claudekit/skills/git-workflows/references/committing.md

Committing Patterns

Pre-Commit Checklist

Before staging:

• No secrets (.env, API keys, tokens)
• No debug statements (console.log, print(), debugger)
• No commented-out code blocks
• Code is formatted (prettier/ruff)

Conventional Commit Format

type(scope): subject

body (optional - explain why, not what)

footer (optional - references, breaking changes)

Types

Type	When	Example
feat	New feature	feat(auth): add OAuth2 login
fix	Bug fix	fix(api): handle null user in profile
docs	Documentation	docs(readme): update install steps
refactor	Restructure, no behavior change	refactor(db): extract query builders
test	Add/fix tests	test(auth): add login edge cases
chore	Maintenance	chore(deps): update React to 19
style	Formatting	style: apply prettier
perf	Performance	perf(query): add index on user_id

Subject Line Rules

• Max 50 characters
• Imperative mood: "Add" not "Added" or "Adds"
• No trailing period
• Capitalize first letter

Body Rules

• Wrap at 72 characters
• Explain why, not what (the diff shows what)
• Use bullet points for multiple changes

Footer Patterns

Closes #123
Fixes #456
BREAKING CHANGE: removed legacy auth endpoint
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

Staging Best Practices

# Prefer specific files over blanket add
git add src/auth/login.ts src/auth/login.test.ts

# Review what you're committing
git diff --staged

# Never commit these
# .env, credentials.json, *.pem, *.key

Commit Command Pattern

git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
feat(auth): add password reset flow

- Add reset token generation with 1h expiry
- Implement email sending via SendGrid
- Add rate limiting (3 requests/hour)

Closes #123

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

Amending vs New Commit

• Amend: Only for unpushed commits, only when fixing the same logical change
• New commit: Always for pushed commits, or when adding distinct changes
• Never amend after pre-commit hook failure — the commit didn't happen, so amend would modify the previous commit