# Commit > Commit staged or intended changes: compose a Conventional Prefix or Natural Language message, then use ai-commit — with --all, --staged, --close, --finding, or --push. - Skill: `paulrberg/commit` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add paulrberg/commit` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/paulrberg/commit/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: paulrberg (https://skillmd.com/u/paulrberg) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/paulrberg/commit --- # Git Commit Compose the semantic commit message from immutable evidence. Let `ai-commit` own deterministic preparation, commit, index reconciliation, and push mechanics. Run every command from the target repository cwd. Do not surround `ai-commit` with extra `git status`, `git log`, or `git diff` calls: preparation provides the complete evidence for this workflow. Use `--porcelain` only in deterministic automation that explicitly parses its stable TSV records; the normal skill flow consumes the human-readable sections. ## 1. Parse Arguments Arguments: `$ARGUMENTS` - `ai-commit` selects the message format from repository config; pass `--natural` or `--conventional` only as an explicit one-off override, never to reproduce repository policy. - `--all`: capture all worktree and index changes. This intentionally risks including another agent's work. - `--staged`: capture exactly the current index; do not add session paths. It conflicts with `--all`. - `--natural`: force Natural Language Format for this commit. - `--conventional`: force Conventional Prefix Format for this commit. - `--push`: request a push after commit. Otherwise push only when standing instructions authorize it. - `--close `: append one `Closes #N` trailer per positive decimal issue number; accept comma- or space-separated input. - `--finding `: append one `Finding-ID: ` trailer per ledger finding this commit fixes; accept comma- or space-separated input. Also infer a finding from context when this session's commit fixes a specific ledger finding. Never include or resolve findings the commit does not actually fix. - In Conventional Prefix Format, a positional type keyword overrides the inferred type. In Natural Language Format, a positional verb or category keyword overrides the inferred verb. Quoted positional text overrides the inferred description or subject. If the requested operation is only to push a clean branch that is already ahead, skip preparation and run `ai-commit push`. ## 2. Prepare Once Run one preparation command: ```bash ai-commit prepare [--all | --staged] [--natural | --conventional] --diff full \ [--exclude-baseline '=']... [-- ...] ``` - Default mode requires every path edited in this session. For a rename, include both old and new names, including case-only file or directory renames. - Before default-mode preparation, run `ai-coord touched` when available and reconcile its output against the session path list: add missed session-edited paths, but ignore paths this session did not semantically change because touched paths are best-effort evidence, not authority. Skip this cross-check silently when the command is unavailable or the session is unrecognized. - `--all` accepts no explicit paths and captures all tracked, untracked, modified, deleted, and staged changes. - `--staged` accepts neither explicit paths nor baseline exclusions and captures the shared index exactly. - `ai-commit prepare` automatically applies this session's ai-coord stale-dirt baselines. Auto-applied exclusions appear in the preparation evidence and must be disclosed unchanged. Explicit `--exclude-baseline` remains available for overrides, and `--no-auto-baseline` disables discovery for deterministic automation. Never revert unrelated changes. If coordination re-entry records this session's completed edits as a baseline, compare its blob IDs with retained session or preparation evidence. Use `--no-auto-baseline` only when every selected file's entire delta is attributable to the authorized task; preserve exclusions for mixed ownership or uncertain attribution. Preparation pins the exact tree and delta under the printed transaction ID without changing the shared index. Keep that ID. The later commit reuses the transaction instead of recomputing intended content from the mutable worktree or shared index. It applies that immutable delta to the locked current branch and fails safely if intervening branch movement conflicts. If preparation fails before issuing a transaction ID, correct the evidenced argument, attribution, or input problem and retry preparation within the authorized scope. ## 3. Analyze and Compose Analyze the single prepared full diff. Do not replace a valid preparation merely to get different evidence. Oversized per-file sections arrive cut with a `DIFF_TRUNCATED` disclosure; their name-status and shortstat evidence still governs the message. - Use the printed message format and message-format rules. `ai-commit` is the source of those rules; do not load a separate Conventional or Natural reference. - Apply positional overrides, detect breaking changes, infer scope or context from the code, and include a body only when it adds material rationale. - Add `Closes #N` trailers from `--close` and from transcript issue references only when this commit actually resolves them. De-duplicate issue numbers. - Add one `Finding-ID: ` trailer per finding supplied by `--finding` or inferred from context that this commit actually fixes. De-duplicate finding IDs. - Append the exact `Agent-Session:` line from the preparation trailer section when present. `ai-commit` has already validated it; do not synthesize or repair a missing or malformed trailer. Compose one subject paragraph, an optional body paragraph, and one final trailer paragraph containing all issue and Agent-Session lines. `ai-commit` receives every `-m` value verbatim and rejects a literal `\\n`; write real line breaks inside the quoted argument, as in the step 4 example. ## 4. Commit the Transaction Run: ```bash ai-commit commit -m '' [-m ''] [-m ''] [--push] ``` For example, a two-item body is one `-m` argument containing a physical newline: ```bash ai-commit commit -m '' -m '- first material change - second material change' [-m ''] [--push] ``` Append `--push` when explicitly requested or authorized by standing instructions. The same command handles default, `--all`, and `--staged` transactions; never stage or commit them with direct Git commands. Transactions are idempotent. After an interruption, lock race, or retryable exit, retry the same transaction ID and message arguments; do not prepare a replacement from newer mutable state. A replay recovers or returns the retained receipt without creating a duplicate commit. Never delete an index lock. For a deterministic content failure proven to precede commit creation, correct the authorized work and supersede the uncommitted preparation using the recovery reference. This includes `snapshot-check hook modified prepared content`; an immutable retry cannot repair content pinned in a failed snapshot. Existing task authority covers this recovery. Read [references/failure-recovery.md](references/failure-recovery.md) before superseding a failed preparation or adding `--no-verify` or `--no-gpg-sign`. Bypass flags are explicit per-attempt recovery options, not first-attempt defaults. After `COMMITTED

` (the OID is a 12-character abbreviation; pass it as-is), resolve every included finding with `ai-coord finding resolve '' --as fixed --commit ''` and report the resolved finding IDs in the receipt summary. ## 5. Completion and Receipt Keep the receipt compact and forward its outcome lines without decoration: - `COMMITTED

` proves commit creation or idempotent recovery; without push authorization it is completion. - `HOOK_ADDED ` identifies content introduced by a hook outside the prepared path set. Disclose every such line. - `PUSHED ` or `PUSHED_NEW ` proves propagation and completes push-authorized or push-only work. - `PUSHED

` is the retained proof returned when an already-pushed transaction is replayed. - `BEHIND ` is safe noncompletion, never completion: `ai-commit` fetched and refused to integrate or push. A preceding `COMMITTED` still proves the local commit; after the user reconciles the branch, replay the same transaction command (or rerun `ai-commit push` for push-only work). Do not report unrelated tree state, ahead/behind counts not emitted by the command, staging narration, or successful hook activity. Add only a required one-line bypass disclosure from the recovery reference.