diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3c3629e64..c9106a73f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 node_modules
+.nyc_output
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index ab1680399..bcf6c98bc 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -3,3 +3,7 @@ node_js:
   - "0.10"
   - "0.12"
   - "node"
+before_script:
+  - git config --global user.name 'Travis-CI'
+  - git config --global user.email 'dummy@example.org'
+after_success: npm run coverage
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 186da6844..04cbe923e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/conventional-changelog/standard-version.svg)](https://travis-ci.org/conventional-changelog/standard-version)
 [![NPM version](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/standard-version.svg)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/standard-version)
+[![Coverage Status](https://coveralls.io/repos/conventional-changelog/standard-version/badge.svg?branch=)](https://coveralls.io/r/conventional-changelog/standard-version?branch=master)
+[![Standard Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/standard-version-brightgreen.svg)](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version)
 
 > stop using `npm version`, use `standard-version` it does so much more:
 
@@ -36,6 +38,10 @@ When you're generating your changelog for the first time, simply do:
 
 ## Automating
 
+Do this:
+
+`npm i standard-version --save-dev`
+
 Add this to your _package.json_
 
 ```json
@@ -46,6 +52,14 @@ Add this to your _package.json_
 }
 ```
 
+## Badges!
+
+Tell your users that you adhere to the `standard-version` commit guidelines:
+
+```markdown
+[![Standard Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/standard-version-brightgreen.svg)](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version)
+```
+
 ## License
 
 ISC
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 7378f465b..2b9c2b0fc 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -37,15 +37,14 @@ var argv = require('yargs')
   .wrap(97)
   .argv
 
-var addStream = require('add-stream')
 var chalk = require('chalk')
+var figures = require('figures')
 var exec = require('child_process').exec
 var fs = require('fs')
+var accessSync = require('fs-access').sync
 var pkgPath = path.resolve(process.cwd(), './package.json')
 var pkg = require(pkgPath)
 var semver = require('semver')
-var tempfile = require('tempfile')
-var rimraf = require('rimraf')
 var util = require('util')
 
 conventionalRecommendedBump({
@@ -59,12 +58,11 @@ conventionalRecommendedBump({
   var newVersion = pkg.version
   if (!argv.firstRelease) {
     newVersion = semver.inc(pkg.version, release.releaseAs)
-
-    console.log(chalk.bold('1.') + ' bump version ' + chalk.bold(release.releaseAs) + ' in package.json (' + pkg.version + ' → ' + chalk.green(newVersion) + ')')
+    checkpoint('bumping version in package.json from %s to %s', [pkg.version, newVersion])
     pkg.version = newVersion
     fs.writeFileSync(pkgPath, JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2), 'utf-8')
   } else {
-    console.log(chalk.yellow('skip package.json update on first release'))
+    console.log(chalk.red(figures.cross) + ' skip version bump on first release')
   }
 
   outputChangelog(argv, function () {
@@ -75,15 +73,14 @@ conventionalRecommendedBump({
 })
 
 function outputChangelog (argv, cb) {
-  console.log(chalk.bold('2.') + ' update changelog (' + chalk.bold(argv.infile) + ')')
-
   createIfMissing(argv)
-
-  var readStream = fs.createReadStream(argv.infile)
-    .on('error', function (err) {
-      console.warn(chalk.yellow(err.message))
-    })
-
+  var header = '# Change Log\n\nAll notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. See [standard-version](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version) for commit guidelines.\n'
+  var oldContent = fs.readFileSync(argv.infile, 'utf-8')
+  // find the position of the last release and remove header:
+  if (oldContent.indexOf('<a name=') !== -1) {
+    oldContent = oldContent.substring(oldContent.indexOf('<a name='))
+  }
+  var content = ''
   var changelogStream = conventionalChangelog({
     preset: argv.preset,
     outputUnreleased: true,
@@ -91,27 +88,30 @@ function outputChangelog (argv, cb) {
       path: path.resolve(process.cwd(), './package.json')
     }
   })
-    .on('error', function (err) {
-      console.error(chalk.red(err.message))
-      process.exit(1)
-    })
-  var tmp = tempfile()
+  .on('error', function (err) {
+    console.error(chalk.red(err.message))
+    process.exit(1)
+  })
 
-  changelogStream
-    .pipe(addStream(readStream))
-    .pipe(fs.createWriteStream(tmp))
-    .on('finish', function () {
-      fs.createReadStream(tmp)
-        .pipe(fs.createWriteStream(argv.infile))
-        .on('finish', function () {
-          rimraf.sync(tmp)
-          return cb()
-        })
-    })
+  changelogStream.on('data', function (buffer) {
+    content += buffer.toString()
+  })
+
+  changelogStream.on('end', function () {
+    checkpoint('outputting changes to %s', [argv.infile])
+    fs.writeFileSync(argv.infile, header + '\n' + content + oldContent, 'utf-8')
+    return cb()
+  })
 }
 
 function commit (argv, newVersion, cb) {
-  console.log(chalk.bold('3.') + ' commit ' + chalk.bold('package.json') + ' and ' + chalk.bold(argv.infile))
+  var msg = 'committing %s'
+  var args = [argv.infile]
+  if (!argv.firstRelease) {
+    msg += ' and %s'
+    args.unshift('package.json')
+  }
+  checkpoint(msg, args)
   exec('git add package.json ' + argv.infile + ';git commit package.json ' + argv.infile + ' -m "' + formatCommitMessage(argv.message, newVersion) + '"', function (err, stdout, stderr) {
     var errMessage = null
     if (err) errMessage = err.message
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ function formatCommitMessage (msg, newVersion) {
 }
 
