generating-smart-commits_skill

Overview

This skill generates conventional commit messages from staged Git changes to speed up and standardize commit creation. It inspects staged diffs, recommends a commit type and scope, detects breaking changes, and formats the message according to Conventional Commits. The generated message is shown for review and confirmation before committing.

How this skill works

The skill reads the staged diff output and classifies changes into types such as feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, test, or chore. It extracts a scope from file paths or module names, summarizes the change into a concise description, and composes a multi-line conventional commit message with an optional BREAKING CHANGE section. It validates the format and surfaces common errors like no staged changes or an invalid repository state.

When to use it

• Before running git commit to produce a standardized, descriptive message
• When you want a quick, consistent commit type and scope derived from changes
• When preparing commits for a team that enforces Conventional Commits
• When you need to detect and call out breaking API changes automatically

Best practices

• Stage only the changes that belong together so the message matches the commit intent
• Review the auto-generated description and expand the detailed body with motivations and impacts
• Keep the short description under 50 characters and use imperative mood
• Include a clear BREAKING CHANGE entry when public behavior or APIs change
• Align type and scope with your project’s contribution guide if one exists

Example use cases

• Generate a commit message for a set of staged auth-related files: returns feat(auth): implement JWT authentication middleware
• Create a fix commit after staging a hotfix for a null pointer in an API endpoint
• Produce a docs commit when README or installation instructions are updated
• Detect an API signature removal and add BREAKING CHANGE with migration notes