Commit Workflow

Commit Workflow

Overview

Structured commit process ensuring code quality through pre-commit verification, atomic commit composition, and conventional commit message formatting.

Quick Reference

Before committing:

1. Check staging status
2. Review diff to understand changes
3. Analyze for atomic commit opportunities

Commit composition:

1. Split multiple distinct changes into separate commits
2. Use conventional commit format
3. Follow project git guidelines

Note: Quality gates (PostToolUse, SubagentStop hooks) automatically enforce pre-commit checks, so code quality is already verified.

Implementation

Prerequisites

Read these before committing:

• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}standards/conventional-commits.md - Commit message format
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}standards/git-guidelines.md - Git workflow standards

Step-by-Step Workflow

Note: Pre-commit quality checks (linters, tests, build) are enforced automatically by quality gates (PostToolUse, SubagentStop hooks). By the time you're committing, gates have already verified code quality.

1. Check staging status

Review what's staged:

git status

If 0 files staged:

• Automatically add all modified and new files: git add .
• Or selectively stage: git add <specific-files>

2. Review diff

Understand what's being committed:

# See staged changes
git diff --staged

# See all changes (staged + unstaged)
git diff HEAD

Analyze for logical grouping:

• Are multiple distinct features/fixes present?
• Can this be split into atomic commits?

3. Determine commit strategy

Single commit: All changes are logically related (one feature, one fix)

Multiple commits: Multiple distinct changes detected:

• Feature A + Bug fix B → Split into 2 commits
• Refactoring + New feature → Split into 2 commits
• Multiple unrelated changes → Split into N commits

If splitting, stage selectively:

# Stage specific files
git add file1.py file2.py
git commit -m "..."

# Stage remaining files
git add file3.py
git commit -m "..."

4. Write conventional commit message

Format (from standards/conventional-commits.md):

<type>(<optional-scope>): <description>

[optional body]

[optional footer]

Common types:

• feat: New feature
• fix: Bug fix
• refactor: Code change that neither fixes bug nor adds feature
• docs: Documentation changes
• test: Adding or updating tests
• chore: Maintenance tasks

Example messages:

git commit -m "feat(auth): add password reset functionality

Implement forgot-password flow with email verification.
Includes rate limiting to prevent abuse."

git commit -m "fix: handle null values in user profile endpoint"

git commit -m "refactor: extract validation logic into separate module

Improves testability and reduces duplication across endpoints."

5. Commit changes

Execute commit:

git commit -m "type(scope): description"

Verify commit:

git log -1 --stat

What NOT to Skip

NEVER skip:

• Reviewing full diff before committing
• Analyzing for atomic commit opportunities
• Following conventional commit format
• Verifying commit was created correctly

Common rationalizations that violate workflow:

• "Small change" → Review diff and follow format anyway
• "Will fix message later" → Write correct message now
• "Mixing changes is faster" → Atomic commits are worth the time
• "Don't need to verify" → Always check commit with git log

Note: Pre-commit quality checks are enforced by quality gates automatically - no need to run them manually at commit time.

Testing This Skill

See test-scenarios.md for pressure tests validating this workflow resists shortcuts.