# Git Commit Best Practices > Guide for creating well-structured, meaningful Git commits following conventional commits and repository best practices. Use when creating commits, amending commit messages, or reviewing commit history. Use when this capability is needed. - Skill: `tomevault-io/git-commit-best-practices` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/git-commit-best-practices` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/git-commit-best-practices/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/git-commit-best-practices --- # Git Commit Best Practices (limps) ## Purpose Guide the creation of clear, meaningful Git commits that follow conventional commit standards and repository-specific conventions. Ensures commits are atomic, well-documented, and integrate with automated tooling (release-please, changelog generation). ## Scope - If `$ARGUMENTS` is "review-commits" or a commit range (e.g., `HEAD~5..HEAD`, `main..HEAD`), review existing commits and suggest improvements. - If `$ARGUMENTS` is a scope (paths or component), provide commit guidance for those changes. - If no arguments provided, guide commit message creation for staged changes. ## Detecting Breaking Changes When reviewing commits, detect breaking changes by: 1. **Parse commit messages**: `git log --format="%H%n%s%n%b" ` (includes full body) 2. **Search for footer**: Look for `BREAKING CHANGE:` or `BREAKING CHANGE` in commit body (case-insensitive) 3. **Extract description**: Everything after `BREAKING CHANGE:` until: - Next footer (e.g., `Closes #123`, `Fixes #456`) - End of commit message - Empty line followed by non-footer text 4. **Example commands**: - Simple: `git log --format=%B main..HEAD | grep -A 10 -i "BREAKING CHANGE"` - More robust: `git log --format="%H%n%s%n%b%n---" ` then parse each commit separately 5. **Edge cases**: - Multi-line breaking changes: Extract until next footer or end - Breaking change in subject: Look for `!` after type/scope: `feat!: breaking change` - Merge commits: Check merge commit message for breaking changes ## Conventional Commit Format ### Structure ``` ():