Skill: Release Announcer
Generates a non-technical Slack announcement for end users based on the ticket, commits, and plan. Translates internal implementation details into user-visible changes in plain English.
When to Use
After completing PR message generation (PR Writer skill), when you're ready to communicate the release to non-technical stakeholders (end users, ops team, business stakeholders). Typically posted to Slack channels after merge.
Process Overview
- Ask for context from user:
- Who is affected (e.g., end users, ops team, business stakeholders) - Activation date (e.g., "immediately after merge", specific date) - Contact person for questions
- Synthesize from ticket/plan/commits:
- What is the user-visible problem being solved? - What is the user-visible solution (what changed for them)? - What should they be aware of?
- Generate Slack announcement using the standard template (see below)
- Present to user via
show_contenttool in Markdown format
Slack Announcement Template
**ANNOUNCEMENT: <short user-facing title> (<team / domain>)**
:office_worker: Affected (external) users: <who is affected, e.g., end users, ops team>
Type / Category of release: <New feature | Bug fix | Improvement>
:large_orange_diamond: Description of change:
**Problem:** <1–3 sentences in plain language>
**Solution:** <1–3 sentences describing what changed from the user's perspective>
:spiral_calendar_pad: Activation date: <date or "after merge">
:telephone_receiver: Contact person/s: <names>
:warning: Please note
<any caveats, limitations, or things users should be aware of>Key Guidelines
- No code references: Avoid class names, method names, config keys, or file paths
- Plain English: Assume audience is non-technical (they use the product, read reports, don't care about architecture)
- User perspective: Focus on "what changed for me?" not "what changed in the code?"
- Brevity: Entire message should fit in one Slack post without scrolling
- Emojis: Use provided emoji markers for visual structure (
:office_worker:,:large_orange_diamond:, etc.)
Implementation Notes
- Translate technical changes to user-facing impact (e.g., "Added validation logic" → "The system will now reject invalid input with a clear error message")
- Ask user if affected parties and activation date are not obvious from context
- Verify the announcement is understandable to someone unfamiliar with the codebase
- Use
show_contentwith format nameslack-announcement.md
Related
- PR Writer skill provides the technical PR description to synthesize from
- Commit Rewriter skill provides the commits and changes