✨ feat(release): credit new contributors on releases only

README.md

@@ -361,10 +361,6 @@ path, fragment directory, and Markdown or RST format from committed Towncrier co
 `read-towncrier-config`. It does not commit or push. Version selection, fragment linking, the Towncrier build, and
 formatting must all succeed.
 
-After the Towncrier build, the Action runs release-creator's step that adds a "New Contributors" subsection to the new
-changelog section with `release-creator contributors`, which release-creator 3.1.0 adds. The caller's `release-prepare`
-group needs release-creator 3.1.0 or later.
-
 ```yaml
   - id: prepare
     uses: tox-dev/github-workflows/prepare-towncrier@SHA
@@ -531,6 +527,9 @@ the asset recheck.
 
 - `tag`, `commit`, `title`, and `notes-file` are required. The Action uses the caller repository; `commit` is the tag's
   commit, used as the target when the Action creates the Release.
+- Before it writes a draft, the Action asks GitHub to generate notes for the range from the previous tag in the notes'
+  `Full Changelog` link to `tag`, and adds GitHub's first-time contributors, bots excluded, as a `New Contributors`
+  section above the trailing links. The changelog file never carries this list. A published Release is left as it is.
 - `assets-directory`: Optional directory of the assets to attach. The Action compares each filename and SHA256 digest
   with GitHub's Release asset metadata, uploads missing draft assets, and rejects extra or changed assets. After
   publication it verifies GitHub's release attestation for each local asset.

changelog.d/+release-new-contributors.change.md

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+`publish-github-release` credits first-time contributors on the GitHub Release, taking the list from GitHub's generated
+notes for the range since the previous tag and placing it above the package and comparison links. `prepare-towncrier` no
+longer adds a New Contributors subsection to the changelog.

prepare-towncrier/action.yml

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ runs:
         set -euo pipefail
         if [[ "$PHASE" == finalize ]]; then
           echo "Release version: $VERSION (from the version input in the finalize phase)"
-          echo 'Fragment linking, changelog build and contributors skipped: the build phase did them'
+          echo 'Fragment linking and changelog build skipped: the build phase did them'
           printf 'version=%s\n' "$VERSION" >>"$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           exit 0
         fi
@@ -77,17 +77,6 @@ runs:
         set -euo pipefail
         echo "Changelog version: $CHANGELOG_PREFIX${VERSION#v} (tag $VERSION${CHANGELOG_PREFIX:+, changelog-prefix $CHANGELOG_PREFIX})"
         towncrier build --yes --version "$CHANGELOG_PREFIX${VERSION#v}"
-    - name: 📝 Add new contributors to the changelog
-      if: inputs.phase != 'finalize'
-      shell: bash
-      env:
-        VERSION: ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
-        CHANGELOG_PREFIX: ${{ inputs.changelog-prefix }}
-        CHANGELOG: ${{ steps.config.outputs.changelog }}
-        REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
-        GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
-      run: >-
-        release-creator contributors --changelog "$CHANGELOG" --version "$CHANGELOG_PREFIX${VERSION#v}" --repository "$REPOSITORY"
     - name: 🧹 Format changelog
       if: inputs.phase != 'build'
       shell: bash

publish-github-release/action.yml

@@ -75,30 +75,53 @@ runs:
           echo "GitHub Release $TAG is published and immutable with the expected assets; nothing to upload or publish"
         fi
         printf 'immutable=%s\n' "$immutable" >>"$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+    - name: 👋 Credit new contributors
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        GH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+        TAG: ${{ inputs.tag }}
+        COMMIT: ${{ inputs.commit }}
+        NOTES_FILE: ${{ inputs.notes-file }}
+      run: |
+        set -euo pipefail
+        if jq -e '.[0].draft == false' "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-existing.json" >/dev/null; then
+          echo "New Contributors skipped: GitHub Release $TAG is already published"
+          cp "$NOTES_FILE" "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-body.md"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+        # The comparison link that release-creator renders names the previous tag GitHub should count from.
