commit-helper_skill

Overview

This skill generates clear, Conventional Commits–compliant messages from git diffs to improve commit quality and consistency. It helps create meaningful commit subjects, optional bodies, and footers following Conventional Commits rules. Use it when creating commits, reviewing staged changes, or automating commit message generation in CI or local hooks.

How this skill works

The skill inspects staged or unstaged git diffs and maps changes to a Conventional Commit type (feat, fix, docs, refactor, perf, test, style, chore, ci). It suggests an imperative, concise subject line, optional descriptive body lines for context and bullet points, and an optional footer for issue references or breaking changes. It can produce single-line messages or multi-line commits with body and footer ready to pass to git commit.

When to use it

• When preparing a commit locally and you want a conventional, lint-friendly message
• When reviewing staged changes to decide the correct commit type and scope
• In git hooks or CI to auto-generate standardized commit messages
• When writing multi-line commit bodies that explain rationale and migration notes
• When closing issues or adding Co-authored-by and breaking-change footers

Best practices

• Choose the commit type that matches intent (feat for new features, fix for bug fixes)
• Keep subject under 50 characters, imperative mood, no period at end
• Include scope when it improves clarity (e.g., feat(api): ...)
• Add a body for non-trivial changes with bullet points and rationale
• Use the footer for BREAKING CHANGE notes and issue closers

Example use cases

• Generate a one-line fix for a small parser bug from a staged diff
• Create a feature commit with body describing added endpoints and migration steps
• Auto-add a BREAKING CHANGE footer when a public API shape is altered
• Populate Co-authored-by lines and issue references when merging collaborative work
• Run in a pre-commit hook to enforce commit message format across a team