- change the default placeholder pattern from ${{}} to #{{}} as this will work for both config.json files and the yaml (${{}} is reserved for github actions syntax)

src/configuration.ts

@@ -70,8 +70,8 @@ export const DefaultConfiguration: Configuration = {
     order: 'ASC', // the sorting order
     on_property: 'mergedAt' // the property to sort on. (mergedAt falls back to createdAt)
   },
-  template: '${{CHANGELOG}}', // the global template to host the changelog
-  pr_template: '- ${{TITLE}}\n   - PR: #${{NUMBER}}', // the per PR template to pick
+  template: '#{{CHANGELOG}}', // the global template to host the changelog
+  pr_template: '- #{{TITLE}}\n   - PR: ##{{NUMBER}}', // the per PR template to pick
   empty_template: '- no changes', // the template to use if no pull requests are found
   categories: [
     {

src/transform.ts

@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ function handlePlaceholder(
   placeholderPrMap: Map<string, string[]> | undefined /* map to keep replaced placeholder values with their key */,
   configuration: Configuration
 ): string {
-  let transformed = template.replaceAll(`\${{${key}}}`, configuration.trim_values ? value.trim() : value)
+  let transformed = template.replaceAll(`#{{${key}}}`, configuration.trim_values ? value.trim() : value)
   // replace custom placeholders
   const phs = placeholders.get(key)
   if (phs) {
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ function handlePlaceholder(
             createOrSet(placeholderPrMap, placeholder.name, extractedValue)
           }
           transformed = transformed.replaceAll(
-            `\${{${placeholder.name}}}`,
+            `#{{${placeholder.name}}}`,
             configuration.trim_values ? extractedValue.trim() : extractedValue
           )
 
@@ -542,9 +542,9 @@ function replacePrPlaceholders(
   let transformed = template
   for (const [key, values] of placeholderPrMap) {
     for (let i = 0; i < values.length; i++) {
-      transformed = transformed.replaceAll(`\${{${key}[${i}]}}`, configuration.trim_values ? values[i].trim() : values[i])
+      transformed = transformed.replaceAll(`#{{${key}[${i}]}}`, configuration.trim_values ? values[i].trim() : values[i])
     }
-    transformed = transformed.replaceAll(`\${{${key}[*]}}`, values.join(''))
+    transformed = transformed.replaceAll(`#{{${key}[*]}}`, values.join(''))
   }
   return transformed
 }
@@ -553,7 +553,7 @@ function cleanupPrPlaceholders(template: string, placeholders: Map<string, Place
   let transformed = template
   for (const [, phs] of placeholders) {
     for (const ph of phs) {
-      transformed = transformed.replaceAll(new RegExp(`\\$\\{\\{${ph.name}(?:\\[.+?\\])?\\}\\}`, 'gu'), '')
+      transformed = transformed.replaceAll(new RegExp(`#\\{\\{${ph.name}(?:\\[.+?\\])?\\}\\}`, 'gu'), '')
     }
   }
   return transformed
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ function cleanupPrPlaceholders(template: string, placeholders: Map<string, Place
 function cleanupPlaceholders(template: string): string {
   let transformed = template
   for (const phs of ['REVIEWS', 'REFERENCED', 'ASSIGNEES', 'REVIEWERS', 'APPROVERS']) {
-    transformed = transformed.replaceAll(new RegExp(`\\$\\{\\{${phs}\\[.+?\\]\\..*?\\}\\}`, 'gu'), '')
+    transformed = transformed.replaceAll(new RegExp(`#\\{\\{${phs}\\[.+?\\]\\..*?\\}\\}`, 'gu'), '')
   }
   return transformed
 }

src/utils.ts

@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ function readConfiguration(filename: string): Configuration | undefined {
 export function parseConfiguration(config: string): Configuration | undefined {
   try {
     // for compatiblity with the `yml` file we require to use `#{{}}` instead of `${{}}` - replace it here.
-    const configurationJSON: Configuration = JSON.parse(config.replace(/#{{/g, '${{'))
+    const configurationJSON: Configuration = JSON.parse(config.replace(/\${{/g, '#{{'))
     return configurationJSON
   } catch (error) {
     core.info(`⚠️ Configuration provided, but it couldn't be parsed. Fallback to Defaults.`)