diff --git a/misc/changelog-generator/changelog_generator.js b/misc/changelog-generator/changelog_generator.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..393b53b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/changelog-generator/changelog_generator.js
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+'use strict';
+
+var utils = require("./utils.js");
+
+// get log info (and latest tag if not first release)
+const child = require("child_process");
+const fs = require("fs");
+var output;
+
+const pastTags = child.execSync('git tag').toString('utf-8');
+if (pastTags.length) {
+  const latestTag = child.execSync('git describe --long').toString('utf-8').split('-')[0];
+  
+  output = child
+  .execSync(`git log ${latestTag}..HEAD --format=%B%H----DELIMITER----`)
+  .toString("utf-8");
+} else {
+  output = child
+  .execSync(`git log --format=%B%H----DELIMITER----`)
+  .toString("utf-8");
+}
+
+if (output.length === 0) {
+  console.log("No new indicated changes since last tag");
+  return process.exit(1);
+}
+
+// get array of commits since last tag
+const commitsArray = output
+.split("----DELIMITER----\n")
+.map(commit => {
+  const splitCommit = commit.split("\n");
+  const sha = splitCommit[1], message = splitCommit[0];
+  return { sha, message };
+})
+.filter(commit => Boolean(commit.sha));
+
+// get current version info
+const currNotes = fs.readFileSync("../../NEWS.md", "utf-8");
+const currVersion = (require("./package.json").version).split('.');
+
+var major = Number(currVersion[0]), minor = Number(currVersion[1]), patch = Number(currVersion[2]);
+
+// sort commits by message tags
+var changes = [], features = [], fixes = [];
+
+commitsArray.forEach(commit => {
+  
+  if (commit.message.toLowerCase().startsWith("breaking-change:")) {
+    changes = utils.parseMessage("breaking-change:", changes, commit);
+    
+  } else if (commit.message.toLowerCase().startsWith("feature:")) {
+    features = utils.parseMessage("feature:", features, commit);
+    
+  } else if (commit.message.toLowerCase().startsWith("fix:")) {
+    fixes = utils.parseMessage("fix:", fixes, commit);
+  }
+});
+
+// update package version (following semantic versioning)
+if (changes.length) {
+  major += 1;
+  minor = 0;
+  patch = 0;
+} else if (features.length) {
+  minor += 1;
+  patch = 0;
+} else if (fixes.length) {
+  patch += 1;
+}
+
+const newVersion = [String(major), String(minor), String(patch)].join('.');
+
+// format commits into markdown
+let newNotes = `# azuremlsdk ${newVersion} (${
+new Date().toISOString().split("T")[0]
+})\n\n`;
+
+if (changes.length) {
+  newNotes = utils.formatUpdates(newNotes, `## Breaking changes\n`, changes);
+}
+if (features.length) {
+  newNotes = utils.formatUpdates(newNotes, `## New features\n`, features);
+}
+if (fixes.length) {
+  newNotes = utils.formatUpdates(newNotes, `## Bug fixes\n`, fixes);
+}
+
+// prepend the new release notes to the current file
+fs.writeFileSync("./NEWS.md", `${newNotes}${currNotes}`);
+
+// update version in package.json
+fs.writeFileSync("./package.json", JSON.stringify({ version: String(newVersion) }, null, 2));
+
+// commit and tag new version
+child.execSync('git add .');
+child.execSync(`git commit -m "Bump to version ${newVersion}"`);
+child.execSync(`git tag -a -m "Tag for version ${newVersion}" version${newVersion}`);
diff --git a/misc/changelog-generator/instructions.md b/misc/changelog-generator/instructions.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5b03b7a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/changelog-generator/instructions.md
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+
+### Creating Pull Requests for Inclusion in NEWS.md
+
+If a PR is significant enough to warrant a mention in the next release notes update,
+its name should begin with a prefix. 
+There are three options depending on the PR's
+purpose.
+
+  * `breaking-change: ` if the change will make the next tag non-backward-compatible
+  * `feature: ` if the change is a major addition that maintains backward-compatibility
+  * `fix: ` if the change is a bug fix, security patch, or other improvement
+
+If the PR does not begin with one of these prefixes, it WILL NOT be included in
+the release notes, so make sure to name important PRs accordingly. 
+
+### Generating Notes and Creating a New Tag
+
+To update release notes for and commit a new git tag:
+
+1. Navigate to this directory in while on master branch
+2. Run `node changelog_generator.js` on the command line
+3. Confirm version was updated in package.json and notes were added to NEWS.md
+4. Push to **origin/master** (this can only be done by owners/admins).
+
+The generator follows semantic versioning, so:
+
+  * If there have been breaking changes since the last tag, it will increment the 1st (major) version digit by 1 and set the 2nd (minor) and 3rd (patch) to 0. (e.g. 0.6.8 → 1.0.0)
+  * If there have been no breaking changes, but there have been feature additions, it will increment the minor digit by 1 and set the patch digit to 0. (e.g. 0.6.8 → 0.7.0)
+  * If there have been no breaking changes nor feature additions, but there have been bug fixes, it will increment the patch digit by 1. (e.g. 0.6.8 → 0.6.9)
+
diff --git a/misc/changelog-generator/package.json b/misc/changelog-generator/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5d40f048
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/changelog-generator/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "version": "0.6.85"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/misc/changelog-generator/utils.js b/misc/changelog-generator/utils.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2f802cd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/changelog-generator/utils.js
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+
+function parseMessage(message_prefix, commitArray, commit) {
+/*
+  Strips commit message of prefix and pushes to returned array
+*/
+
+  commitArray.push(
+    `* ${commit.message.substring(message_prefix)} ([${commit.sha.substring(
+      0,
+      6
+    )}](https://github.com/Azure/azureml-sdk-for-r/commit/${
+      commit.sha
+    }))\n`
+  );
+  
+  return commitArray
+}
+
+function formatUpdates(notes, sectionHeading, messages) {
+/*
+  Format a section with a heading a corresponding commit messages
+*/
+
+  notes += sectionHeading;
+  messages.forEach(message => {
+    notes += message;
+  });
+  notes += '\n';
+  
+  return notes
+}
+
+exports.parseMessage = parseMessage;
+exports.formatUpdates = formatUpdates;
\ No newline at end of file