11 Release Note Templates

A release notes template is a fixed outline for announcing a change: headline, date, what changed, who it affects, what to do, and where to get help. Below is a universal skeleton you can copy, followed by eleven formats grouped by job: tiered (by size of change), time-based (digests), and tactical (bug fixes, deprecations, and follow-ups). For finished real-world pages, see release notes examples.

Universal release note template (copy and paste)

[Outcome headline: what the reader can now do]
[Date] · [Version, if technical readers need it] · [Plans / roles / platforms affected]
[1–2 sentences: what changed and why it matters to the reader]
Action needed: [What the reader must do, and by when. Delete if none.]
New
- [Capability, written as a reader outcome]
Improved
- [Enhancement]
Fixed
- [Symptom the reader saw, now resolved]
Deprecated / breaking: [What is going away, when, and what to use instead. Delete if none.]
Known issues: [Limitation + workaround. Delete if none.]
Learn more: [Help doc] · [Migration guide] · [Contact / feedback link]

Delete any section you don't need. A Tier 3 note might keep only the headline, the date, and one Improved line. Each template below is a version of this skeleton tuned to one job.

Why templates help

Teams stall on release notes when every update starts from a blank page. A template does not replace judgment; it removes the ritual of reinventing structure so writers can spend energy on what changed and why it matters to the reader.

• Consistency — Readers learn where to look for impact, action, and help.
• Speed — PM/PMM can draft faster when the skeleton is fixed.
• Severity signal — Tiered formats keep a Tier-1 launch from looking like a bug fix (and the reverse).

The 11 templates at a glance

Tiered release note templates

1. Tier 1 Release

Use when the release changes what customers can do in a material way. Pair with a release communication plan—the note is one artifact in a larger launch, not the whole launch.

Answer these six questions:

1. What are you introducing?
2. What else ships with it?
3. What matters most for the reader?
4. What else went live? (optional)
5. What does the reader need to do? (optional)
6. Where do they learn more or get help?

Introducing Invoice Approvals
September 15 · Pro and Enterprise
The slowest part of month-end is chasing approvals over email. Invoice
Approvals moves that workflow into billing: reviewers approve, reject, or
request changes without leaving the product.
What's included
- Approve / reject / request changes on any invoice
- "Pending my review" filter on the invoice list
- Approver and approval date printed on invoice PDFs
Also in this release
- Shared comment threads on invoice line items
What you need to do
Admins: assign the "Invoice approver" role in Settings → Roles.
Learn more
Setup guide · Live walkthrough on Sept 22 · Contact support

2. Tier 2 Release

Meaningful functionality that deserves a clear note without Tier-1 fanfare. Lead with the reader outcome, then 2–4 bullets of what changed.

Faster CSV exports for large workspaces

September 8 · All plans

Exports that used to time out on large accounts now stream in the background. You will get an email when the file is ready—no need to keep the tab open.

3. Tier 3 Release

Small enhancements and polish. Keep it short: one sentence of impact, then a tight list. Avoid dressing Tier-3 work as a launch.

Small improvements this week

• Search remembers your last filter on the projects list.
• Date pickers respect workspace timezone everywhere.

Time-based release note templates

Digests need a standing cadence—see communication best practices for per-release vs digest timing.

4. Weekly Recap

One short summary of everything shipped that week so readers stay current without opening every item.

Weekly recap — week of March 3

• New: Saved views on the activity feed.
• Improved: Faster load on the dashboard for large accounts.
• Fixed: Invite emails failing for SSO-only workspaces.

5. Monthly Roundup

Group by theme or product area. Prefer narrative clustering over a raw dump of tickets.

March roundup: reporting and permissions

This month we focused on clearer reporting and tighter admin control…

6. Quarterly Digest

Show direction and momentum for buyers, exec sponsors, and infrequent readers—not every line item.

Q1 digest: reliability and admin control

Three themes defined the quarter: fewer export failures, clearer audit logs, and admin tools that match how your teams actually work…

Tactical release note templates

7. Bug Fix

Name the symptom customers saw, confirm the fix, and say who was affected. Skip ticket IDs unless your audience is engineers.

Fixed: duplicate charges on annual renewals

Some annual plans were billed twice when payment methods were updated mid-cycle. That path is fixed. Affected accounts will see an automatic credit within five business days.

For outages and incidents in progress, use your incident communication process rather than a release note. The release note is the record after the fix. Atlassian's incident communication guide is a useful reference for the in-progress part.

8. Sneak Peek

Set expectations: what is ready to try, what is still changing, and how to opt in or out.

