GitLab does not have merge request number for new contributors

[joergklein]

Please take a look at cliff.toml and GitLab (Discussion #730)

new contributors Needs the merge_number after the !
There seems to be a bug with this, I'm not sure what is going on. Feel free to create a separate issue and I can look into it.

In the meantime you can add a guard like this:

{% for contributor in contributors %}
  {% if contributor.pr_number -%}\
    * [@{{ contributor.username }}](https://gitlab.com/{{ contributor.username }}) made their first contribution in [!{{ contributor.pr_number }}](<REPO>/-/merge_requests/{{ contributor.pr_number }})\
  {% endif -%}\
{%- endfor %}\n

Is it possible to put this lines into the code below? The error message witch I get is:

 git-cliff -r . > CHANGELOG.md
 WARN  git_cliff_core::changelog > You are using an experimental feature! Please report bugs at <https://git-cliff.org/issues>
 ERROR git_cliff                 > Template render error:
Variable `contributors` not found in context while rendering 'template'
Cleaning up project directory and file based variables
00:00
ERROR: Job failed: exit code 1

cliff.toml

# git-cliff ~ configuration file
# https://git-cliff.org/docs/configuration

[remote.gitlab]
owner = "user"
repo = "test"
token = ""

[changelog]
# template for the changelog body
# https://keats.github.io/tera/docs/#introduction
header = """
# Changelog\n
This is an automated changelog based on the commits in this repository.\n

### Releases

Check the notes in the [releases](https://gitlab.com/user/test/-/releases) for more information.
"""
# https://keats.github.io/tera/docs/#introduction
body = """
{% if version -%}\
    ## [{{ version | trim_start_matches(pat="v") }}] - {{ timestamp | date(format="%Y-%m-%d") }}
{% else %}\
    ## [Unreleased]
{% endif -%}\

{% for group, commits in commits | group_by(attribute="group") %}
    ### {{ group | upper_first }}
    {% for commit in commits %}
        - {% if commit.breaking %}[**breaking**] {% endif %}{{ commit.message | upper_first | trim }} ([{{ commit.id | truncate(length=7, end="") }}](<REPO>/commit/{{ commit.id }}))\
            {% if commit.gitlab.username and commit.gitlab.username != remote.gitlab.owner %} by [@{{ commit.gitlab.username }}](https://gitlab.com/{{ commit.gitlab.username }}){%- endif -%}
            {% if commit.gitlab.pr_number %} in [#{{ commit.gitlab.pr_number }}]( <REPO>/-/commit/{{ commit.gitlab.pr_number }}){%- endif -%}
    {% endfor %}
{% endfor %}

{%- if gitlab.contributors | filter(attribute="is_first_time", value=true) | length != 0 %}
  ## New Contributors
{%- endif -%}

{% for contributor in gitlab.contributors | filter(attribute="is_first_time", value=true) %}
  * [@{{ contributor.username }}](https://gitlab.com/{{ contributor.username }}) made their first contribution in [!{{ contributor.pr_number }}](<REPO>/-/merge_requests/{{ contributor.pr_number }})\
{%- endfor %}\n
"""
# changelog footer
footer = """
{% for release in releases -%}
    {% if release.version -%}
        {% if release.previous.version -%}
            [{{ release.version | trim_start_matches(pat="v") }}]: \
                <REPO>/-/compare/{{ release.previous.version }}...{{ release.version }}
        {% endif -%}
    {% else -%}
        [unreleased]: <REPO>/-/compare/{{ release.previous.version }}...HEAD
    {% endif -%}
{% endfor %}
"""
# remove the leading and trailing whitespace from the template
trim = true
postprocessors = [
  { pattern = '<REPO>', replace = "https://gitlab.com/joklein/test" }, # replace repository URL
]

[git]
# https://www.conventionalcommits.org
# parse the commits based on https://www.conventionalcommits.org
conventional_commits = true
# filter out the commits that are not conventional
filter_unconventional = true
# process each line of a commit as an individual commit
split_commits = false
# regex for preprocessing the commit messages
commit_preprocessors = [
  # Replace issue numbers
  { pattern = '\((\w+\s)?#([0-9]+)\)', replace = "([#${2}](<REPO>/issues/${2}))" },
  { pattern = '\((\w+\s)?#([0-9]+)\)', replace = "([#${2}](<REPO>/merge_requests/${2}))" },
  { pattern = '\(!([0-9]+)\)', replace = "([!${1}](<REPO>/-/merge_requests/${1}))" },
]
commit_parsers = [
  { message = "^feat", group = "Features" },
  { message = "^fix", group = "Bug Fixes" },
  { message = "^doc", group = "Documentation" },
  { message = "^perf", group = "Performance" },
  { message = "^refactor", group = "Refactor" },
  { message = "^style", group = "Styling" },
  { message = "^test", group = "Testing" },
  { message = "^chore\\(release\\): prepare for", skip = true },
  { message = "^chore\\(deps\\)", skip = true },
  { message = "^chore\\(pr\\)", skip = true },
  { message = "^chore\\(commit\\)", skip = true },
  { message = "^chore|ci", group = "Miscellaneous Tasks" },
  { body = ".*security", group = "Security" },
  { message = "^revert", group = "Revert" },
]
# protect breaking changes from being skipped due to matching a skipping commit_parser
protect_breaking_commits = false
# filter out the commits that are not matched by commit parsers
filter_commits = false
# regex for matching git tags
# tag_pattern = "v[0-9].*"
# regex for skipping tags
# skip_tags = ""
# regex for ignoring tags
# ignore_tags = ""
# sort the tags topologically
topo_order = false
# sort the commits inside sections by oldest/newest order
sort_commits = "newest"
# limit the number of commits included in the changelog.
# limit_commits = 42

[welcome]

Thanks for opening your first issue at git-cliff! Be sure to follow the issue template! ⛰️

[orhun]

You can update the body like so:

body = """
{% if version -%}\
    ## [{{ version | trim_start_matches(pat="v") }}] - {{ timestamp | date(format="%Y-%m-%d") }}
{% else %}\
    ## [Unreleased]
{% endif -%}\

{% for group, commits in commits | group_by(attribute="group") %}
    ### {{ group | upper_first }}
    {% for commit in commits %}
        - {% if commit.breaking %}[**breaking**] {% endif %}{{ commit.message | upper_first | trim }} ([{{ commit.id | truncate(length=7, end="") }}](<REPO>/commit/{{ commit.id }}))\
            {% if commit.gitlab.username and commit.gitlab.username != remote.gitlab.owner %} by [@{{ commit.gitlab.username }}](https://gitlab.com/{{ commit.gitlab.username }}){%- endif -%}
            {% if commit.gitlab.pr_number %} in [#{{ commit.gitlab.pr_number }}]( <REPO>/-/commit/{{ commit.gitlab.pr_number }}){%- endif -%}
    {% endfor %}
{% endfor %}

{%- if gitlab.contributors | filter(attribute="is_first_time", value=true) | length != 0 %}
  ## New Contributors
{%- endif -%}

{% for contributor in contributors %}
  {% if contributor.pr_number -%}\
    * [@{{ contributor.username }}](https://gitlab.com/{{ contributor.username }}) made their first contribution in [!{{ contributor.pr_number }}](<REPO>/-/merge_requests/{{ contributor.pr_number }})\
  {% endif -%}\
{%- endfor %}\n
"""