commit-messages

Conventional Commit Workflow

When To Use

• Generating conventional commit messages from staged changes

When NOT To Use

• Full PR preparation: use sanctum:pr-prep
• Amending existing commits: use git directly

Steps

1. Gather context (run in parallel):

• git status -sb
• git diff --cached --stat
• git diff --cached
• git log --oneline -5
• When sem is available (see leyline:sem-integration):

sem diff --staged --json for entity-level changes

If nothing is staged, tell the user and stop.

When sem output is available, use entity names

(function, class, method) in the commit subject and

body instead of parsing raw diff hunks. For example,

"add function validate_webhook_url" instead of

"add validation logic to notify.py".

1. Classify: Pick type (feat, fix, docs, refactor,

test, chore, style, perf, ci) and optional scope.

1. Draft the message:

• Subject: <type>(<scope>): <imperative summary> (50 chars max)
• Body: What and why, wrapped at 72 chars
• Footer: BREAKING CHANGE, issue refs, and the

discussion trailer below

3a. Discussion trailer: when the change resolves a finding

from the Discussions board, add a trailer on its own line:

   Addresses-Discussion: #654
   Addresses-Discussion: #604, #610

This is the only signal scripts/reconcile_discussions.py

accepts as proof a finding is done. It posts the resolution

comment and closes the discussion, so the board stops

carrying work that is already finished.

Only add it when this commit resolves the finding. Prose

that merely names a discussion is read as a mention and is

never written back. That distinction is load-bearing:

6b28aa1a says "posted 13 insights to discussions

#424-#436", which is the commit that opened those

discussions. A trailer there would have announced

"Addressed" on findings nobody had looked at yet.

Cite a discussion in the body for context as often as it

helps. Reserve the trailer for resolution.

1. Slop check: reject these words and replace with plain

alternatives:

| Reject | Use instead |

|--------|-------------|

| leverage, utilize | use |

| seamless | smooth |

| comprehensive | complete |

| robust | solid |

| facilitate | enable |

| streamline | simplify |

| optimize | improve |

| delve | explore |

| multifaceted | varied |

| pivotal | key |

| intricate | detailed |

Also reject: "it's worth noting", "at its core",

"in essence", "a testament to"

4a. Character-level slop check: load shared/output-hygiene.md

(Contract A) and strip these markers. Inline fallback if that

module is absent:

| Marker | Replace with |

|--------|--------------|

| "+" as a prose conjunction | and (keep + in versions/code) |

| em-dash — | colon, period, comma, or rewrite |

| -- as prose punctuation | colon or rewrite |

| arrows -> / → as connectors | to / into |

| smart quotes “ ” ‘ ’ | straight " and ' |

4b. Subject-matter check (Contract B): describe the change by its

reader-facing effect. Name neither the AI origin nor the specific

marker removed. Do NOT write remove AI slop, de-slop,

AI-generated content, AI phrasing, replace em-dashes, or

remove smart quotes. Test: if the subject only makes sense as "I

cleaned up AI output", rewrite it. For example `docs: clarify the

setup section, not style: replace em-dashes with colons`.

1. Write to ./commit_msg.txt and preview.

Rules

• NEVER use git commit --no-verify or -n
• Write for humans, not to impress
• If pre-commit hooks fail, fix the issues
• This skill drafts a message, it does not commit. Whoever commits

confirms HEAD advanced (git rev-parse HEAD before and after)

before reporting the commit as landed. An auto-fixing hook aborts

the commit while printing a tail that reads like success, so hook

output is not evidence. See discussion #614.

Exit Criteria

• [ ] commit_msg.txt written to the working directory containing

the drafted conventional commit message

• [ ] Subject line follows <type>(<scope>): <summary> format and

is at most 50 characters

• [ ] Slop word check passes: none of the banned words (leverage,

utilize, seamless, comprehensive, robust, etc.) appear in the

message

• [ ] Character-level check passes: no em-dashes, no + as prose

conjunction, no smart quotes, no -> as prose connector

• [ ] If nothing is staged, skill halts immediately and reports

"nothing staged" without producing a commit message