How should changelog files be commited?

[TheNeikos]

Should changelog additions be committed:

• With the changes themselves, included in the commit?
• In a separate commit, if so what should the message be?
• Something else?

I am wondering if suggestions could be added to the README and/or to the CONTRIBUTIONS

[matthiasbeyer]

IMO that depends on the changes that are documented.

If your changes are a bugfix and one commit, the changelog should be committed with the change. This way, if the fix was malicious, reverting it automatically reverts the changelog entry as well.

If your change is implemented in several commits, adding one more commit for the changelog is fine.
If a contributor doesnt want to use the tool, a maintainer can also file the changelog fragment in a seperate PR IMO.