+        previous=$(grep -oP "/compare/\K[^)]+(?=\.\.\.\Q$TAG\E\))" "$NOTES_FILE" | head -n 1 || true)
+        request=(-f "tag_name=$TAG" -f "target_commitish=$COMMIT")
+        if [[ -n "$previous" ]]; then
+          request+=(-f "previous_tag_name=$previous")
+        fi
+        echo "Generated notes range: ${previous:-first release}...$TAG"
+        gh api -X POST "repos/$GH_REPO/releases/generate-notes" "${request[@]}" --jq .body >"$RUNNER_TEMP/generated-notes.md"
+        python3 "$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/../tools/new_contributors.py" \
+          "$NOTES_FILE" "$RUNNER_TEMP/generated-notes.md" "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-body.md"
     - name: 🚀 Create or update the draft
       shell: bash
       env:
         GH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
         TAG: ${{ inputs.tag }}
         COMMIT: ${{ inputs.commit }}
         TITLE: ${{ inputs.title }}
-        NOTES_FILE: ${{ inputs.notes-file }}
         PRERELEASE: ${{ inputs.prerelease }}
       run: |
         set -euo pipefail
         if jq -e 'length == 0' "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-existing.json" >/dev/null; then
           jq -n --arg tag "$TAG" --arg commit "$COMMIT" --arg title "$TITLE" \
-            --rawfile body "$NOTES_FILE" --argjson prerelease "$PRERELEASE" \
+            --rawfile body "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-body.md" --argjson prerelease "$PRERELEASE" \
             '{tag_name: $tag, target_commitish: $commit, name: $title, body: $body,
               draft: true, prerelease: $prerelease}' >"$RUNNER_TEMP/release-request.json"
           gh api -X POST "repos/$GH_REPO/releases" --input "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-request.json" \
             >"$RUNNER_TEMP/release-created.json"
           jq -er '.id | select(type == "number")' "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-created.json" >"$RUNNER_TEMP/release-id"
           echo "GitHub Release $TAG: created draft $(<"$RUNNER_TEMP/release-id") for $COMMIT (prerelease $PRERELEASE)"
-        elif jq -e --arg title "$TITLE" --rawfile body "$NOTES_FILE" --argjson prerelease "$PRERELEASE" \
+        elif jq -e --arg title "$TITLE" --rawfile body "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-body.md" --argjson prerelease "$PRERELEASE" \
           '.[0].draft and (.[0].name != $title or .[0].body != $body or .[0].prerelease != $prerelease)' \
           "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-existing.json" >/dev/null; then
-          jq -n --arg title "$TITLE" --rawfile body "$NOTES_FILE" --argjson prerelease "$PRERELEASE" \
+          jq -n --arg title "$TITLE" --rawfile body "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-body.md" --argjson prerelease "$PRERELEASE" \
             '{name: $title, body: $body, prerelease: $prerelease}' >"$RUNNER_TEMP/release-update.json"
           gh api -X PATCH "repos/$GH_REPO/releases/$(<"$RUNNER_TEMP/release-id")" \
             --input "$RUNNER_TEMP/release-update.json" \

tests/conftest.py

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 import json
 import os
-import re
 import shutil
 import ssl
 import subprocess
@@ -139,45 +138,29 @@ def repository(tmp_path: Path, github_api: tuple[HTTPServer, dict[str, str]], mo
 
     def graphql(request: Request) -> Response:
         query = request.get_json()["query"]
-        if 'object(oid: "' in query:
-            commits = (part.split('"', 1)[0] for part in query.split('object(oid: "')[1:])
-            data: dict[str, object] = {
-                "repository": {
-                    f"c{index}": {
-                        "associatedPullRequests": {
-                            "nodes": [
-                                {
-                                    "number": int(environment.get("TEST_PULL_NUMBER", "2")),
-                                    "mergedAt": "2026-10-22T00:00:00Z",
-                                    "mergeCommit": {
-                                        "oid": commit,
-                                        "authors": {
-                                            "nodes": [
-                                                {"name": "Release test", "email": "a@example.org", "user": author}
-                                            ]
-                                        },
+        commits = (part.split('"', 1)[0] for part in query.split('object(oid: "')[1:])
+        data: dict[str, object] = {
+            "repository": {
+                f"c{index}": {
+                    "associatedPullRequests": {
+                        "nodes": [
+                            {
+                                "number": int(environment.get("TEST_PULL_NUMBER", "2")),
+                                "mergedAt": "2026-10-22T00:00:00Z",
