Commit work

Goal

Make commits that are easy to review and safe to ship:

• •only intended changes are included
• •commits are logically scoped (split when needed)
• •commit messages describe what changed and why

Inputs to ask for (if missing)

• •Single commit or multiple commits? (If unsure: default to multiple small commits when there are unrelated changes.)
• •Commit style: Conventional Commits are required.
• •Any rules: max subject length, required scopes.

Workflow (checklist)

1. •Inspect the working tree before staging
   • •git status
   • •git diff (unstaged)
   • •If many changes: git diff --stat
2. •Decide commit boundaries (split if needed)
   • •Split by: feature vs refactor, backend vs frontend, formatting vs logic, tests vs prod code, dependency bumps vs behavior changes.
   • •If changes are mixed in one file, plan to use patch staging.
3. •Stage only what belongs in the next commit
   • •Prefer patch staging for mixed changes: git add -p
   • •To unstage a hunk/file: git restore --staged -p or git restore --staged <path>
4. •Review what will actually be committed
   • •git diff --cached
   • •Sanity checks:
     • •no secrets or tokens
     • •no accidental debug logging
     • •no unrelated formatting churn
5. •Describe the staged change in 1-2 sentences (before writing the message)
   • •"What changed?" + "Why?"
   • •If you cannot describe it cleanly, the commit is probably too big or mixed; go back to step 2.
6. •Write the commit message
   • •Use Conventional Commits (required):
     • •type(scope): short summary
     • •blank line
     • •body (what/why, not implementation diary)
     • •footer (BREAKING CHANGE) if needed
   • •Prefer an editor for multi-line messages: git commit -v
   • •Use references/commit-message-template.md if helpful.
7. •Run the smallest relevant verification
   • •Run the repo's fastest meaningful check (unit tests, lint, or build) before moving on.
8. •Repeat for the next commit until the working tree is clean

Deliverable

Provide:

• •the final commit message(s)
• •a short summary per commit (what/why)
• •the commands used to stage/review (at minimum: git diff --cached, plus any tests run)