Agent Skills: Generating Smart Commits

Generating Smart Commits

Current State

!git diff --cached --stat !git log --oneline -5 !git status --short

Overview

Analyze staged git changes and generate Conventional Commits messages with accurate type classification, scope detection, and breaking change identification. Supports feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, test, chore, perf, ci, and build types following the Conventional Commits 1.0.0 specification.

Prerequisites

• Git repository initialized in the working directory
• Changes staged via git add (at least one staged file)
• Git user name and email configured (git config user.name, git config user.email)
• Understanding of the project's commit message conventions (check recent history)

Instructions

1. Run git diff --cached --stat to get an overview of staged files and change volume
2. Run git diff --cached to examine the actual code changes in detail
3. Classify the commit type based on the nature of changes:
   • feat: new functionality visible to users
   • fix: bug correction
   • refactor: code restructuring without behavior change
   • docs: documentation only
   • test: adding or updating tests
   • chore: build process, dependencies, or tooling
   • perf: performance improvement
   • ci: CI/CD configuration changes
4. Determine scope from the primary directory or module affected (e.g., auth, api, cli, db)
5. Check for breaking changes: removed public APIs, changed function signatures, renamed exports, schema migrations
6. Check recent commit history with git log --oneline -10 to match the project's style conventions
7. Construct the commit message: type(scope): imperative description under 72 characters
8. Add a body with bullet points explaining the "why" behind the change if the diff is non-trivial
9. Append BREAKING CHANGE: footer if applicable

Output

Conventional commit message following this format:

type(scope): imperative description

- Explanation of what changed and why
- Impact on existing functionality

BREAKING CHANGE: description (if applicable)

Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|---------| | No changes staged for commit | Nothing added to staging area | Run git add <files> to stage changes before generating the message | | Not a git repository | Working directory is not inside a git repo | Run git init or navigate to the repository root | | Ambiguous commit type | Changes span multiple categories (feature + fix) | Split into separate commits or use the primary intent as the type | | Scope unclear from file paths | Changes touch many unrelated directories | Use the most significant module or omit scope entirely | | Commit message exceeds 72 characters | Description too verbose | Shorten to the essential action; move details to the commit body |

Examples

• "Analyze my staged changes and generate a conventional commit message with the right type and scope."
• "Create a commit message for these changes, checking if there are any breaking changes in the API."
• "Generate a smart commit following this project's existing commit style (check the last 10 commits)."

Resources

• Conventional Commits specification: https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/
• Angular commit guidelines: https://github.com/angular/angular/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#commit
• Git commit best practices: https://cbea.ms/git-commit/