Commit Preparation Skill

Automatically prepare commit messages following conventional commits standard.

Activation

This skill activates on keywords:

•"commit", "prepare commit", "commit this"
•"commit message", "write commit"
•"stage and commit", "commit changes"
•"what should I commit", "ready to commit"

Workflow

When activated, follow these steps:

1. Gather Context

Run these commands to understand what's being committed:

bash

# See all changes
git status

# Staged changes (what will be committed)
git diff --cached --stat
git diff --cached

# Unstaged changes (won't be committed yet)
git diff --stat

2. Analyze Changes

Determine:

•Type: feat, fix, docs, refactor, test, chore, perf, ci
•Scope: Which component/module is affected (optional)
•Breaking: Are there breaking changes?
•What: What was changed
•Why: Why was it changed (if not obvious)

3. Generate Commit Message

Follow conventional commits format:

code

<type>(<scope>): <subject>

<body>

<footer>

Type Reference

Type	When to Use	Example
`feat`	New feature	`feat: add user authentication`
`fix`	Bug fix	`fix: resolve null pointer in parser`
`docs`	Documentation only	`docs: update API reference`
`refactor`	Code restructuring	`refactor: extract validation logic`
`test`	Adding/fixing tests	`test: add unit tests for auth`
`perf`	Performance improvement	`perf: optimize database queries`
`chore`	Maintenance, deps	`chore: update dependencies`
`ci`	CI/CD changes	`ci: add caching to workflow`
`style`	Formatting only	`style: fix indentation`

Rules

•Subject: Imperative mood ("add" not "added"), no period, max 50 chars
•Body: Wrap at 72 chars, explain what and why (not how)
•Footer: Breaking changes, issue references

4. Handle Staging

If there are unstaged changes, ask:

•"Stage all changes?" (git add .)
•"Stage specific files?" (list them)
•"Review changes first?" (show diff)

5. Execute Commit

After user confirms the message:

bash

git add <files>
git commit -m "<message>"

Important: Always use HEREDOC for multi-line commits:

bash

git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
feat: add user authentication

Implement OAuth2 flow with Google and GitHub providers.
Includes session management with secure cookies.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
EOF
)"

6. Post-Commit

After successful commit:

•Show git log -1 to confirm
•Suggest git push if ready
•Mention if more changes remain unstaged

Example Interactions

Simple Commit

User: "commit these changes"

Claude:

bash

git status
git diff --cached

Looking at your staged changes:

•Modified src/auth/oauth.py - added token refresh logic
•Modified tests/test_auth.py - added refresh tests

Suggested commit:

code

feat(auth): add OAuth token refresh

Implement automatic token refresh when access token expires.
Includes retry logic with exponential backoff.

Shall I commit with this message?

Breaking Change

User: "ready to commit"

Claude: I see you've changed the API response format. This is a breaking change.

Suggested commit:

code

feat(api)!: change response envelope format

BREAKING CHANGE: API responses now use { data, meta, errors }
envelope instead of flat response. Clients must update parsing.

Migration: Update response handlers to access .data property.

This marks it as a breaking change with !. Proceed?

Multiple Logical Changes

User: "commit this"

Claude: I see changes to multiple unrelated areas:

•Bug fix in parser.py
•New feature in export.py
•Updated docs

Recommend splitting into separate commits:

•fix(parser): handle empty input gracefully
•feat(export): add CSV export option
•docs: update export documentation

Want me to help stage and commit each separately?

Attribution

Always include Claude attribution for AI-assisted commits:

code

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

Safety Rules

•Never use git commit --amend on pushed commits
•Never skip hooks with --no-verify unless explicitly asked
•Always show the commit message before executing
•Check for secrets/credentials in staged files
•Warn about large binary files