[dermatz]

Summary

Dependency updates currently show up under Added in the changelog (see the 0.29.0 release PR), because Dependabot copies the style of recent commits and titles its PRs feat(deps): ... / feat(deps-dev): .... That also triggers a minor version bump and the Feature label for plain dependency bumps.

Changes

• .github/dependabot.yml: set commit-message.prefix: deps for the composer and github-actions ecosystems, so PRs are titled deps: ....
• release-please-config.json: new changelog section deps -> Maintenance (visible). chore stays hidden, so linter upgrades and similar chores do not clutter the release notes.
• CONTRIBUTING.md and docs/development.md: document the deps: type.

Notes

• deps is a releasable type in Release Please, so it causes a patch bump instead of a minor bump.
• The PR Title check from ci: check PR titles for Conventional Commits #269 must accept the deps type, otherwise Dependabot PRs would fail it. That is handled in ci: check PR titles for Conventional Commits #269.
• Existing entries in already generated release PRs are not rewritten, the change applies to new Dependabot PRs.

Testing

• release-please-config.json parses as valid JSON.
• trunk check on the four changed files reports no issues.
• The Dependabot behaviour itself cannot be tested locally and will only show with the next Dependabot PR.

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

The PR title workflow still rejects the new deps prefix, causing Composer and GitHub Actions Dependabot PRs to fail the check until its allowed-type pattern and diagnostic message are updated.

1 open issue

• Allow deps in the PR title workflow · New

What changed in this PR

This PR gives Dependabot updates a dedicated deps: type so Release Please lists them under Maintenance rather than Added.

Changes:

• Set the deps commit-message prefix for Composer and GitHub Actions updates.
• Add a visible Maintenance changelog section while keeping chore hidden.
• Document the new type and its expected patch-version behaviour.

File	Description
release-please-config.json	Map deps to the visible Maintenance section.
docs/​development.md	Add deps: to the changelog section reference.
CONTRIBUTING.md	Document dependency updates and expected versioning.
.github/​dependabot.yml	Set both ecosystems to use the deps prefix.

_{Review effort: Balanced}

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

The guide permits plain merges that can omit deps: PRs with non-conventional commits from the changelog, so it should retain the squash-merge requirement and require the valid PR title as the squash commit message.

2 open issues

• Allow deps in the PR title workflow
• Use the PR title as the squash commit message for changelog entries · New

_{Review effort: Balanced}