributors would be less likely to make a mistake.

However, it would be slightly more work for maintainers at release time.

As an alternative, could we keep the unreleased changes section in a separate file, and move it into the CHANGELOG as part of the release process? The tooling would be easier and contributors would be less likely to make a mistake.

However, it would be slightly more work for maintainers at release time.

Yeah, that seems a good approach too.

But I slightly prefer to write more codes and be less intrusive. Furthermore, we might consider making this tool used by every OpenTelemetry repo in the feature if it is actually useful and essential. ;)