The Art of Git Commits
👨💻 Computer Scientist | 🌌 Physicist Enthusiast 💡 Always exploring new technologies and seeking to bridge the gap between science and technology.
Commit messages are much more than just a formality. A good commit is readable, useful, traceable, and facilitates collaboration, code reviews, releases, and debugging.
Why write good commits?
Quick understanding of the project history
Facilitates code reviews and testing
Simpler reverts
Automation of changelogs (with Conventional Commits)
Better implicit documentation; you can trace progression and evolution the repository
More context to you AI agents when they have access to your commits history 😉
Structure of a good commit
<type>(<scope>): <subject>
<body (optional)>
<footer (optional)>
Commit types (Conventional Commits)
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
feat |
New feature |
fix |
Bug fix |
docs |
Documentation (README, comments, etc.) |
style |
Style change (indentation, spacing...) |
refactor |
Refactoring without changing behavior |
perf |
Performance improvement |
test |
Addition or modification of tests |
build |
Changes related to the build or dependencies |
ci |
Changes for continuous integration |
chore |
Other tasks not related to application code |
revert |
Undoing a commit |
Recommended scopes
Use names of modules, folders, or functions(ex: auth, api, home, profile, router, db, config, styles). The most important is to be consistent across the entire team.
When in doubt: no scope > wrong scope
feat(auth): added Google login
fix(api): handling of error 500
Best practices for writing
Clear and imperative subject line (like a command) → adds, fixes, updates. No past tense: “Added,” “Fixed”
Max. 50 characters for the subject line
📝 The message body (optional) can:
Explain the reason
List important changes
Mention closed issues
feat(user): adds the ability to change the avatar
Added a new `avatar_url` field to the `User` model.
A PATCH endpoint allows updating it via the REST API.
Closes #42
Useful Git Tips
| Action | Command |
|---|---|
| Edit the last commit message | git commit --amend |
| Remove a file from the staging area | git restore --staged |
| View the history | git log --oneline --graph --all |
| Undo commits locally | git reset --soft |
| View changes | git diff or git diff --staged |
Useful Templates
Message template with scope
feat(auth): added silent reauthentication
Allows the user to stay logged in automatically
if their refresh token is still valid. Improves the user experience
without compromising security.
Closes #73
Template for simple fix
fix(ui): validation button not clickable
Fixed the incorrectly evaluated disabled property.
Refactoring template
refactor(db): simplifies user insertion logic
Uses `upsert` to avoid unnecessary duplicates.
Recommended Tools
Tool Description commitizen To help write properly formatted commits cz-customizable To customize types and scopes husky To trigger Git hooks (e.g., check commit syntax) standard-version To generate changelogs from commits
Things to Avoid
❌ Vague messages: update, fix bug, changes; without specifying what was actually done
❌ Too much information in a single commit
❌ Too many meaningless commits (like wip, except on personal branches)
❌ Overloading with unnecessary scopes (feat(app/api/helpers/config/index): ...)
Conclusion
Good commits make you a better developer, facilitate teamwork, and demonstrate your attention to detail.
Remember:
Keep commits small, clear, and atomic
Follow the structure
Write as if someone were going to review your work in 6 months
