tomevault-io Commit Message Generator
Generate clear, conventional commit messages from git diffs.
Quick Start
Analyze staged changes and generate message:
git diff --staged
# Then generate message following conventional commits format
Instructions
Step 1: Analyze Changes
Review the git diff to understand:
- What files changed
- What functionality was added/modified/removed
- Scope of changes (component, module, feature)
- Breaking changes or deprecations
git diff --staged
# or for specific files
git diff --staged path/to/file
Step 2: Determine Commit Type
feat: New feature
- Adding new functionality
- New user-facing capability
- New API endpoint
fix: Bug fix
- Fixing a bug
- Correcting behavior
- Resolving an issue
docs: Documentation
- README updates
- Code comments
- API documentation
style: Code style
- Formatting changes
- Missing semicolons
- Whitespace changes
- No code logic changes
refactor: Code refactoring
- Restructuring code
- No functionality change
- Performance improvements
test: Tests
- Adding tests
- Updating tests
- Test infrastructure
chore: Maintenance
- Dependency updates
- Build configuration
- CI/CD changes
- Tooling updates
perf: Performance
- Performance improvements
- Optimization changes
ci: CI/CD
- CI configuration
- Build scripts
- Deployment changes
build: Build system
- Build tool changes
- External dependencies
revert: Revert
- Reverting previous commit
Step 3: Identify Scope
Scope indicates what part of codebase changed:
- Component name:
(button),(navbar) - Module name:
(auth),(api) - Feature area:
(payments),(search) - Package name:
(core),(utils)
Optional but recommended for clarity.
Step 4: Write Description
Subject line (first line):
- Use imperative mood ("add" not "added")
- No period at end
- Max 50-72 characters
- Lowercase after type
- Clear and concise
Body (optional, after blank line):
- Explain what and why, not how
- Wrap at 72 characters
- Use bullet points for multiple changes
- Reference issues/tickets
Footer (optional):
- Breaking changes:
BREAKING CHANGE: description - Issue references:
Closes #123,Fixes #456 - Co-authors:
Co-authored-by: Name <email>
Step 5: Format Message
Basic format:
<type>(<scope>): <description>
[optional body]
[optional footer]
Examples:
feat(auth): add JWT token refresh mechanism
Implement automatic token refresh when access token expires.
Tokens are refreshed 5 minutes before expiration.
Closes #234
fix(api): handle null response in user endpoint
Previously crashed when user data was null.
Now returns 404 with appropriate error message.
Fixes #567
docs(readme): update installation instructions
Add prerequisites section and troubleshooting guide.
refactor(utils): simplify date formatting logic
Extract common date operations into helper functions.
No functionality changes.
chore(deps): upgrade react to v18.2.0
Update react and react-dom dependencies.
Update tests to match new API.
Common Patterns
Multiple changes in one commit:
feat(dashboard): add user analytics and export
- Add analytics charts for user activity
- Implement CSV export functionality
- Add date range filter
Closes #123, #124
Breaking change:
feat(api)!: change authentication endpoint structure
BREAKING CHANGE: Auth endpoints now use /v2/auth prefix.
Update client code to use new endpoints.
Migration guide: docs/migration-v2.md
Revert commit:
revert: feat(auth): add JWT token refresh
This reverts commit abc123def456.
Reason: Causing issues in production.
Co-authored commit:
feat(search): implement fuzzy search algorithm
Co-authored-by: Jane Doe <jane@example.com>
Commit Message Quality
Good commit messages:
- Clear and descriptive
- Explain why, not just what
- Reference related issues
- Follow conventions consistently
- Atomic (one logical change)
Bad commit messages:
- "fix stuff"
- "WIP"
- "updates"
- "asdf"
- "fix fix fix"
Workflow Integration
Before committing:
- Review changes:
git diff --staged - Ensure changes are atomic
- Generate appropriate message
- Commit:
git commit -m "type(scope): description"
For detailed commits:
- Stage changes:
git add files - Open editor:
git commit - Write multi-line message
- Save and close
Amending last commit:
git commit --amend
# Edit message in editor
Interactive staging:
git add -p # Stage hunks interactively
git commit # Write message for staged changes
Conventional Commits Spec
Format: <type>[optional scope]: <description>
Required:
- type: Must be one of the defined types
- description: Brief summary of change
Optional:
- scope: Component/module affected
- body: Detailed explanation
- footer: Breaking changes, issue references
Rules:
- Type must be lowercase
- Scope in parentheses
- Colon and space after scope
- Description starts lowercase
- No period at end of description
- Body separated by blank line
- Footer separated by blank line
Advanced
For complex scenarios:
- Multi-commit features
- Monorepo commit conventions
- Automated commit message validation
- Commit message templates
- Semantic versioning integration
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