Git Commit Message Formatting Rules

Apply conventional commit format for all git commits in the HyperShift project.

Commit Message Format

<type>(<scope>): <description>

[optional body]

[footers]

Commit Types

• feat: New features
• fix: Bug fixes
• docs: Documentation changes
• style: Code style changes (formatting, etc.)
• refactor: Code refactoring (no functional changes)
• test: Adding/updating tests
• chore: Maintenance tasks
• build: Build system or dependency changes
• ci: CI/CD changes
• perf: Performance improvements
• revert: Revert previous commit

Breaking Changes

With ! to draw attention

feat!: send email when product shipped

With BREAKING CHANGE footer

feat: allow config to extend other configs

BREAKING CHANGE: `extends` key now used for extending config files

Both ! and BREAKING CHANGE

chore!: drop support for Node 6

BREAKING CHANGE: use JavaScript features not available in Node 6.

Required Footers

Signed-off-by Footer

ALWAYS include Signed-off-by footer with name and email.

Get credentials in this priority order:

1. Environment variables: $GIT_AUTHOR_NAME and $GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL
2. Git config: git config user.name and git config user.email
3. If neither configured, ask the user to provide details

Assisted-by Footer

Include an Assisted-by: LLM footer when an AI assistant helps create or generate the commit message. Do not include it for human-authored commit messages.

Assisted-by: LLM

Gitlint Validation Rules

• Run make run-gitlint to validate commit messages
• Title line: 120 characters maximum
• Body line: 140 characters maximum per line
• Use conventional commit format
• Include required footers (Signed-off-by)
• No trailing whitespace

Examples

Simple commit

docs: correct spelling of CHANGELOG

Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>
Assisted-by: LLM

With scope

feat(azure): add workload identity support

Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>
Assisted-by: LLM

Multi-paragraph with footers

fix: prevent racing of requests

Introduce request ID and reference to latest request. Dismiss
incoming responses other than from latest request.

Remove timeouts which were used to mitigate racing but are
obsolete now.

Reviewed-by: Jane Doe
Refs: #123
Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>
Assisted-by: LLM

Conventional commit examples

Commit message with description and breaking change footer:

feat: allow provided config object to extend other configs

Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>
BREAKING CHANGE: `extends` key in config file is now used for extending other config files

Commit message with ! to draw attention to a breaking change:

feat!: send an email to the customer when a product is shipped

Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>

Commit message with scope and ! to draw attention to a breaking change:

feat(api)!: send an email to the customer when a product is shipped

Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>

Commit message with both ! and a BREAKING CHANGE footer:

chore!: drop support for Node 6

Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>
BREAKING CHANGE: use JavaScript features not available in Node 6.

Commit message with no body:

docs: correct spelling of CHANGELOG

Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>

Commit message with scope:

feat(lang): add Polish language

Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>

Commit message with a multi-paragraph body and multiple footers:

fix: prevent racing of requests

Introduce a request ID and a reference to the latest request. Dismiss
incoming responses other than from the latest request.

Remove timeouts which were used to mitigate the racing issue but are
obsolete now.

Reviewed-by: Z
Refs: #123
Signed-off-by: Bryan Cox <brcox@redhat.com>

Quick Checklist

When creating commits:

• Use conventional commit format: <type>(<scope>): <description>
• Use an imperative subject and explain "Why" and "How" when appropriate
• Title under 120 characters
• Body lines under 140 characters
• Include Signed-off-by footer
• If an AI assistant helped create or generate the commit message, include Assisted-by: LLM; omit it for human-authored commit messages
• Validate with make run-gitlint
• Use ! or BREAKING CHANGE for breaking changes

Reference

Conventional Commits Specification: https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/#specification