Core Rules
Format:
<type>[optional scope]: <description>
[optional body]
[optional footer(s)]Title Requirements:
- ALL LOWERCASE (no capitalization in description)
- <50 characters
- Imperative mood (e.g., "add" not "added")
- No period at end
- Add "!" before ":" for breaking changes (e.g.,
feat!:,feat(api)!:)
Common Types: feat:, fix:, docs:, refactor:, perf:, test:, chore:, build:, ci:, style:
Body (optional but recommended): Blank line after title, ≤72 chars/line
- Bullet list: What changed (start with verb: Add, Remove, Update, Fix)
- Blank line
- Explanation paragraph: Why it matters, what impact it has
Example body structure:
- Add new user authentication endpoint
- Update middleware to validate JWT tokens
- Remove legacy session handling code
Modernizes the authentication system and improves security
by using industry-standard JWT tokens instead of sessions.IMPORTANT - Body Requirements (enforced by git plugin hook):
- Body is mandatory - all commits must include a body with bullet points
- Bullet points required - use
-prefix for each change item - Imperative verbs - start each bullet with a verb (Add, Remove, Update, Fix, Implement, etc.)
- Optional paragraphs:
- Context paragraph before bullets (to explain background) - Explanation paragraph after bullets (to explain why/impact)
Valid body formats:
# Simple: Just bullet points
- Add feature X
- Update component Y
# With explanation:
- Add feature X
- Update component Y
This improves performance by 50%.
# With context and explanation:
Previous implementation caused memory leaks.
- Refactor memory management
- Add cleanup handlers
Resolves memory issues in production.Footer (optional): Blank line after body
- Issue references:
Closes #123,Fixes #456 - Breaking changes:
BREAKING CHANGE: <description>
Reference Files
Load only when needed:
references/basic-examples.md- Common scenariosreferences/types-reference.md- All types and footer tokensreferences/breaking-changes.md- Breaking change examplesreferences/advanced-examples.md- Complex scenarios