Git Invoice

Skill: git-invoice

Trigger

Use this skill when the user says:

• "generate invoice"
• "invoice from git"
• "what did I work on"
• "git invoice"
• "invoice items"
• invokes /git-invoice

Purpose

Scan the git log for a given period, classify each commit into one of two billing categories, group related commits into coherent line items, and output a structured invoice-ready breakdown that a contractor can paste directly into an invoice.

Output

Produces a markdown invoice items block with two sections:

1. Maintenance — framework upgrades, dependency bumps, bug fixes, CI/tooling changes, security patches
2. Feature Work — new functionality, UI changes, content additions, integrations

Each Feature Work item includes a size estimate (XS / S / M / L / XL) to support potential pricing.

Workflow

Step 1 — Determine the date range

If the user provided a range (e.g., "April 2026", "last month", "2026-04-01..2026-04-30"), parse it into absolute --after / --before dates.

If no range is given, default to the previous calendar month relative to today.

Confirm the resolved range with the user in one line before proceeding: e.g., "Scanning commits from 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-30…"

Step 2 — Fetch the git log

Run:

git log --oneline --no-merges --after="YYYY-MM-DD" --before="YYYY-MM-DD" --format="%H %ad %s" --date=short

If there are merge commits that carry meaningful descriptions (e.g., PR titles), also run:

git log --merges --after="YYYY-MM-DD" --before="YYYY-MM-DD" --format="%H %ad %s" --date=short

If the repo has multiple remotes or the user specified a branch, include --first-parent <branch>.

Step 3 — Classify commits

For each commit message, classify it:

Maintenance — any of:

• Dependency/framework upgrades (bump, upgrade, update X to, chore, renovate, deps)
• Bug fixes (fix, bug, patch, hotfix, revert)
• Tooling / CI / config (ci:, build:, chore:, lint, format, refactor with no user-facing change)
• Security patches

Feature — any of:

• New pages, components, routes, or UI (feat, add, new, implement, create)
• Content additions or updates (content:, copy, page, post, blog)
• Integrations or API connections
• Performance improvements visible to users
• SEO / metadata changes

Many repos do not use conventional commit prefixes consistently — treat them as a strong signal when present, but always fall back to reading the full commit message and any file paths touched (via git show --stat <hash>) to infer intent.

When a commit message is genuinely ambiguous after inspecting it, do not guess — collect all ambiguous commits and ask the user to classify them before producing output. Present them as a numbered list:

"I couldn't confidently classify these commits — can you tell me which category each belongs to (Maintenance / Feature)?"

1. abc1234 — "update header styles"
2. def5678 — "tweak logic for pricing"

When unambiguous, lean toward Feature if the change affects the end-user experience, Maintenance otherwise.

Step 4 — Group into line items

Cluster related commits into coherent line items rather than listing every commit individually. Use the following heuristics:

• Commits touching the same area (e.g., "location pages", "auth flow", "Next.js upgrade") → one item
• Sequential commits that build toward one outcome → one item
• Unrelated one-off commits → individual items

Each line item should read as a natural invoice description, not a raw commit message.

Step 5 — Estimate feature sizes

For each Feature line item, assign a size based on the number and nature of commits involved:

Step 6 — Output the invoice items

Format the result as follows:

## Invoice Items — [Month YYYY]

### Maintenance
- [Description of maintenance work] *(e.g., Next.js upgrade to v15, Renovate dependency bumps)*
- [Bug fix description]

### Feature Work
| # | Description | Size |
|---|-------------|------|
| 1 | [Feature description] | M |
| 2 | [Feature description] | S |

If there are no commits in a category, omit that section.

Step 7 — Ask follow-up

After outputting, ask:

"Would you like me to add pricing estimates, group these under a client/project, or export this as a plan file?"

Classification keywords (reference)

Maintenance signals: chore, fix, bug, patch, hotfix, revert, bump, upgrade, renovate, deps, ci, build, lint, format, security, update X to vN

Feature signals: feat, add, new, implement, create, introduce, page, component, route, content, blog, post, seo, analytics, integrate, perf, improve UX

Notes

• Run git log via Bash — do not hallucinate commits
• If the repo has no commits in the range, say so clearly
• Conventional-commit prefixes (feat:, fix:, chore:, etc.) take priority when present, but many repos don't use them — use git show --stat to inspect changed files when the message alone is unclear
• If still uncertain after inspecting the commit, ask the user rather than guessing
• The output is intentionally human-readable and editable — it is a starting point, not a final invoice
• Sizes are estimates to support pricing conversations, not binding commitments