Smart Commit — Intelligent Git Commit Assistant

Version: 1.1.0 | Author: Shadows Company | License: MIT

WHEN TO TRIGGER

• User says "commit", "smart commit", "save my changes", or "push"
• After completing a coding task when changes need to be committed
• User asks to review and commit staged changes

WHEN NOT TO TRIGGER

• User explicitly says "don't commit" or "no commit"
• No changes exist in the working tree (git status shows clean)
• User is just browsing or reading code

PREREQUISITES

This skill requires only git on PATH. All commands are standard git operations that read repository state and create commits. No network access, no external APIs, no additional toolchains required.

PROCESS

Phase 1 — Reconnaissance

Run these commands to understand the current state:

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

Analyze:

1. What files changed (staged vs unstaged)
2. The nature of changes (new feature, bugfix, refactor, docs, test, chore)
3. Recent commit style to match existing conventions

Phase 2 — Security Scan (MANDATORY)

Before ANY commit, scan staged changes for leaked secrets:

# Scan staged diff for secret patterns
git diff --cached | grep -inE "(api[_-]?key|secret|token|password|credential|private[_-]?key)\s*[:=]\s*['\"][^'\"]{8,}" || echo "PASS: No secrets detected in staged changes"

If secrets detected: STOP immediately. Warn the user with the exact file:line. Do NOT proceed with the commit.

Check for files that should never be committed:

# Check if dangerous files are staged
git diff --cached --name-only | grep -iE "\.(env|pem|key|p12|pfx)$|credentials|secret" || echo "PASS: No sensitive files staged"

Blocked file patterns: .env, .env.*, *.pem, *.key, *.p12, *credentials*, *secret*, node_modules/, __pycache__/, .DS_Store

Limitations: This grep-based scan catches common patterns but may produce false positives (e.g., test fixtures with "password" in variable names) or miss obfuscated secrets. For high-security projects, complement with gitleaks or trufflehog.

Phase 3 — Staging Strategy

• NEVER use git add . or git add -A — these can accidentally include sensitive files
• Stage files individually by name: git add src/feature.ts tests/feature.test.ts
• Group related files logically in the same commit
• If unrelated changes exist, suggest splitting into multiple atomic commits

Phase 4 — Commit Message Generation

Follow Conventional Commits specification (conventionalcommits.org):

type(scope): concise description

[optional body explaining WHY, not WHAT]

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

Types: feat, fix, refactor, docs, test, chore, perf, style, build, ci

Rules:

• Subject line: max 72 characters, imperative mood ("add" not "added")
• Focus on WHY, not WHAT (the diff shows WHAT)
• Include scope when changes are localized to a module
• Use HEREDOC for multi-line messages to preserve formatting:

  git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
  type(scope): subject line
  
  Body explaining the motivation.
  
  Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
  EOF
  )"
  

Phase 5 — Verification

After commit, verify success:

git log --oneline -1
git status

Confirm: commit SHA visible, working tree status as expected.

SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

1. Read-only analysis: Phases 1-2 only read git state (status, diff, log). No files are modified, no network calls are made.

2. Secret detection output: Phase 2 may display matched secret-like patterns in terminal output. Run in a secure terminal where output is not forwarded to shared logging systems.

3. Write operations: Phase 3 (git add) and Phase 4 (git commit) modify git state. These are local operations — no data is pushed to any remote unless the user explicitly requests git push afterward.

4. No persistence: This skill does not store credentials, modify config files, or install packages. Each invocation is stateless.

5. No network access: The entire workflow is local. git push is never executed unless the user explicitly requests it as a separate step.

OUTPUT FORMAT

## Changes Detected
- [file list with change type: added/modified/deleted]

## Security Scan
- Secrets in diff: [PASS — none detected / FAIL — found at file:line]
- Sensitive files: [PASS — none staged / FAIL — list of files]

## Proposed Commit
type(scope): message

## Files to Stage
- [explicit file list, one per line]

## Post-Commit
- SHA: [short hash]
- Status: [clean / remaining unstaged changes]

RULES (by priority)

1. Security first — NEVER commit secrets, tokens, API keys
2. Specific staging — NEVER git add . — always name files explicitly
3. Conventional format — type(scope): message always
4. Meaningful messages — explain intent, not just what changed
5. No force push — NEVER git push --force on main/master
6. No amend — create NEW commits unless explicitly asked to amend
7. No skip hooks — NEVER use --no-verify
8. Atomic commits — one logical change per commit

Published by Shadows Company — "We work in the shadows to serve the Light."