Add changelog render --no-descriptions

docs/cli-schema.json

@@ -4500,7 +4500,7 @@
               "shortName": null,
               "type": "string",
               "required": false,
-              "summary": "Optional: Output file type. Valid values: \u0022markdown\u0022 or \u0022asciidoc\u0022. Defaults to \u0022markdown\u0022",
+              "summary": "Optional: Output file type. Valid values: \u0022markdown\u0022, \u0022asciidoc\u0022, or \u0022gfm\u0022. Defaults to \u0022markdown\u0022",
               "defaultValue": "markdown"
             },
             {
@@ -4539,6 +4539,15 @@
               "summary": "Optional: Render separated types (breaking changes, deprecations, known issues, highlights) as MyST dropdowns. When false (default), renders as flattened bulleted lists. Defaults to false",
               "defaultValue": "false"
             },
+            {
+              "role": "flag",
+              "name": "no-descriptions",
+              "shortName": null,
+              "type": "boolean",
+              "required": false,
+              "summary": "Optional: Hide changelog record descriptions from output. When enabled, entry titles, PR/issue links, Impact and Action sections remain visible. Bundle-level descriptions are unaffected. Defaults to false",
+              "defaultValue": "false"
+            },
             {
               "role": "flag",
               "name": "title",

docs/cli/changelog/cmd-render.md

@@ -52,6 +52,33 @@ AsciiDoc output ignores the `--dropdowns` flag and always uses a standardized fo
 - Strong text formatting uses idiomatic single asterisk syntax (`*Impact:*`, `*Action:*`) following AsciiDoc best practices
 - All content blocks are properly attached to their parent list items for correct rendering.
 
+### GFM format
+
+When `--file-type gfm` is specified, the command generates a single GitHub Flavored Markdown file optimized for GitHub releases:
+
+- `changelog.md` - Contains all sections in a single file with clean headings
+- Clean section headings without anchor links (for example, `### Features and enhancements`)
+- Simplified structure focused on readability
+- Suitable for copy/pasting into GitHub releases
+
+The GFM output includes the following sections in order when entries are present:
+
+- Highlights (only included when at least one entry has `highlight: true`)
+- Features and enhancements
+- Breaking changes
+- Deprecations
+- Bug fixes (includes security updates)
+- Known issues
+- Documentation
+- Regressions
+- Other changes
+
+AsciiDoc output ignores the `--dropdowns` flag and always uses a standardized format with the following characteristics:
+
+- Multi-block entries (containing description, Impact, and Action sections) use proper list continuation markers (`+`) to maintain list structure
+- Strong text formatting uses idiomatic single asterisk syntax (`*Impact:*`, `*Action:*`) following AsciiDoc best practices
+- All content blocks are properly attached to their parent list items for correct rendering
+
 ### Multiple PR and issue links
 
 Changelog entries can reference multiple pull requests and issues via the `prs` and `issues` array fields. All links are rendered inline:
@@ -66,7 +93,7 @@ Changelog entries can reference multiple pull requests and issues via the `prs`
 # Render a single bundle
 docs-builder changelog render \
   --input "./docs/changelog/bundles/9.3.0.yaml" \
-  --output ./release-notes
+  --output ./release-notes \
 
