Changes in version 3.0.0                        

Breaking Changes

  - flight_results-only API: All data processing functions
    (fa_summarize_prices(), fa_plot_prices(), and fa_find_best_dates())
    now only accept flight_results objects returned from
    fa_fetch_flights().
      - Removed support for direct data frame input
      - Removed support for query object or list of query objects input
      - Users must use fa_fetch_flights() to create flight_results
        objects before using analysis functions
      - Clear error messages guide users to the correct workflow

Rationale

This change simplifies the API by enforcing a consistent workflow:

1.  Create queries with fa_define_query() or fa_define_query_range()
2.  Fetch data with fa_fetch_flights() to get flight_results objects
3.  Analyze data with processing functions

                        Changes in version 2.1.0                        

API Improvements

Breaking Changes

  - Function Rename: fa_create_date_range() has been renamed to
    fa_define_query_range() for consistency with fa_define_query(). The
    old function has been removed.

New Features

  - flight_results Class: When fetching data for multiple queries (e.g.,
    from fa_define_query_range()), fa_fetch_flights() now returns a
    flight_results object that:
      - Contains a merged $data field with all flight data accessible
        directly
      - Preserves individual query objects as named elements (e.g.,
        $BOM, $DEL)
      - Has a dedicated print method for better display

Enhancements

  - Parameter Renaming: fa_summarize_prices() and fa_find_best_dates()
    now use flight_results as the parameter name instead of results for
    clarity and type safety
  - Improved Documentation: Updated all examples and documentation to
    use the new function names
  - Better Data Access: No need to manually merge data from multiple
    origins - access unified data via flights$data directly

Example

# Create queries for multiple origins
queries <- fa_define_query_range(
  origin = c("BOM", "DEL"),
  dest = "JFK",
  date_min = "2025-12-18",
  date_max = "2025-12-22"
)

# Fetch data - returns flight_results object with merged data
flights <- fa_fetch_flights(queries)

# Access merged data directly
flights$data

# Or access individual origin data
flights$BOM$data
flights$DEL$data

# Use with analysis functions
fa_summarize_prices(flights)
fa_find_best_dates(flights, n = 5)

                        Changes in version 2.0.0                        

Major API Redesign

This release represents a complete redesign of the package API following
Tidyverse conventions with consistent fa_ prefixing for all user-facing
functions.

Core Functions

Query Creation:

  - fa_define_query() - Create flight query objects for one-way,
    round-trip, chain-trip, or perfect-chain searches
  - fa_define_query_range() - Create query objects for multiple origins
    and dates

Data Fetching:

  - fa_fetch_flights() - Fetch flight data from Google Flights using
    chromote

Analysis Functions:

  - fa_summarize_prices() - Create wide summary table showing prices by
    city/airport and date
  - fa_find_best_dates() - Identify cheapest travel dates across routes

Example Usage

library(flightanalysis)

# Create a query
query <- fa_define_query("JFK", "IST", "2025-12-20", "2025-12-27")

# Fetch flight data
result <- fa_fetch_flights(query)

# Analyze results
summary <- fa_summarize_prices(result)
best <- fa_find_best_dates(result, n = 5)

Date Range Search

# Search multiple origins over a date range
queries <- fa_define_query_range(
  origin = c("BOM", "DEL", "VNS"),
  dest = "JFK",
  date_min = "2025-12-18",
  date_max = "2026-01-05"
)

# Fetch data for each origin
for (code in names(queries)) {
  queries[[code]] <- fa_fetch_flights(queries[[code]])
}

# Analyze all results
summary <- fa_summarize_prices(queries)
best_dates <- fa_find_best_dates(queries, n = 10, by = "mean")

Internal Functions

The following functions are internal and not exported:

  - Flight() - Used internally for parsing scraped data
  - flights_to_dataframe() - Converts flight objects to data frames

Package Organization

  - Functions organized by purpose:
    
      - fa_define_query_range.R - Date range query creation
      - fa_summarize_prices.R - Price summary tables
      - fa_find_best_dates.R - Best date identification
      - filter_placeholder_rows.R - Data cleaning helpers
      - scrape.R - Core query and fetching functionality

  - Comprehensive examples in examples/ directory

  - Full test coverage in tests/testthat/

  - Suggested dependencies: chromote, progress

                        Changes in version 1.0.0                        

  - Initial CRAN-ready release
  - Full R package implementation with chromote-based scraping
  - Support for one-way, round-trip, chain-trip, and perfect-chain
    queries
  - Driver-free browser automation using Chrome DevTools Protocol