Introducing the Open-Source Changelog Widget

The problem

You ship features every week, but your customers don't know. GitHub Releases are invisible to end users. Blog posts take too long to write. In-app notification tools cost $35–$100/month before you have paying customers.

We built the changelog widget to solve this. It's a tiny Web Component that shows a bell icon on your site. When users click it, they see your latest updates. If there are unread entries, a badge appears. That's it.

How it works

Two lines. No build step required:

The widget fetches entries from your Changelog.dev project via our public API. It renders inside Shadow DOM, so your page styles never interfere — and the widget styles never leak out.

Or install from npm

Then import it in your React, Vue, Svelte, or vanilla app:

Features

• +Zero dependencies — no React, no Vue, no framework required. Pure Web Components.
• +Shadow DOM isolation — styles never leak in or out. Works on any page.
• +Unread badge — tracks which entries the user has seen via localStorage.
• +Theme support — light, dark, or auto (follows system preference).
• +Under 8KB gzipped — tiny footprint, no impact on page load.
• +Keyboard accessible — Escape to close, focusable trigger button.
• +Mock data fallback — works offline or without an API for demos.

Why open source?

We want every SaaS product to have a changelog. The widget is the top of the funnel — it's genuinely useful on its own, and if you want hosted changelog pages, AI-generated entries, email subscribers, and a dashboard, that's what Changelog.dev is for.

The widget is MIT licensed. Fork it, extend it, self-host it. We don't mind. If it helps you ship a better product, that's the goal.

Configuration

Get started