Git Commit Helper Skill

Generate conventional commit messages from your git diff.

When I Activate

✅ git commit without message
✅ User asks "what should my commit message be?"
✅ Staged changes exist
✅ User mentions commit or conventional commits
✅ Before creating commits

What I Generate

Conventional Commit Format

<body>

Types:

feat : New feature
fix : Bug fix
docs : Documentation changes
style : Code style (formatting, no logic change)
refactor : Code refactoring
perf : Performance improvements
test : Test additions or fixes
build : Build system changes
ci : CI/CD changes
chore : Maintenance tasks

Examples

Feature Addition

You staged:

git add auth.service.ts login.component.tsx

I analyze diff and suggest:

feat(auth): add JWT-based user authentication

Implement login/logout functionality
Add token management service
Include auth guards for protected routes
Add unit tests for auth service

Closes #42

Bug Fix

You staged:

git add UserList.tsx

I suggest:

fix(components): resolve memory leak in UserList

Fixed subscription not being cleaned up in useEffect, causing memory leak when component unmounts.

Closes #156

Breaking Change

You staged:

git add api/users.ts

I suggest:

feat(api): update user API response format

Changed response structure to include metadata for better pagination and filtering support.

BREAKING CHANGE: User API now returns { data, metadata } instead of direct array. Update client code accordingly.

Documentation Update

You staged:

git add README.md docs/api.md

I suggest:

docs: update API documentation with authentication examples

Add authentication flow diagrams
Include cURL examples for protected endpoints
Document error responses

Analysis Process

Step 1: Check Staged Changes

git diff --staged --name-only git diff --staged

Step 2: Categorize Changes

New files → feat
Modified files → fix, refactor, or feat
Deleted files → chore or refactor
Test files → test
Documentation → docs

Step 3: Analyze Content

What was changed?
Why was it changed?
What's the impact?
Are there breaking changes?

Step 4: Generate Message

Subject line:

Max 50 characters
Imperative mood ("add" not "added")
No period at end
Lowercase after type

Body:

Explain WHAT and WHY, not HOW
Wrap at 72 characters
Bullet points for multiple changes

Footer:

Breaking changes: BREAKING CHANGE: description
Issue references: Closes #123 , Fixes #456

Message Components

Type Selection

feat: New functionality

New components, features, capabilities

fix: Bug fixes

Resolving issues, fixing bugs

refactor: Code improvements

No functional changes, better code structure

perf: Performance

Speed improvements, optimization

docs: Documentation

README, comments, guides

test: Testing

Adding or fixing tests

style: Formatting

Code style, linting, formatting

chore: Maintenance

Dependencies, build config, tooling

Scope Selection

Common scopes:

Component name: feat(UserCard): ...
Module: fix(auth): ...
Package: chore(api): ...
Area: docs(readme): ...

Subject Guidelines

✅ Good:

add user authentication
fix memory leak in component
update API documentation

❌ Bad:

added user authentication (past tense)
fixes bug (too vague)
Update API docs. (period at end)

Advanced Examples

Multiple Changes

Multiple files in auth feature

feat(auth): implement complete authentication system

Add JWT token generation and validation
Implement password hashing with bcrypt
Create login/logout API endpoints
Add auth middleware for protected routes
Include refresh token functionality

Closes #42, #43, #44

Refactoring

Code restructuring

refactor(api): extract database logic into repository pattern

Moved database queries from controllers to repository classes for better separation of concerns and testability.

No functional changes or API modifications.

Performance Improvement

Optimization

perf(queries): optimize user data fetching

Implement query batching to eliminate N+1 queries
Add database indices on frequently queried columns
Cache user profile data with 5-minute TTL

Performance improvement: 80ms → 12ms average response time

Git Integration

Pre-commit Hook

I work great with pre-commit hooks:

#!/bin/sh

.git/hooks/prepare-commit-msg

If no commit message provided, trigger skill

if [ -z "$2" ]; then

Skill suggests message based on staged changes

echo "# Suggested commit message (edit as needed)" > "$1" fi

Amending Commits

Poor initial message

git commit -m "fix stuff"

Amend with better message

I suggest improved message based on changes

git commit --amend

Sandboxing Compatibility

Works without sandboxing: ✅ Yes Works with sandboxing: ✅ Yes

May need network access for:

Fetching issue details from GitHub API
Checking if issue numbers are valid

Sandbox config (optional):

{ "network": { "allowedDomains": [ "api.github.com" ] } }

Customization

Custom Commit Types

Edit SKILL.md to add company-specific types:

deploy: Deployment migrate: Database migrations hotfix: Production hotfixes

Custom Scopes

Train the skill to recognize your project structure:

Common scopes: auth, api, ui, database, admin, mobile

Message Templates

Customize message format for your team:

Standard format

feat(scope): subject

Your custom format

[JIRA-123] feat(scope): subject

Tips for Best Messages

Be specific: "fix login button" not "fix bug"
Use imperative mood: "add" not "added" or "adds"
Include context: Why this change was needed
Reference issues: Always include issue numbers
Breaking changes: Always flag in footer

Common Patterns

Frontend Changes

feat(ui): add responsive navigation menu fix(components): resolve prop validation warning style(css): update button hover effects

Backend Changes

feat(api): add user pagination endpoint fix(database): resolve connection pool exhaustion perf(queries): add database indices for user lookups

Infrastructure Changes

ci: add automated deployment pipeline build: update dependencies to latest versions chore(docker): optimize container image size

Related Tools

code-reviewer skill: Reviews code before commit
@docs-writer sub-agent: Generates changelog from commits
/review command: Pre-commit code review

Integration

With code-reviewer

1. Write code

2. code-reviewer flags issues

3. Fix issues

4. Stage changes

5. I generate commit message

git commit # Uses my suggested message

With /review Command

1. Make changes

/review --scope staged # Review before commit

2. Address findings

3. Stage final changes

4. I generate commit message

git commit

Learn More

Conventional Commits
Git Best Practices
Customization Guide

git-commit-helper

Safety Notice

Copy this and send it to your AI assistant to learn

You staged:

I analyze diff and suggest:

You staged:

I suggest:

You staged:

I suggest:

You staged:

I suggest:

Multiple files in auth feature

Code restructuring

Optimization

.git/hooks/prepare-commit-msg

If no commit message provided, trigger skill

Skill suggests message based on staged changes

Poor initial message

Amend with better message

I suggest improved message based on changes

Standard format

Your custom format

1. Write code

2. code-reviewer flags issues

3. Fix issues

4. Stage changes

5. I generate commit message

1. Make changes

2. Address findings

3. Stage final changes

4. I generate commit message

Source Transparency

Related Skills

code-reviewer

test-generator

api-documenter