Version Badge Pattern

A reusable UI pattern for displaying application version with build metadata and recent changes.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...	Use alternative when...
Adding version display to app header/footer	Just need version in package.json
Want tooltip with changelog info	Only need static version text
Need accessible, keyboard-navigable version info	Building a non-interactive display
Implementing across React/Vue/Svelte	Using server-rendered only (no JS)

Pattern Overview

┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│  App Header              v1.43.0|004ddd9  ← Trigger (always visible)
└──────────────────────────────────────┘
                                 │
                                 ▼ (on hover/focus)
                    ┌─────────────────────────┐
                    │ Build Information       │
                    │ Version: 1.43.0         │
                    │ Commit:  004ddd97e8...  │
                    │ Built:   Dec 11, 10:00  │
                    │ Branch:  main           │
                    │─────────────────────────│
                    │ Recent Changes          │
                    │ v1.43.0                 │
                    │ ✨ New feature X        │
                    │ 🐛 Fixed bug Y          │
                    └─────────────────────────┘

Data Flow

CHANGELOG.md → parse-changelog.mjs → ENV_VAR → Component
package.json version ─────────────────────┘
git commit SHA ───────────────────────────┘

Build Script

Create scripts/parse-changelog.mjs:

#!/usr/bin/env node
/**
 * parse-changelog.mjs
 * Parses CHANGELOG.md for version badge tooltip
 *
 * Output: JSON array of versions with their changes
 * Usage: node scripts/parse-changelog.mjs
 */

import { readFileSync, existsSync } from 'fs';
import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
import { dirname, join } from 'path';

const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
const CHANGELOG_PATH = join(__dirname, '..', 'CHANGELOG.md');

const MAX_VERSIONS = 2;
const MAX_FEATURES = 3;
const MAX_OTHER = 2;

const CHANGE_TYPES = {
  feat: { icon: 'sparkles', label: 'Feature' },
  fix: { icon: 'bug', label: 'Bug Fix' },
  perf: { icon: 'zap', label: 'Performance' },
  breaking: { icon: 'warning', label: 'Breaking' },
  refactor: { icon: 'recycle', label: 'Refactor' },
  docs: { icon: 'book', label: 'Documentation' },
};

function parseChangelog() {
  if (!existsSync(CHANGELOG_PATH)) {
    console.log(JSON.stringify([]));
    return;
  }

  const content = readFileSync(CHANGELOG_PATH, 'utf-8');
  const lines = content.split('\n');

  const versions = [];
  let currentVersion = null;

  for (const line of lines) {
    const versionMatch = line.match(/^## \[?(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)\]?/);
    if (versionMatch) {
      if (currentVersion) {
        versions.push(currentVersion);
      }
      if (versions.length >= MAX_VERSIONS) break;

      currentVersion = {
        version: versionMatch[1],
        features: [],
        fixes: [],
        other: [],
      };
      continue;
    }

    if (!currentVersion) continue;

    const changeMatch = line.match(/^\* \*\*(\w+):\*?\*? (.+)$/);
    if (changeMatch) {
      const [, type, description] = changeMatch;
      const changeType = CHANGE_TYPES[type.toLowerCase()] || CHANGE_TYPES.refactor;

      const entry = {
        type: type.toLowerCase(),
        icon: changeType.icon,
        description: description.trim(),
      };

      if (type.toLowerCase() === 'feat' && currentVersion.features.length < MAX_FEATURES) {
        currentVersion.features.push(entry);
      } else if (type.toLowerCase() === 'fix' && currentVersion.fixes.length < MAX_OTHER) {
        currentVersion.fixes.push(entry);
      } else if (currentVersion.other.length < MAX_OTHER) {
        currentVersion.other.push(entry);
      }
    }
  }

  if (currentVersion) {
    versions.push(currentVersion);
  }

  console.log(JSON.stringify(versions.slice(0, MAX_VERSIONS)));
}

parseChangelog();

React + Tailwind + shadcn/ui Implementation

Component: components/version-badge.tsx

'use client';

import { useMemo } from 'react';
import {
  Tooltip,
  TooltipContent,
  TooltipProvider,
  TooltipTrigger,
} from '@/components/ui/tooltip';
import { cn } from '@/lib/utils';

interface BuildInfo {
  version: string;
  commit: string;
  branch: string;
  buildTime: string;
}

interface ChangeEntry {
  type: string;
  icon: string;
  description: string;
}

interface VersionEntry {
  version: string;
  features: ChangeEntry[];
  fixes: ChangeEntry[];
  other: ChangeEntry[];
}

const ICON_MAP: Record<string, string> = {
  sparkles: '✨',
  bug: '🐛',
  zap: '⚡',
  warning: '⚠️',
  recycle: '♻️',
  book: '📖',
};

function getIcon(iconName: string): string {
  return ICON_MAP[iconName] || '•';
}

export function VersionBadge() {
  const buildInfo = useMemo<BuildInfo | null>(() => {
    try {
      const raw = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_BUILD_INFO;
      return raw ? JSON.parse(raw) : null;
    } catch {
      return null;
    }
  }, []);