+                                "mergeCommit": {
+                                    "oid": commit,
+                                    "authors": {
+                                        "nodes": [{"name": "Release test", "email": "a@example.org", "user": author}]
                                     },
-                                    "author": author,
-                                }
-                            ]
-                        }
+                                },
+                                "author": author,
+                            }
+                        ]
                     }
-                    for index, commit in enumerate(commits)
                 }
+                for index, commit in enumerate(commits)
             }
-        elif "pullRequest(number: " in query:
-            numbers = re.findall(r"p(\d+): pullRequest", query)
-            data = {
-                "repository": {
-                    f"p{number}": {"number": int(number), "mergedAt": "2026-10-22T00:00:00Z", "author": author}
-                    for number in numbers
-                }
-            }
-        else:
-            data = {
-                alias: {"issueCount": int(environment.get("TEST_PRIOR_PULLS", "0"))}
-                for alias in re.findall(r"(s\d+): search", query)
-            }
+        }
         return Response(json.dumps({"data": data}), mimetype="application/json")
 
     server.expect_request("/api/graphql", method="POST").respond_with_handler(graphql)

tests/new_contributors/test_new_contributors.py

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import runpy
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+_TOOL = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "tools/new_contributors.py"
+
+
+def test_new_contributors_lead_a_body_of_links_only(
+    tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str]
+) -> None:
+    notes, generated, output = tmp_path / "notes.md", tmp_path / "generated.md", tmp_path / "body.md"
+    notes.write_text("[📜 Full Changelog](https://github.com/tox-dev/fixture/commits/0.1.0)\n")
+    generated.write_text("## New Contributors\n* @alice made their first contribution in https://example.org/pull/1\n")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "argv", ["new_contributors.py", str(notes), str(generated), str(output)])
+
+    runpy.run_path(str(_TOOL), run_name="__main__")
+
+    assert output.read_text() == (
+        "### New Contributors\n\n- @alice made their first contribution in https://example.org/pull/1\n\n"
+        "[📜 Full Changelog](https://github.com/tox-dev/fixture/commits/0.1.0)\n"
+    )
+    assert capsys.readouterr().out == "New Contributors: @alice\n"
+
+
+def test_new_contributors_module_imports_without_running() -> None:
+    assert runpy.run_path(str(_TOOL))["__all__"] == ["main"]

tests/prepare_towncrier/test_prepare.py

@@ -98,7 +98,6 @@ def test_prepare_custom_fragment_directory(
 def test_prepare_renders_github_notes(
     repository: Path, tmp_path: Path, action_scripts: Path, github_api: tuple[HTTPServer, dict[str, str]]
 ) -> None:
-    github_api[1]["TEST_PRIOR_PULLS"] = "1"
     result = action(
         repository,
         tmp_path,
@@ -171,7 +170,6 @@ def test_prepare_preserves_prefixed_changelog_heading(repository: Path, tmp_path
 def test_prepare_links_named_fragments(
     repository: Path, tmp_path: Path, action_scripts: Path, github_api: tuple[HTTPServer, dict[str, str]]
 ) -> None:
-    github_api[1]["TEST_PRIOR_PULLS"] = "1"
     result = action(
         repository,
         tmp_path,
@@ -322,20 +320,12 @@ def _author_lookup(github_api: tuple[HTTPServer, dict[str, str]], number: int) -
     return environment
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    ("prior_pulls", "credited"), [pytest.param("0", True, id="first-pull"), pytest.param("1", False, id="returning")]
-)
-def test_prepare_adds_new_contributors_after_building(
-    repository: Path,
-    tmp_path: Path,
-    action_scripts: Path,
-    github_api: tuple[HTTPServer, dict[str, str]],
-    prior_pulls: str,
-    credited: bool,
+def test_prepare_leaves_new_contributors_out_of_the_changelog(
+    repository: Path, tmp_path: Path, action_scripts: Path, github_api: tuple[HTTPServer, dict[str, str]]
 ) -> None:
-    github_api[1]["TEST_PRIOR_PULLS"] = prior_pulls
-
-    result = action(repository, tmp_path, action_scripts, "prepare-towncrier", version="0.2.0", PHASE="build")
+    result = action(
+        repository, tmp_path, action_scripts, "prepare-towncrier", version="0.2.0", PHASE="build", **github_api[1]
+    )
 
     assert result.returncode == 0, result.stderr
-    assert ("### New Contributors" in (repository / "CHANGELOG.md").read_text()) is credited
+    assert "New Contributors" not in (repository / "CHANGELOG.md").read_text()