This folder holds changelog updates from commit 8ae7e24 onwards.

Release notes are text files with three lines:

1. An opening code block with the release-note:<MODE> type annotation.

   For example:

   ```release-note:bug
   

   Valid modes are:

   • bug - Any sort of non-security defect fix.
   • change - A change in the product that may require action or review by the operator. Examples would be any kind of API change (as opposed to backwards compatible addition), a notable behavior change, or anything that might require attention before updating. Go version changes are also listed here since they can potentially have large, sometimes unknown impacts. (Go updates are a special case, and dep updates in general aren't a change). Discussion of any potential change items in the pull request to see what other communication might be warranted.
   • deprecation - Announcement of a planned future removal of a feature. Only use this if a deprecation notice also exists in the docs.
   • feature - Large topical additions for a major release. These are rarely in minor releases. Formatting for feature entries differs from normal changelog formatting - see the new features instructions.
   • improvement - Most updates to the product that aren’t bugs, but aren't big enough to be a feature, will be an improvement.

2. A component (for example, secret/pki or sdk/framework or), a colon and a space, and then a one-line description of the change.

3. An ending code block.

This should be in a file named after the pull request number (e.g., 12345.txt).

There are many examples in this folder; check one out if you're stuck!

See hashicorp/go-changelog for full documentation on the supported entries.

For features we are introducing in a new major release, we prefer a single changelog entry representing that feature. This way, it is clear to readers what feature is being introduced. You do not need to reference a specific PR, and the formatting is slightly different - your changelog file should look like:

changelog/<pr num OR feature name>.txt:
```release-note:feature
**Feature Name**: Description of feature - for example "Custom password policies are now supported for all database engines."
```