Structured Commit Messages

Guides the AI agent through crafting descriptive git commit messages that follow a consistent tag-based format with per-file breakdowns.

When to Use

Invoke this skill whenever you need to commit staged changes. It picks the right tag, writes a clear summary, and lists what changed in each file.

Message Formats

Detailed message (20+ lines changed)

code

[tag]: One-line summary of what this commit achieves

path/to/file1: Brief note on what changed here.
path/to/file2: Brief note on what changed here.

Optional paragraph with extra context, motivation, or a reference to a
related GitHub issue (e.g. "See #42 for background").

Short message (under 20 lines changed)

code

[tag]: One-line summary of what this commit achieves

Choosing a Tag

Look for a project-level tag list first (common locations: docs/git-msg-tags.md, CONTRIBUTING.md). If none exists, fall back to these conventional tags:

Tag	Use when...
`[feat]`	Adding new functionality
`[fix]`	Correcting a bug
`[docs]`	Updating documentation only
`[refactor]`	Restructuring code without changing behaviour
`[test]`	Adding or changing tests only
`[chore]`	Build scripts, CI, tooling, or dependency updates
`[style]`	Whitespace, formatting, or cosmetic-only changes

Pick whichever tag best describes the primary intent of the commit.

Rules

•The commit message is authored by the user, not the AI. Never add co-authorship lines or "generated by" attributions.
•Always honour pre-commit hooks — do not use --no-verify unless the user explicitly requests it.
•When an issue number is relevant, mention it in the body (e.g. "Relates to #17").

Examples

Detailed:

code

[feat]: Add CSV export endpoint for analytics dashboard

src/api/export.py: New endpoint returning CSV from query results.
src/models/report.py: Added helper to serialize rows to CSV format.
tests/test_export.py: Covers happy-path and empty-result cases.

Closes #34.

Short:

code

[fix]: Correct off-by-one in pagination offset