Sneak peek: redesigned navigation (opt-in)

We are testing a denser sidebar with fewer nested menus. It is opt-in from Settings → Early access. Labels and placement may still change before general availability.

9. Deprecation

State what is going away, when, what to use instead, and who to contact. For the full warn → remind → cutover playbook, use breaking changes.

Deprecation: Legacy Reports API (v1)

v1 stops accepting new tokens on June 30 and shuts down on September 30. Migrate to Reports API v2. Migration guide and support alias are linked below.

10. Follow-up

One of the highest-leverage and least-used formats: close the loop on a prior launch with polish, fixes, or “we heard you” changes. Link back to the original note.

Follow-up: Invoice Approvals

Since launch we fixed bulk-approve timeouts and added a “pending my review” filter. If you tried Approvals in the first week and bounced, it is worth another look.

11. Feature Announcement

A single capability that deserves focus without a full Tier-1 launch kit. One outcome headline, short why, what to do next.

New: Shared comment threads on invoices

Approvers and requesters can now discuss a line item in context instead of forwarding PDFs. Open any invoice → Comments to try it.

Variants for developer and app-store notes

Developer or API release notes. Keep the same skeleton, but add version numbers, affected endpoints or SDKs, and code-level migration steps. Put breaking changes in their own section at the top. If you keep a public changelog, many developer audiences expect the Keep a Changelog conventions and semantic versioning. More on changelogs and breaking changes.

v4.2.0 · 2026-09-15
Breaking: `GET /v1/exports` removed. Use `GET /v2/exports` (migration guide ↗).
Added: `status` filter on `GET /v2/invoices`.
Fixed: Webhook retries no longer send duplicate `invoice.approved` events.

App store "What's new" text. Store listings are short. Google Play allows up to 500 characters per language, and Apple's App Store allows up to 4,000 characters, but listings typically show only the opening lines until the reader expands them. Lead with the single most noticeable change, then a short list, and link to your full release notes for detail. Avoid "Bug fixes and performance improvements" as the whole note. It tells readers nothing.

Release notes email template

For a lot of your customers, the email is the release note. It has to make sense on its own, in a crowded inbox, in about ten seconds. Use this template to turn any of the formats above into an email: keep one clear call to action, put anything the reader has to do near the top, and link to the full note instead of pasting all of it.

Subject: [Outcome headline, under ~50 characters]
Preview text: [One line that finishes the subject's thought]
Hi [First name],
[1–2 sentences: what changed and why it matters to you.]
What you need to do: [Action and deadline. Delete if none.]
What's new
- [Capability, written as a reader outcome]
- [Capability]
[Button: Try it now → deep link to the feature]
Also in this release
- [Smaller improvement]
- [Fix, described as the symptom the reader saw]
Full release notes: [link]
Questions? Reply to this email or visit [help doc].
[Manage update preferences] · [Unsubscribe]

A few rules keep release emails from getting ignored. Lead the subject line with what the reader can now do, not the feature name. Send it only to the people the change affects, and only once the change is live for them. If the email has to warn about a deadline or a breaking change, say so in the subject line and again in the first sentence.

Need a different email for launches, digests, fixes or deprecations? Grab all six from product update email templates.

AI-assisted drafts (evergreen)

AI can draft from tickets, commits, or a PM outline—but audience and ownership still decide quality. Treat model output as a first draft into one of the eleven formats above, then edit for reader impact. Automation workflows are covered on how to automate release notes.

Frequently asked questions

How many release note templates do I actually need?

Most teams run well on a tiered trio plus one digest and deprecation/follow-up when needed. This catalog lists eleven so you can pick by job—not so every release uses a different format.

Who should fill in the template?

Whoever owns the customer-facing note for that release—usually PM or PMM—with engineering accuracy review. Ownership models live on who writes release notes.

Should digests replace per-release notes?

No. Digests reduce noise for frequent shippers; Tier-1 and breaking changes still need dedicated notes. See timing guidance on best practices.

Where do examples of finished notes live?

Pattern references and curated public pages are on examples.

What format should release notes follow?

Use the same order every time so readers learn where to look: an outcome headline, the date and who it applies to, a one- or two-sentence summary, any action the reader must take, then changes grouped under New, Improved, and Fixed. The universal template at the top of this page follows that format. Delete the sections that don't apply instead of leaving them empty.

Can I send these release note templates as emails?

Yes, but trim them first. Email readers skim, so keep the headline, the summary, any required action, and one link to the full note. The release notes email template above is built for exactly that.

Publishing the same note everywhere

If your bottleneck is publishing the same note across email, in-app, and a public page—not inventing the outline—a dedicated release-notes workspace can help. Start from the craft and templates above either way.