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Git Commit

Use this skill when the user wants to make a Git commit or split changes into more than one commit. Also use it when the user types "/commit" or asks for a conventional commit. The skill examines the diff, stages the related files, writes a Conventional Commits message, and runs git commit. Do not use it when the user wants only a commit message and no commit. Do not use it to push, open a pull request, rebase, or change the commit history.

Install with the GitHub CLI
gh skills install github/awesome-copilot git-commit
SKILL.md · 8 KB

Make Git commits that follow the Conventional Commits 1.0.0 specification. Get the type, the scope, and the summary from the diff.

Message Format

<type>(<scope>): <summary>

<body>

<footer>
  • The scope, the body, and the footer are optional. Without a scope, write <type>: <summary>.
  • Write the summary in the imperative mood: "add", not "added" or "adds".
  • Keep the first line at 72 characters or less. Do not put a period at the end.
  • In the body, tell what changed and why.
  • Write each footer as Token: value or Token #value, for example Refs: #456 or Closes #123. Conventional Commits accepts the two forms, but Git reads only Token: value as a trailer. In a token, use - in place of a space.

Types

Conventional Commits defines only feat and fix. The other types come from the Angular convention (@commitlint/config-conventional). If the repository has its own list, use that list.

Type Use it for
feat A new feature
fix A bug fix
docs Documentation only
style Formatting only, with no change to the logic
refactor A code change that is not a feature or a fix
perf A performance improvement
test New or changed tests
build The build system or the dependencies
ci The CI configuration
chore Other maintenance
revert A revert of an earlier commit

Breaking Changes

Put ! before the colon, or add a BREAKING CHANGE: footer. Write the token in uppercase. BREAKING-CHANGE: is also correct.

feat(api)!: remove the v1 endpoints

BREAKING CHANGE: Clients must use the v2 endpoints.

Workflow

1. Read the repository rules

Find the commit rules before you write a message:

  • A commitlint configuration, for example commitlint.config.js or .commitlintrc.json.
  • CONTRIBUTING.md.
  • The recent messages: git log --oneline -10.

If a repository rule is different from this skill, use the repository rule.

2. Examine the changes

git status --porcelain
git diff --staged
git diff

If there are no changes, run the checks at the start of step 3. If they find MERGE_HEAD, continue. If not, tell the user what git status --long shows. Do not make an empty commit.

3. Stage the files

First, check for an operation in progress. Run each command alone. Do not chain them with &&. In a subdirectory, run every command in this step as git -C <root> .... git rev-parse --show-toplevel prints the root.

git rev-parse -q --verify --symbolic-full-name MERGE_HEAD
git rev-parse -q --verify --symbolic-full-name CHERRY_PICK_HEAD
git rev-parse -q --verify --symbolic-full-name REVERT_HEAD
git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U --no-relative
git status --long

A rev-parse command prints a ref name if its operation is in progress. If not, the command prints nothing and exits with status 1. The git diff command lists unmerged files. It finds conflicts that have no ref, for example from git stash pop. git status --long shows the other cases.

If an operation is in progress or there are unmerged files, do not unstage files. Do not split the commit. The index holds the result of the operation. If you unstage a file, Git drops the changes of the other side or removes a conflict entry.

  • Stop and tell the user if git status --long shows "rebase in progress", "You are in the middle of an am session", "Cherry-pick currently in progress", or "Revert currently in progress".
  • Run git status --porcelain=v2. A line that starts with u shows an unmerged file. You can resolve the file only if all these conditions are true:
    • The line starts with u UU N... or u AA N....
    • Each mode on the line is 100644, 100755, or 000000.
    • git diff --no-relative does not show Binary files differ for the file.
  • Ask the user how to resolve all other unmerged files. Git cannot find conflict markers in these files. git add --resolved and the checks below stage these files without a warning. Stage each of these files only after the user resolves it: git add -- <path>.
  • With Git 2.56 or later, stage the files that you can resolve with git add --resolved -- <paths>.
  • With older Git, check those files and stage them:
git diff --check -- path/to/file1 path/to/file2
git add -- path/to/file1 path/to/file2
  • Stage the files only if git diff --check finds no "leftover conflict marker" line. Ignore whitespace warnings from the other branch.
  • Then, with any Git version, run git diff --name-only --no-relative and git ls-files --others --exclude-standard. They list edits in other files. Skip the files that are still unmerged.
  • Show these paths to the user. Ask if they belong to the commit. Stage only the approved paths with git add -- <paths>.
  • Git quotes some paths, for example paths with non-ASCII characters. git add fails for a quoted path. Ask the user about these files.

If there is no operation and no unmerged file, put one logical change in each commit. If the staged files contain more than one change, first unstage the files of the other changes. Then stage the files for this change:

git reset -q -- path/to/other-file1 path/to/other-file2
git add -- path/to/file1 path/to/file2
git add -- '*.test.*'
git add -- src/components/
  • Put a glob in quotes. Without quotes, the shell expands the glob and does not find the files in subdirectories.
  • Do not use git add -p or git add -i. These commands wait for input from a person.
  • Examine the list of staged files with git diff --staged --name-only. Do not commit secrets, for example .env files, credentials.json, or private keys.

4. Write the message

Get each part from the diff:

  • Type: The kind of change.
  • Scope: The module or the area that the change affects.
  • Summary: What changed, in one line.

5. Commit

When step 3 finds MERGE_HEAD, CHERRY_PICK_HEAD, or REVERT_HEAD, run git commit --no-edit with no paths and no --cleanup option. This keeps the message that Git prepared. Do not write a new -m message. The message can keep the Conflicts: comment lines from Git. Do not remove them.

In all other cases:

Give each paragraph with a different -m option. Git puts a blank line between the paragraphs. This command works in Bash, PowerShell, and other shells.

git commit -m "feat(auth): add token refresh"
git commit -m "fix(parser): accept empty input" -m "An empty file caused a crash." -m "Closes: #123"

For a long message, write the message to a temporary file. Then run git commit -F <file>.

6. Make sure that the commit is correct

git log -1 --stat --first-parent
git status --porcelain

Safety Rules

  • Do not change the Git configuration.
  • Do not use --no-verify unless the user tells you to. Hooks can be in .git/hooks or in the Git configuration.
  • If a hook fails, Git does not make the commit. Fix the problem, stage the files again, and run the same git commit command again. Do not use --amend, because it changes the previous commit.
  • Do not change the commit history unless the user tells you to. Do not use git reset --hard, git rebase, or the experimental git history command.
  • Do not push unless the user tells you to. Do not force push to the default branch.