Git Commit with Conventional Commits

Overview

Create standardized, semantic git commits using the Conventional Commits specification. Analyze the actual diff to determine appropriate type, scope, and message.

Conventional Commit Format

<type>[optional scope]: <description>

[optional body]

[optional footer(s)]

Commit Types

Breaking Changes

# Exclamation mark after type/scope
feat!: remove deprecated endpoint

# BREAKING CHANGE footer
feat: allow config to extend other configs

BREAKING CHANGE: `extends` key behavior changed

Workflow

1. Analyze Diff

# If files are staged, use staged diff
git diff --staged

# If nothing staged, use working tree diff
git diff

# Also check status
git status --porcelain

2. Stage Files (if needed)

If nothing is staged or you want to group changes differently:

# Stage specific files
git add path/to/file1 path/to/file2

# Stage by pattern
git add *.test.*
git add src/components/*

# Interactive staging
git add -p

Never commit secrets (.env, credentials.json, private keys).

3. Generate Commit Message

Analyze the diff to determine:

• Type: What kind of change is this?
• Scope: What area/module is affected?
• Description: One-line summary of what changed (present tense, imperative mood, <72 chars)

4. Execute Commit

# Single line
git commit -s -m "<type>[scope]: <description>"

# Multi-line with body/footer
git commit -s -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
<type>[scope]: <description>

<optional body>

<optional footer>
EOF
)"

Best Practices

• One logical change per commit
• Present tense: "add" not "added"
• Imperative mood: "fix bug" not "fixes bug"
• Reference issues: Closes #123, Refs #456
• Keep description under 72 characters
• Sign off every commit (-s), which certifies the Developer Certificate of Origin for it; CI's dco job fails a pull request with a commit that lacks the sign-off, and make check-dco lists any before a push. A sign-off is the author's, not AI attribution

Git Safety Protocol

• NEVER update git config
• NEVER run destructive commands (--force, hard reset) without explicit request
• NEVER skip hooks (--no-verify) unless user asks
• NEVER force push to main/master
• If commit fails due to hooks, fix and create NEW commit (don't amend)
• NEVER add AI attribution: no Co-Authored-By: trailer naming an assistant or tool, no "Generated with ..." footer, no session or transcript link. The message is about the change, not about how it was produced (project policy in CLAUDE.md; a squash merge turns the PR body into the commit message, so strip such footers there too)