Michaelsvanbeek Personal Agent Git Workflow

Git Workflow Standards

When to Use

• Writing or reviewing commit messages
• Creating branches for features, fixes, or releases
• Preparing pull request descriptions
• Squashing or cleaning up commit history
• Establishing git conventions for a project
• Auditing an existing project's commit history and branch strategy

Commit Messages

Follow the Conventional Commits specification. This enables automated changelog generation, semantic versioning, and clear history.

Format

<type>(<scope>): <subject>

<body>

<footer>

Rules

• Subject line: Imperative mood, lowercase, no period, max 72 characters.
• Body: Wrap at 80 characters. Explain what and why, not how. Separate from subject with a blank line.
• Footer: Reference issues, breaking changes, or co-authors.

Types

Scope

Optional, but encouraged. Use the module, component, or area affected:

feat(api): add user search endpoint
fix(auth): handle expired refresh tokens
build(deps): update fastapi to 0.115
docs(readme): add deployment instructions

Examples

Single-line (small, self-explanatory changes):

fix(cors): allow credentials in preflight responses

With body (changes that need context):

feat(cache): add IndexedDB caching for dashboard data

Store API responses in IndexedDB keyed by endpoint and query params.
Serve cached data immediately on page load, then refresh in the
background. Reduces perceived load time for repeat visits.

With breaking change:

feat(api)!: change auth from API key to OAuth2

Migrate all endpoints to require Bearer token authentication.
API key header is no longer accepted.

BREAKING CHANGE: Clients must update to use OAuth2 tokens.

Anti-patterns

Commit Granularity

Each commit should represent one logical change.

• If you can describe it with "and", split it into two commits.
• The test suite should pass on every commit (enables git bisect).
• Prefer many small commits during development, squash into logical units before merging.

Signs of good granularity

• A single commit can be reverted without side effects
• The diff is reviewable in under 5 minutes
• The commit message fully describes the change without "also"

Branch Naming

<type>/<short-description>

Rules:

• Lowercase, kebab-case
• Short but descriptive (3-5 words max)
• Include ticket number if applicable: feat/PROJ-123-user-search

Pull Requests

Title

Follow the same conventional commit format as the squash/merge commit:

feat(api): add user search endpoint

Description Template

## What

Brief description of what this PR does.

## Why

Context on why this change is needed. Link to issue or ticket.

## How

High-level description of the approach taken.

## Testing

How this was tested. Include commands, test output, or screenshots.

## Checklist

- [ ] Linter passes
- [ ] Formatter applied
- [ ] Type checker passes
- [ ] Tests pass
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] No secrets or credentials committed

Changelog

When maintaining a CHANGELOG.md, follow Keep a Changelog:

# Changelog

## [Unreleased]

### Added
- User search endpoint with fuzzy matching (#142)

### Fixed
- Token refresh handling for expired sessions (#138)

## [1.1.0] - 2026-03-15

### Added
- Dashboard caching with IndexedDB

Categories: Added, Changed, Deprecated, Removed, Fixed, Security.

Git Hygiene

• Write meaningful messages on every commit, even during early development.
• Use .gitignore before the first commit.
• Never commit secrets, credentials, or environment files.
• Never commit code that fails linting or type checking.
• Use git stash for work-in-progress rather than WIP commits.
• Rebase/squash feature branches before merging to keep main history clean.

Release Tagging

Use annotated tags for all releases:

git tag -a v1.5.0 -m "Release v1.5.0"
git push origin main --follow-tags

Tag rules:

• Prefix with v: v1.5.0, not 1.5.0
• Tags are immutable — never delete and re-create
• Tag only commits where all CI checks pass
• Use chore(release): v1.5.0 for the version-bump commit

Source: michaelsvanbeek/personal-agent — distributed by TomeVault.