 # Render with explicit changelog dir and repo
 docs-builder changelog render \
@@ -94,4 +121,10 @@ docs-builder changelog render \
   --input "./docs/changelog/bundles/9.3.0.yaml" \
   --output ./release-notes \
   --dropdowns
+
+# Render as GitHub Flavored Markdown
+docs-builder changelog render \
+  --input "./docs/changelog/bundles/9.3.0.yaml" \
+  --output ./release-notes \
+  --file-type gfm
 ```

src/services/Elastic.Changelog/Rendering/Asciidoc/AsciidocRendererBase.cs

@@ -63,9 +63,9 @@ private static void RenderEntryTitleAndLinks(StringBuilder sb, ChangelogEntry en
 	/// <summary>
 	/// Renders an entry's description with optional comment handling and list continuation
 	/// </summary>
-	private static void RenderEntryDescription(StringBuilder sb, ChangelogEntry entry, bool shouldHide, bool needsContinuation = true)
+	private static void RenderEntryDescription(StringBuilder sb, ChangelogEntry entry, ChangelogRenderContext context, bool shouldHide, bool needsContinuation = true)
 	{
-		if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entry.Description))
+		if (context.HideDescriptions || string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entry.Description))
 			return;
 
 		_ = sb.AppendLine();
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ protected void RenderBasicEntry(StringBuilder sb, ChangelogEntry entry, Changelo
 	{
 		var (entryRepo, _, hideLinks, shouldHide) = ChangelogRenderUtilities.GetEntryContext(entry, context);
 		RenderEntryTitleAndLinks(sb, entry, entryRepo, hideLinks, shouldHide);
-		RenderEntryDescription(sb, entry, shouldHide, needsContinuation: !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entry.Description));
+		RenderEntryDescription(sb, entry, context, shouldHide, needsContinuation: !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entry.Description));
 		_ = sb.AppendLine();
 	}
 
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ protected void RenderEntryWithImpactAction(StringBuilder sb, ChangelogEntry entr
 
 		// Description needs continuation when it exists
 		var hasDescription = !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entry.Description);
-		RenderEntryDescription(sb, entry, shouldHide, needsContinuation: hasDescription);
+		RenderEntryDescription(sb, entry, context, shouldHide, needsContinuation: hasDescription);
 
 		RenderImpactAndAction(sb, entry);
 		_ = sb.AppendLine();

src/services/Elastic.Changelog/Rendering/ChangelogRenderContext.cs

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ public record ChangelogRenderContext
 	public required IReadOnlyDictionary<ChangelogEntryType, IReadOnlyCollection<ChangelogEntry>> EntriesByType { get; init; }
 	public required bool Subsections { get; init; }
 	public required bool Dropdowns { get; init; }
+	public required bool HideDescriptions { get; init; }
 	public required HashSet<string> FeatureIdsToHide { get; init; }
 	public required Dictionary<ChangelogEntry, HashSet<string>> EntryToBundleProducts { get; init; }
 	public required Dictionary<ChangelogEntry, string> EntryToRepo { get; init; }

src/services/Elastic.Changelog/Rendering/ChangelogRenderer.cs

@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ public async Task RenderAsync(
 				await RenderMarkdownAsync(context, ctx);
 				break;
 
+			case ChangelogFileType.Gfm:
+				await RenderGfmAsync(context, ctx);
+				break;
+
 			default:
 				throw new ArgumentException($"Unknown changelog file type: {fileType}", nameof(fileType));
 		}
@@ -51,4 +55,11 @@ private async Task RenderMarkdownAsync(ChangelogRenderContext context, Cancel ct
 		await markdownRenderer.RenderAsync(context, ctx);
 		logger.LogInformation("Rendered changelog markdown files to {OutputDir}", context.OutputDir);
 	}
+
+	private async Task RenderGfmAsync(ChangelogRenderContext context, Cancel ctx)
+	{
+		var gfmRenderer = new ChangelogGfmRenderer(fileSystem);
+		await gfmRenderer.RenderAsync(context, ctx);
+		logger.LogInformation("Rendered changelog GFM file to {OutputDir}", context.OutputDir);
+	}
 }

src/services/Elastic.Changelog/Rendering/ChangelogRenderingService.cs

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ public record RenderChangelogsArguments
 	public string[]? HideFeatures { get; init; }
 	public string? Config { get; init; }
 	public ChangelogFileType FileType { get; init; } = ChangelogFileType.Markdown;
+	public bool HideDescriptions { get; init; }
 
 }
 
@@ -59,11 +60,14 @@ public enum ChangelogFileType
 	Markdown,
 	[Display(Name = "asciidoc")]
 	[JsonStringEnumMemberName("asciidoc")]
-	Asciidoc
+	Asciidoc,
+	[Display(Name = "gfm")]
+	[JsonStringEnumMemberName("gfm")]
+	Gfm
 }
 
 /// <summary>
-/// Service for rendering changelog output (markdown or asciidoc)
+/// Service for rendering changelog output (markdown, asciidoc, or gfm)
 /// </summary>
 public class ChangelogRenderingService(
 	ILoggerFactory logFactory,
@@ -341,6 +345,7 @@ private static ChangelogRenderContext BuildRenderContext(
 			EntriesByType = entriesByType,
 			Subsections = input.Subsections,
 			Dropdowns = input.Dropdowns,
+			HideDescriptions = input.HideDescriptions,
 			FeatureIdsToHide = featureIdsToHide,
 			EntryToBundleProducts = entryToBundleProducts,
 			EntryToRepo = entryToRepo,

src/services/Elastic.Changelog/Rendering/Markdown/BreakingChangesMarkdownRenderer.cs

@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ public override async Task RenderAsync(ChangelogRenderContext context, Cancel ct
 					{
 						// Dropdown rendering (current logic)
 						_ = sb.AppendLine(InvariantCulture, $"::::{{dropdown}} {ChangelogTextUtilities.Beautify(entry.Title)}");
-						_ = sb.AppendLine(entry.Description ?? "% Describe the functionality that changed");
+						if (!context.HideDescriptions)
+							_ = sb.AppendLine(entry.Description ?? "% Describe the functionality that changed");
 						_ = sb.AppendLine();
 						RenderPrIssueLinks(sb, new PrIssueLinkOptions(entry, entryRepo, entryOwner, entryHideLinks));
 
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ public override async Task RenderAsync(ChangelogRenderContext context, Cancel ct
 						_ = sb.AppendLine();
 
 						// Description with proper indentation
-						if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entry.Description))
+						if (!context.HideDescriptions && !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entry.Description))
 						{
 							_ = sb.AppendLine(ChangelogTextUtilities.Indent(entry.Description));
 							_ = sb.AppendLine();