---
title: changelog evaluate-pr
description: Evaluate a pull request for changelog generation eligibility. Performs pre-flight checks (body-only edit, bot loop detection, manual edit detection),...
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/tree/main/cli/changelog/evaluate-pr
products:
  - Elastic Docs Builder
---

# changelog evaluate-pr
<note>
  This command is intended for CI automation. It is used internally by the changelog GitHub Actions and is not typically invoked directly by users.
</note>

Evaluate a pull request for changelog generation eligibility.
Performs pre-flight checks (body-only edit, bot loop detection, manual edit detection), loads the changelog configuration, checks label-based creation rules, resolves the PR title and type, and sets GitHub Actions outputs for downstream steps.

## Usage

```sh
docs-builder changelog evaluate-pr [options...] [-h|--help]
```


## Options

<definitions>
  <definition term="--config <string>">
    Path to the `changelog.yml` configuration file.
  </definition>
  <definition term="--owner <string>">
    GitHub repository owner.
  </definition>
  <definition term="--repo <string>">
    GitHub repository name.
  </definition>
  <definition term="--pr-number <int>">
    Pull request number.
  </definition>
  <definition term="--pr-title <string>">
    Pull request title.
  </definition>
  <definition term="--pr-labels <string>">
    Comma-separated PR labels.
  </definition>
  <definition term="--head-ref <string>">
    PR head branch ref.
  </definition>
  <definition term="--head-sha <string>">
    PR head commit SHA.
  </definition>
  <definition term="--event-action <string>">
    GitHub event action (e.g., `opened`, `synchronize`, `edited`).
  </definition>
  <definition term="--title-changed">
    Whether the PR title changed (for `edited` events).
  </definition>
  <definition term="Default: false">
  </definition>
  <definition term="--strip-title-prefix">
    Remove square-bracket prefixes from the PR title (e.g., `[Inference API] Title` becomes `Title`).
  </definition>
  <definition term="Default: false">
  </definition>
  <definition term="--bot-name <string>">
    Bot login name for loop detection.
  </definition>
  <definition term="Default: github-actions[bot]">
  </definition>
</definitions>


## GitHub Actions outputs


| Output                        | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `status`                      | Evaluation result: `skipped`, `manually-edited`, `no-title`, `no-label`, or `proceed`                                                                                                                                                                |
| `should-generate`             | `true` if `changelog add` should run                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| `should-upload`               | `true` if the artifact should be uploaded                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| `title`                       | Resolved PR title                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| `description`                 | Release note extracted from the PR body (when `extract.release_notes` is enabled and a release note is found). Long or multi-line release notes (>120 characters) are placed here. Passed downstream as `CHANGELOG_DESCRIPTION` for `changelog add`. |
| `type`                        | Resolved changelog type                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| `products`                    | Comma-separated product specs resolved from PR labels via `pivot.products` mappings (e.g., `cloud-hosted, cloud-serverless`)                                                                                                                         |
| `label-table`                 | Markdown table of configured label-to-type mappings                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| `product-label-table`         | Markdown table of configured label-to-product mappings                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| `existing-changelog-filename` | Filename of a previously committed changelog for this PR (if any)                                                                                                                                                                                    |


## Environment variables


| Variable       | Purpose                                                            |
|----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `GITHUB_TOKEN` | GitHub API authentication for bot-commit and manual-edit detection |


## Examples

Evaluate PR #42 in the `elastic/elasticsearch` repository:
```sh
        docs-builder changelog evaluate-pr \
  --config docs/changelog.yml \
  --owner elastic \
  --repo elasticsearch \
  --pr-number 42 \
  --pr-title "Add new feature" \
  --pr-labels "enhancement,Team:Core" \
  --head-ref feature-branch \
  --head-sha abc123 \
  --event-action opened \
  --strip-title-prefix
```