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

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

<body>

<footer>

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

bash

# 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

bash

# 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

bash

# 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

bash

# 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

bash

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

yaml

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

bash

# 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

bash

# 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

bash

# 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:

bash

#!/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

bash

# 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):

json

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

Customization

Custom Commit Types

Edit SKILL.md to add company-specific types:

yaml

deploy: Deployment
migrate: Database migrations
hotfix: Production hotfixes

Custom Scopes

Train the skill to recognize your project structure:

yaml

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

Message Templates

Customize message format for your team:

bash

# 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

bash

# 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

bash

# 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

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Git Commit Helper Skill

When I Activate

What I Generate

Conventional Commit Format

Examples

Feature Addition

Bug Fix

Breaking Change

Documentation Update

Analysis Process

Step 1: Check Staged Changes

Step 2: Categorize Changes

Step 3: Analyze Content

Step 4: Generate Message

Message Components

Type Selection

Scope Selection

Subject Guidelines

Advanced Examples

Multiple Changes

Refactoring

Performance Improvement

Git Integration

Pre-commit Hook

Amending Commits

Sandboxing Compatibility

Customization

Custom Commit Types

Custom Scopes

Message Templates

Tips for Best Messages

Common Patterns

Frontend Changes

Backend Changes

Infrastructure Changes

Related Tools

Integration

With code-reviewer

With /review Command

Learn More