Don’t output release notes to a release if there are no changes in the CHANGELOG

Author: tonyarnold

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -271,16 +271,25 @@ jobs:
                   # Make script executable
                   chmod +x Scripts/generate-release-notes.sh
 
-                  # Check if Unreleased section exists and has content
+                  # Check if Unreleased section exists
                   if grep -q "^## \[Unreleased\]" CHANGELOG.md; then
-                    echo "📝 Found [Unreleased] section, updating CHANGELOG.md for $VERSION"
-
-                    # Update CHANGELOG to convert Unreleased to versioned release
-                    if ./Scripts/generate-release-notes.sh "$VERSION" --update-changelog 2>&1; then
-                      echo "✅ Successfully updated CHANGELOG.md"
-                      echo "CHANGELOG_UPDATED=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+                    # Check if Unreleased section has actual content (not just empty lines)
+                    UNRELEASED_CONTENT=$(awk '/^## \[Unreleased\]$/,/^## \[/ { if (!/^## / && NF > 0) print }' CHANGELOG.md)
+
+                    if [ -n "$UNRELEASED_CONTENT" ]; then
+                      echo "📝 Found [Unreleased] section with content, updating CHANGELOG.md for $VERSION"
+
+                      # Update CHANGELOG to convert Unreleased to versioned release
+                      if ./Scripts/generate-release-notes.sh "$VERSION" --update-changelog 2>&1; then
+                        echo "✅ Successfully updated CHANGELOG.md"
+                        echo "CHANGELOG_UPDATED=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+                      else
+                        echo "⚠️  Failed to update CHANGELOG.md, will use existing version"
+                        echo "CHANGELOG_UPDATED=false" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+                      fi
                     else
-                      echo "⚠️  Failed to update CHANGELOG.md, will use existing version"
+                      echo "ℹ️  [Unreleased] section is empty, skipping CHANGELOG update"
+                      echo "ℹ️  Please ensure CHANGELOG has release notes before creating a release"
                       echo "CHANGELOG_UPDATED=false" >> $GITHUB_ENV
                     fi
                   else