Template
[<type>: ]<title>
[<body>]
[<footers>, e.g.:]
[Fix #1, fix #2]
Read previous commit msgs to follow the existing preference. Default to no any optional parts.
Style
Commit msgs are for humans (developers) and have strict char limits. The more compact, the better. At most 72 chars for the title because GitHub truncates there. Use common abbrevations, e.g., dependency -> dep.
If the title is a single sentence, no period. Omit articles (a/an/the) if no confusion. Write proper nouns as-is.
Prefer no body. Only add it when something critical requires explanations. Note that developers rarely read the body. Consider proposing splitting the commit before adding a body.
Special Cases
When updating deps, use Update deps.
However, if the ecosystem distinguishes dev deps (e.g., Node, Poetry/uv, Cargo), use Update dev deps when only updating dev deps, so that users can confirm shipped/released deps are not updated.