  const changelog = useMemo<VersionEntry[]>(() => {
    try {
      const raw = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_CHANGELOG;
      return raw ? JSON.parse(raw) : [];
    } catch {
      return [];
    }
  }, []);

  if (!buildInfo?.version || buildInfo.version === 'dev') {
    return null;
  }

  const shortCommit = buildInfo.commit?.slice(0, 7) || 'unknown';
  const formattedDate = buildInfo.buildTime
    ? new Date(buildInfo.buildTime).toLocaleString('en-US', {
        month: 'short',
        day: 'numeric',
        year: 'numeric',
        hour: 'numeric',
        minute: '2-digit',
        timeZoneName: 'short',
      })
    : 'Unknown';

  return (
    <TooltipProvider>
      <Tooltip delayDuration={300}>
        <TooltipTrigger asChild>
          <button
            className={cn(
              'text-[10px] text-muted-foreground/60',
              'hover:text-muted-foreground/80 transition-colors',
              'focus:outline-none focus:ring-1 focus:ring-ring focus:ring-offset-1',
              'rounded px-1'
            )}
            aria-label={`Version ${buildInfo.version}, commit ${shortCommit}`}
          >
            v{buildInfo.version} | {shortCommit}
          </button>
        </TooltipTrigger>
        <TooltipContent
          side="bottom"
          align="end"
          className="w-72 p-0"
        >
          <div className="p-3 space-y-3">
            {/* Build Information */}
            <div>
              <h4 className="text-xs font-semibold mb-2">Build Information</h4>
              <dl className="grid grid-cols-[auto_1fr] gap-x-3 gap-y-1 text-xs">
                <dt className="text-muted-foreground">Version</dt>
                <dd className="font-mono">{buildInfo.version}</dd>
                <dt className="text-muted-foreground">Commit</dt>
                <dd className="font-mono truncate" title={buildInfo.commit}>
                  {buildInfo.commit}
                </dd>
                <dt className="text-muted-foreground">Built</dt>
                <dd>{formattedDate}</dd>
                {buildInfo.branch && (
                  <>
                    <dt className="text-muted-foreground">Branch</dt>
                    <dd className="font-mono">{buildInfo.branch}</dd>
                  </>
                )}
              </dl>
            </div>

            {/* Recent Changes */}
            {changelog.length > 0 && (
              <div className="border-t pt-3">
                <h4 className="text-xs font-semibold mb-2">Recent Changes</h4>
                <div className="space-y-2">
                  {changelog.map((version) => (
                    <div key={version.version}>
                      <div className="text-xs font-medium text-muted-foreground mb-1">
                        v{version.version}
                      </div>
                      <ul className="space-y-0.5 text-xs">
                        {[...version.features, ...version.fixes, ...version.other].map(
                          (change, idx) => (
                            <li key={idx} className="flex gap-1.5">
                              <span>{getIcon(change.icon)}</span>
                              <span className="line-clamp-1">{change.description}</span>
                            </li>
                          )
                        )}
                      </ul>
                    </div>
                  ))}
                </div>
              </div>
            )}
          </div>
        </TooltipContent>
      </Tooltip>
    </TooltipProvider>
  );
}

Next.js Config: next.config.mjs

import { execSync } from 'child_process';

function getBuildInfo() {
  const version = process.env.npm_package_version || 'dev';
  const commit = process.env.VERCEL_GIT_COMMIT_SHA
    || process.env.GITHUB_SHA
    || execSyncSafe('git rev-parse HEAD')
    || 'local';
  const branch = process.env.VERCEL_GIT_COMMIT_REF
    || process.env.GITHUB_REF_NAME
    || execSyncSafe('git branch --show-current')
    || 'local';

  return { version, commit, branch, buildTime: new Date().toISOString() };
}

function execSyncSafe(cmd) {
  try {
    return execSync(cmd, { encoding: 'utf-8' }).trim();
  } catch {
    return null;
  }
}

function getChangelog() {
  try {
    return execSync('node scripts/parse-changelog.mjs', { encoding: 'utf-8' }).trim();
  } catch {
    return '[]';
  }
}

/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  env: {
    NEXT_PUBLIC_BUILD_INFO: JSON.stringify(getBuildInfo()),
    NEXT_PUBLIC_CHANGELOG: getChangelog(),
  },
};

export default nextConfig;

For Vue 3, Svelte, and plain CSS implementations, as well as accessibility checklist, see REFERENCE.md.

Agentic Optimizations

Context	Action
Quick implementation	Use /components:version-badge command
Check compatibility	/components:version-badge --check-only
Custom placement	/components:version-badge --location footer

Quick Reference

Framework	Env Prefix	Config File
Next.js	NEXT_PUBLIC_	next.config.mjs
Nuxt	NUXT_PUBLIC_	nuxt.config.ts
Vite	VITE_	vite.config.ts
SvelteKit	PUBLIC_	svelte.config.js
CRA	REACT_APP_	N/A (eject or craco)