🔍 Pre-Commit Check

Run these in parallel

1. git status — list staged and unstaged files.
2. git diff --cached — full staged diff.
3. git log --oneline -5 — recent commit messages to infer style.
4. git diff --cached --shortstat — line and file counts for size check.

Check the staged diff for

Commit message

Format

<type>: <subject>          ← max 72 chars, imperative present tense

[optional body]            ← wrap at 72 chars, explains WHY not WHAT

[optional footer]          ← e.g. Closes #123, Co-authored-by: ...

Type prefixes (use the project's convention if one exists)

Subject line rules

• Imperative present tense: "add user auth" not "added" or "adding"
• No trailing period
• No emoji unless the project convention uses them
• ≤72 characters — hard limit

Body (include when the change is non-obvious)

• Explain why the change was made, not what the diff shows
• Mention alternatives considered if the choice is non-obvious
• Reference issue numbers: Closes #42, Refs #17

What to avoid

• "WIP", "fix stuff", "changes" — not searchable or reviewable
• Giant commits mixing unrelated changes — split them
• Committing without staged content

Always pass the message via HEREDOC (per git-safety rule)

git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
feat: add user authentication

Replaces the previous session-token approach with JWT.
Closes #42
EOF
)"

After commit

Run git status to confirm success before reporting done.