diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..90e4844
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Changelog
+
+## Unreleased - 11.9.2023
+
+### Added
+
+- `YRoomMessage.has_edits: bool` flag indicating data changes have occurred.
+
+## v0.0.8
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c7275bf..282b1f3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -15,3 +15,11 @@ pip install yroom
 ## API
 
 See `yroom.pyi`.
+
+## Development
+
+[Maturin](https://www.maturin.rs) can be used to build `Yroom` inside a virtual environment.
+
+```
+maturin develop
+```
diff --git a/src/roomsync.rs b/src/roomsync.rs
index e4fd8b6..9dfbb58 100644
--- a/src/roomsync.rs
+++ b/src/roomsync.rs
@@ -235,6 +235,8 @@ pub struct YRoomMessage {
     pub payloads: PyObject,
     #[pyo3(get)]
     pub broadcast_payloads: PyObject,
+    #[pyo3(get)]
+    pub has_edits: PyObject,
 }
 
 fn make_payloads(py: Python, payloads: &[Vec<u8>]) -> PyObject {
@@ -242,17 +244,18 @@ fn make_payloads(py: Python, payloads: &[Vec<u8>]) -> PyObject {
 }
 
 impl YRoomMessage {
-    fn from_payloads(payloads: &[Vec<u8>], broadcast_payloads: &[Vec<u8>]) -> YRoomMessage {
+    fn from_payloads(payloads: &[Vec<u8>], broadcast_payloads: &[Vec<u8>], has_edits: bool) -> YRoomMessage {
         Python::with_gil(|py| YRoomMessage {
             payloads: make_payloads(py, payloads),
             broadcast_payloads: make_payloads(py, broadcast_payloads),
+            has_edits: has_edits.into_py(py),
         })
     }
 }
 
 impl Default for YRoomMessage {
     fn default() -> Self {
-        YRoomMessage::from_payloads(&[], &[])
+        YRoomMessage::from_payloads(&[], &[], false)
     }
 }
 
@@ -260,8 +263,8 @@ impl Default for YRoomMessage {
 impl YRoomMessage {
     pub fn __str__(&self) -> String {
         format!(
-            "YRoomMessage(payloads: {}, broadcast_payloads: {})",
-            self.payloads, self.broadcast_payloads
+            "YRoomMessage(payloads: {}, broadcast_payloads: {}, has_edits: {})",
+            self.payloads, self.broadcast_payloads, self.has_edits
         )
     }
 
@@ -360,7 +363,7 @@ impl YRoomManager {
 
     pub fn disconnect(&mut self, room: String, conn_id: u64) -> YRoomMessage {
         let broadcast_payload = self.get_room(&room).disconnect(conn_id);
-        YRoomMessage::from_payloads(&[], &broadcast_payload)
+        YRoomMessage::from_payloads(&[], &broadcast_payload, false)
     }
 
     pub fn has_room(&self, room: String) -> bool {
@@ -534,6 +537,7 @@ impl YRoom {
         Python::with_gil(|py| YRoomMessage {
             payloads: make_payloads(py, &payloads),
             broadcast_payloads: make_payloads(py, &[]),
+            has_edits: false.into_py(py),
         })
     }
 
@@ -563,6 +567,7 @@ impl YRoom {
             self.settings.disable_pipelining,
             decoder.document_name.clone(),
         );
+        let mut has_edits = false;
 
         decoder.for_each(|message_result| match message_result {
             Ok(message) => match message {
@@ -598,6 +603,7 @@ impl YRoom {
                         }
                         Err(e) => log::error!("Error decoding sync step 2: {}", e),
                     }
+                    has_edits = true;
                 }
                 Message::Sync(SyncMessage::Update(data)) => {
                     let update = Update::decode_v1(&data);
@@ -610,6 +616,7 @@ impl YRoom {
                         }
                         Err(e) => log::error!("Error decoding update: {}", e),
                     }
+                    has_edits = true;
                 }
                 Message::Auth(_) => {
                     // TODO: check this. Always reply with permission granted
@@ -657,7 +664,7 @@ impl YRoom {
                 log::warn!("Bad message from connection {}: {:?}", conn_id, err);
             }
         });
-        YRoomMessage::from_payloads(&sync_encoder.to_vecs(), &update_encoder.to_vecs())
+        YRoomMessage::from_payloads(&sync_encoder.to_vecs(), &update_encoder.to_vecs(), has_edits)
     }
 
     pub fn disconnect(&mut self, conn_id: u64) -> Vec<Vec<u8>> {
diff --git a/yroom.pyi b/yroom.pyi
index 3ebea0e..e8c67fc 100644
--- a/yroom.pyi
+++ b/yroom.pyi
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ class YRoomMessage:
     `payload` is a message that should be sent to the connection that sent the message.
     `broadcast_payload` is a message that should be sent to all connections in the room.
     Either or both of the members can be of zero length and then must not be sent.
+    `has_edits` flag indicates if data changes occurred. Does not include awareness updates.
     """
 
     payloads: List[bytes]
     broadcast_payloads: List[bytes]
+    has_edits: bool
 
 class YRoomSettings(TypedDict):
     wire_version: int  # The Yjs encoding/decoding version to use (1 or 2, default: 1)