Commit Helper

Generate a conventional commit message from your staged changes.

When to use

• You have staged changes and need a commit message
• You want structured conventional commits (feat:, fix:, etc.)
• You're unsure what type or scope to use

Prerequisites

• git available in PATH
• Changes are staged (git add)

Steps

1. Run git diff --cached --stat to see what changed
2. Run git diff --cached for full staged diff
3. Classify changes:
   • feat: new feature
   • fix: bug fix
   • docs: documentation only
   • refactor: code change that neither fixes a bug nor adds a feature
   • perf: performance improvement
   • test: adding or fixing tests
   • chore: build process, tooling, or library changes
   • ci: CI configuration changes
   • build: build system or dependency changes
4. Determine scope from changed paths (e.g., auth, api, ui, deps)
5. Write subject line in imperative mood, ≤72 chars
6. Add body explaining why if the change is non-trivial
7. Present the commit message and offer to commit

Output format

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

<optional body — explain motivation, not mechanics>

Examples

feat(auth): add email verification flow

fix(api): handle empty response from payment webhook

docs(readme): update installation instructions

refactor(db): extract query builder into separate module

Notes

• Never use past tense ("added" → "add")
• Don't end the subject line with a period
• Keep the subject under 72 characters
• Use the body to explain what and why, not how
• If the diff is large, summarize major categories first