Workflow Git Commit

Git Commit Message Generator

Generate clear, meaningful commit messages following best practices.

Commit Format

<type>(<scope>): <subject>

<body>

<footer>

Types

Scope (Optional)

Component or area affected:

feat(auth): add OAuth2 support
fix(api): handle rate limit errors
docs(readme): update installation steps

Process

1. Analyze Changes

# View staged changes
git diff --staged

# View changed files
git status

2. Identify Type and Scope

• What kind of change? (feat/fix/refactor/etc.)
• What component is affected?

3. Write Subject Line

Rules:

• Max 50 characters
• Imperative mood ("add" not "added")
• No period at end
• Lowercase after type

Good:

feat(cart): add quantity selector to items
fix(auth): prevent session timeout during checkout
refactor(utils): extract date formatting logic

Bad:

Fixed the bug. # Vague, past tense
feat(cart): Added new feature # Past tense, vague
Update stuff # No type, vague

4. Write Body (If Needed)

When to include:

• Complex changes
• Non-obvious reasoning
• Breaking changes

Format:

feat(payments): add Stripe webhook handler

Implement webhook endpoint to process payment events.
Handles succeeded, failed, and refunded events.

Closes #123

Examples

Simple Feature

feat(dashboard): add dark mode toggle

Bug Fix with Context

fix(api): handle null response from external service

The third-party API occasionally returns null instead of
an empty array. Add null check to prevent TypeError.

Fixes #456

Refactoring

refactor(hooks): extract useDebounce from search component

Move debounce logic to reusable hook for consistency
across search inputs throughout the app.

Breaking Change

feat(api)!: change response format for user endpoint

BREAKING CHANGE: The /api/users endpoint now returns
{ data: [...], meta: {...} } instead of a plain array.

Migration: Update clients to access users via response.data

Multiple Changes (Avoid!)

If you need to describe multiple things, consider splitting into separate commits:

# Instead of:
"fix(auth): fix login and add logout button and update styles"

# Do:
git commit -m "fix(auth): handle expired token error"
git commit -m "feat(auth): add logout button to header"
git commit -m "style(auth): update login form spacing"

Quick Reference

# Stage and commit
git add .
git commit -m "feat(scope): description"

# Amend last commit message
git commit --amend -m "new message"

# Interactive staging
git add -p

# View commit history
git log --oneline -10

Commit Message Template

Create ~/.gitmessage:

# <type>(<scope>): <subject>
# |<---- Using a Maximum Of 50 Characters ---->|

# Explain why this change is being made
# |<---- Try To Limit Each Line to a Maximum Of 72 Characters ---->|

# Provide links or keys to any relevant tickets, articles or other resources
# Example: Fixes #23

# --- COMMIT END ---
# Type can be:
# feat (new feature)
# fix (bug fix)
# refactor (refactoring code)
# style (formatting, missing semi colons, etc)
# docs (changes to documentation)
# test (adding or refactoring tests)
# chore (updating grunt tasks etc)
# --------------------

Set as default:

git config --global commit.template ~/.gitmessage