Connecting Your GitHub Repository

ShipRelay connects to your GitHub repositories via a GitHub App with read-only repository access.

What we access

  • Repository metadata (name, description, tags)
  • Commit messages and history between tags
  • Pull request titles and descriptions
  • Your email address (for account identification)

What we never access

  • Source code file contents
  • Issues, discussions, or wiki
  • Repository settings or secrets
  • Write access of any kind

How to connect

  1. From your dashboard, click Connect Repository
  2. If this is your first time, you'll be prompted to install the ShipRelay GitHub App and authorize access
  3. Select the repository you want to connect
  4. ShipRelay receives tag events automatically via the GitHub App installation

Automatic changelog generation

Once connected, pushing a new version tag (e.g., v1.2.0) triggers automatic draft generation. ShipRelay compares the new tag to the previous tag and generates a changelog from the commits and PRs in between.

Tag format

ShipRelay detects tags matching common semver patterns: v1.0.0, 1.0.0, v1.0.0-beta.1, release-1.0.0. Tags must be pushed to GitHub (local-only tags won't trigger the webhook).

Disconnecting a repository

Go to your repository settings and click Disconnect. This removes the repository from ShipRelay. Your published changelogs remain available on the hosted page. To fully revoke access, you can also uninstall the ShipRelay GitHub App from your GitHub account settings.

Free tier limits

Free accounts can connect 1 repository. Solo plans support up to 3. Team plans have unlimited repositories.

Important

The ShipRelay GitHub App requests read-only access to repository contents, commits, pull requests, and metadata. For authentication, we request your email address. The app uses installation access tokens scoped to only the repositories you grant access to — we never have broad access to your GitHub account.