 function tag (newVersion, argv) {
-  console.log(chalk.bold('4.') + ' tag release (' + chalk.green(newVersion) + ')')
+  checkpoint('tagging release %s', [newVersion])
   exec('git tag -a v' + newVersion + ' -m "' + argv.message + '"', function (err, stdout, stderr) {
     var errMessage = null
     if (err) errMessage = err.message
@@ -143,12 +143,18 @@ function tag (newVersion, argv) {
 
 function createIfMissing (argv) {
   try {
-    fs.accessSync(argv.infile, fs.F_OK)
+    accessSync(argv.infile, fs.F_OK)
   } catch (err) {
     if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
-      console.log(chalk.green('creating ') + argv.infile)
+      checkpoint('created %s', [argv.infile])
       argv.outputUnreleased = true
-      fs.writeFileSync(argv.infile, '', 'utf-8')
+      fs.writeFileSync(argv.infile, '\n', 'utf-8')
     }
   }
 }
+
+function checkpoint (msg, args) {
+  console.info(chalk.green(figures.tick) + ' ' + util.format.apply(util, [msg].concat(args.map(function (arg) {
+    return chalk.bold(arg)
+  }))))
+};
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 59b6edd3b..8a75e3064 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
   "description": "replacement for `npm version` with automatic CHANGELOG generation",
   "bin": "index.js",
   "scripts": {
-    "test": "standard"
+    "pretest": "standard",
+    "coverage": "nyc report --reporter=text-lcov | coveralls",
+    "test": "nyc mocha --timeout=10000 test.js"
   },
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
@@ -26,16 +28,20 @@
   },
   "homepage": "https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version#readme",
   "dependencies": {
-    "add-stream": "^1.0.0",
     "chalk": "^1.1.3",
     "conventional-changelog": "^1.1.0",
     "conventional-recommended-bump": "^0.2.0",
-    "rimraf": "^2.5.2",
+    "figures": "^1.5.0",
+    "fs-access": "^1.0.0",
     "semver": "^5.1.0",
-    "tempfile": "^1.1.1",
     "yargs": "^4.3.2"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "chai": "^3.5.0",
+    "coveralls": "^2.11.9",
+    "mocha": "^2.4.5",
+    "nyc": "^6.2.1",
+    "shelljs": "^0.6.0",
     "standard": "^6.0.8"
   }
 }
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..62550f701
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+/* global describe it beforeEach afterEach */
+
+'use strict'
+
+var shell = require('shelljs')
+var fs = require('fs')
+var path = require('path')
+var cliPath = path.resolve(__dirname, './index.js')
+
+require('chai').should()
+
+function commit (msg) {
+  shell.exec('git commit --allow-empty -m"' + msg + '"')
+}
+
+describe('cli', function () {
+  beforeEach(function () {
+    shell.rm('-rf', 'tmp')
+    shell.config.silent = true
+    shell.mkdir('tmp')
+    shell.cd('tmp')
+    shell.exec('git init')
+    commit('root-commit')
+  })
+
+  afterEach(function () {
+    shell.cd('../')
+    shell.rm('-rf', 'tmp')
+  })
+
+  describe('CHANGELOG.md does not exist', function () {
+    it('populates changelog with commits since last tag by default', function () {
+      fs.writeFileSync('package.json', JSON.stringify({
+        version: '1.0.0'
+      }), 'utf-8')
+
+      commit('feat: first commit')
+      shell.exec('git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "my awesome first release"')
+      commit('fix: patch release')
+
+      shell.exec(cliPath).code.should.equal(0)
+
+      var content = fs.readFileSync('CHANGELOG.md', 'utf-8')
+      content.should.match(/patch release/)
+      content.should.not.match(/first commit/)
+    })
+
+    it('includes all commits if --first-release is true', function () {
+      fs.writeFileSync('package.json', JSON.stringify({
+        version: '1.0.1'
+      }), 'utf-8')
+
+      commit('feat: first commit')
+      commit('fix: patch release')
+      shell.exec(cliPath + ' --first-release').code.should.equal(0)
+
+      var content = fs.readFileSync('CHANGELOG.md', 'utf-8')
+      content.should.match(/patch release/)
+      content.should.match(/first commit/)
+      shell.exec('git tag').output.should.match(/1\.0\.1/)
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('CHANGELOG.md exists', function () {
+    it('appends the new release above the last release, removing the old header', function () {
+      fs.writeFileSync('package.json', JSON.stringify({
+        version: '1.0.0'
+      }), 'utf-8')
+      fs.writeFileSync('CHANGELOG.md', 'legacy header format<a name="1.0.0">\n', 'utf-8')
+
+      commit('feat: first commit')
+      shell.exec('git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "my awesome first release"')
+      commit('fix: patch release')
+
+      shell.exec(cliPath).code.should.equal(0)
+      var content = fs.readFileSync('CHANGELOG.md', 'utf-8')
+      content.should.match(/1\.0\.1/)
+      content.should.not.match(/legacy header format/)
+    })
+  })
+})