Commit

Context

• Current git status: !git status --short
• Diff summary (file + line counts): !git diff HEAD --stat
• Current branch: !git branch --show-current
• Recent commits (for style matching): !git log --oneline -10

The full diff is intentionally NOT loaded above. Read hunks on demand with git diff HEAD -- <file> for only the files you need to inspect to write the message and decide splits. Do not run git diff HEAD with no path filter.

Your task

Create atomic, self-contained commits with terse, exact messages. Conventional Commits format. No fluff. Why over what.

Commit Splitting

Split into multiple commits when changes involve:

• Different concerns — unrelated parts of the codebase
• Different types — mixing feat/fix/refactor/tests/docs/config
• Different file patterns — source vs docs vs config
• Large changesets — break down for reviewability

Each commit must build and make sense on its own. If all changes relate to one concern, a single commit is fine.

Message Rules

Subject line:

• <type>(<scope>): <imperative summary> — <scope> optional
• Types: feat, fix, refactor, perf, docs, test, chore, build, ci, style, revert
• Imperative mood: "add", "fix", "remove" — not "added", "adds", "adding"
• ≤50 chars when possible, hard cap 72
• No trailing period
• Match project convention for capitalization after the colon (check recent commits above)

Body (only if needed):

• Skip entirely when the subject is self-explanatory
• Add body only for: non-obvious why, breaking changes, migration notes, linked issues
• Wrap at 72 chars
• Bullets - not *
• Reference issues/PRs at end: Closes #42, Refs #17

Auto-clarity — always include body for: breaking changes, security fixes, data migrations, revert commits. Never compress these into subject-only; future debuggers need the context.

Breaking changes: mark subject with ! and add a BREAKING CHANGE: footer explaining the migration.

feat(api)!: rename /v1/orders to /v1/checkout

BREAKING CHANGE: clients on /v1/orders must migrate to /v1/checkout
before 2026-06-01. Old route returns 410 after that date.

What NEVER goes in:

• "This commit does X", "I", "we", "now", "currently" — the diff says what
• "As requested by..." — use Co-authored-by: trailer instead
• AI attribution: "Generated with Claude Code", co-authorship footers, 🤖 emoji
• Emoji unless project convention requires
• Restating the filename when the scope already covers it

Examples

Trivial change, no body needed:

fix(auth): handle expired refresh token

Non-obvious why — body explains motivation:

feat(api): add GET /users/:id/profile

Mobile client needs profile data without the full user payload
to reduce LTE bandwidth on cold-launch screens.

Closes #128

Breaking change:

feat(api)!: rename /v1/orders to /v1/checkout

BREAKING CHANGE: clients on /v1/orders must migrate to /v1/checkout
before 2026-06-01. Old route returns 410 after that date.

HEREDOC Format

git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
<type>(<scope>): <subject>

<body if needed>
EOF
)"

Staging Rules

• Stage specific files by name — do NOT use git add -A or git add .
• NEVER stage files that may contain secrets: .env, .env.*, credentials.json, *.key, *.pem, *.p12, id_rsa*, token.json, secret*. Warn the user and skip them.
• If all changes are already staged, do not re-stage them.

Edge Cases

• No changes (nothing staged, nothing modified): say so and stop. Do not create an empty commit.
• Only untracked files that look like generated artifacts (dist/, node_modules/, *.log): warn the user instead of committing them.
• If the user says "normal mode" or "verbose commit": allow a longer, descriptive style for this commit only.