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home-manager/docs/manual/contributing/news.md
Thiago Kenji Okada d094c6763c
news: create an individual file for each news entry (#6747)
The current way to define a news entry in Home-Manager is error prone
(since you need to type the date manually) and also it is common cause
of conflicts after merges because all entries are defined in the same
file.

This commit fixes this: we can now create individual news entries for
each new entry. A script `create-news-entry.sh` also helps to create it
in the correct format (with the correct filenames and structure).
2025-04-05 11:13:59 -05:00

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Markdown

# News {#sec-news}
Home Manager includes a system for presenting news to the user. When
making a change you, therefore, have the option to also include an
associated news entry. In general, a news entry should only be added for
truly noteworthy news. For example, a bug fix or new option does
generally not need a news entry.
If you do have a change worthy of a news entry then please add one in
[`news.nix`](https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/blob/master/modules/misc/news.nix)
but you should follow some basic guidelines:
- Use the included
[`create-news-entry.sh`](https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/blob/master/modules/misc/news/create-news-entry.sh)
script to generate a news entry file:
``` shell
$ modules/misc/news/create-news-entry.sh
```
this will create a new file inside `modules/misc/news` directory
with some placeholder information that you can edit.
- The entry condition should be as specific as possible. For example,
if you are changing or deprecating a specific option then you could
restrict the news to those users who actually use this option.
- Wrap the news message so that it will fit in the typical terminal,
that is, at most 80 characters wide. Ideally a bit less.
- Unlike commit messages, news will be read without any connection to
the Home Manager source code. It is therefore important to make the
message understandable in isolation and to those who do not have
knowledge of the Home Manager internals. To this end it should be
written in more descriptive, prose like way.
- If you refer to an option then write its full attribute path. That
is, instead of writing
The option 'foo' has been deprecated, please use 'bar' instead.
it should read
The option 'services.myservice.foo' has been deprecated, please
use 'services.myservice.bar' instead.
- A new module, say `foo.nix`, should always include a news entry that
has a message along the lines of
A new module is available: 'services.foo'.
If the module is platform specific, e.g., a service module using
systemd, then a condition like
``` nix
condition = hostPlatform.isLinux;
```
should be added. If you contribute a module then you don't need to
add this entry, the merger will create an entry for you.