From 6bb31ea5339bb785f6edcf387c8093fc9a8628cf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Valentin Haudiquet <valentin.haudiquet@canonical.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2026 12:03:49 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] chlog: add -f/--file to target a specific changelog

The changelog path was hardcoded to debian/changelog in the series
detection, the entry generation and the editor invocation. Packages
keeping the changelog elsewhere (e.g. a staging copy) could not use
chlog on it.

Add -f/--file defaulting to debian/changelog, threaded through all
three uses. The library side was already parameterized on the file,
so no changelog.rs behavior changes beyond a test pinning the
non-default path.
---
 README.md        |  3 +++
 src/changelog.rs | 46 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/main.rs      | 11 ++++++++---
 3 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index aeace56..dc7e985 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -112,6 +112,9 @@ pkh put --ppa user/hello_xxx
 git push xxx user-fork
 ```
 
+`pkh chlog` edits `debian/changelog` by default; point it at another file
+with `--file <path>` (`-f`).
+
 `pkh chlog` walks the commit history back to the previous changelog entry.
 Without a version tag, that search is capped at the last 500 commits
 (`--limit <n>`, `0` = unlimited): beyond the cap, the entry simply starts
diff --git a/src/changelog.rs b/src/changelog.rs
index 4471e00..b425a4b 100644
--- a/src/changelog.rs
+++ b/src/changelog.rs
@@ -1363,6 +1363,52 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!content.contains("* Initial commit"));
     }
 
+    /// A non-default changelog file (pkh chlog -f): the entry is
+    /// prepended to that file, and its version is parsed from it
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_generate_entry_custom_changelog_file() {
+        let temp_dir = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+        let repo_dir = temp_dir.path();
+        setup_repo(repo_dir);
+
+        let changelog_path = repo_dir.join("debian/changelog.local");
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(repo_dir.join("debian")).unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(
+            &changelog_path,
+            "mypackage (0.1.0-1) unstable; urgency=medium\n\n  * Initial release\n\n -- Maintainer <m@e.com>  Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000\n",
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+
+        let _identity = IDENTITY_LOCK.lock().await;
+        unsafe {
+            std::env::set_var("DEBFULLNAME", "Maintainer Maintainer");
+            std::env::set_var("DEBEMAIL", "maintainer@maintainer.com");
+        }
+        let entry = generate_entry(
+            "debian/changelog.local",
+            Some(repo_dir),
+            None,
+            None,
+            EntryKind::Normal,
+            0,
+        )
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+        unsafe {
+            std::env::remove_var("DEBFULLNAME");
+            std::env::remove_var("DEBEMAIL");
+        }
+
+        assert_eq!(entry.previous_version, "0.1.0-1");
+        assert_eq!(entry.new_version, "0.1.0-2");
+        let content = std::fs::read_to_string(&changelog_path).unwrap();
+        assert!(content.starts_with("mypackage (0.1.0-2) unstable; urgency=medium"));
+        assert!(content.contains("mypackage (0.1.0-1) unstable; urgency=medium"));
+
+        // The default file is not created next to it
+        assert!(!repo_dir.join("debian/changelog").exists());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_compute_new_version() {
         // Debian upload
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index fbe8024..905238f 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -329,6 +329,7 @@ fn main() {
                     .conflicts_with("rebuild"))
                 .arg(arg!(--rebuild "Number the entry as a no-change rebuild (1.0-1 becomes 1.0-1build1)").required(false))
                 .arg(arg!(-v --version <version> "Target version (overrides the --backport/--nmu/--rebuild numbering)").required(false))
+                .arg(arg!(-f --file <path> "Path to the changelog file to generate into and edit (default: debian/changelog)").required(false).default_value("debian/changelog"))
                 .arg(arg!(--limit <n> "Cap how far back the history is searched for the previous changelog entry when no version tag exists (0 = unlimited)").required(false)
                     .value_parser(clap::value_parser!(usize)).default_value("500")),
         )
@@ -667,6 +668,10 @@ fn main() {
                 .get_one::<usize>("limit")
                 .copied()
                 .unwrap_or(500);
+            let changelog_file = sub_matches
+                .get_one::<String>("file")
+                .map(|s| s.to_string())
+                .unwrap_or_else(|| "debian/changelog".to_string());
             let cwd = current_dir_or_exit();
             let version = sub_matches.get_one::<String>("version").map(|s| s.as_str());
             let cli_series = sub_matches.get_one::<String>("series").map(|s| s.as_str());
@@ -692,7 +697,7 @@ fn main() {
             let target_series = if let Some(s) = cli_series {
                 Some(s.to_string())
             } else {
-                let changelog_path = cwd.join("debian/changelog");
+                let changelog_path = cwd.join(&changelog_file);
                 match rt.block_on(pkh::changelog::series_candidates(&changelog_path)) {
                     Some(pkh::changelog::SeriesCandidates::Choose {
                         options,
@@ -720,7 +725,7 @@ fn main() {
             };
 
             let entry = match rt.block_on(pkh::changelog::generate_entry(
-                "debian/changelog",
+                &changelog_file,
                 Some(&cwd),
                 version,
                 target_series.as_deref(),
@@ -752,7 +757,7 @@ fn main() {
             };
             let _status = std::process::Command::new(&editor)
                 .current_dir(&cwd)
-                .args(["debian/changelog"])
+                .arg(&changelog_file)
                 .status()
                 .map_err(|e| {
                     error!(