Commit work

Goal

Make commits that are easy to review and safe to ship:

• only intended changes are included
• commits are logically scoped (split when needed)
• commit messages describe what changed and why

Inputs to ask for (if missing)

• Single commit or multiple commits? (If unsure: default to multiple small commits when there are unrelated changes.)
• Commit style: Conventional Commits are required.
• Any rules: max subject length, required scopes.

Workflow (checklist)

1. Inspect the working tree before staging
   • git status
   • git diff (unstaged)
   • If many changes: git diff --stat
2. Decide commit boundaries (split if needed)
   • Split by: feature vs refactor, backend vs frontend, formatting vs logic, tests vs prod code, dependency bumps vs behavior changes.
   • If changes are mixed in one file, plan to use patch staging.
3. Stage only what belongs in the next commit
   • Prefer patch staging for mixed changes: git add -p
   • To unstage a hunk/file: git restore --staged -p or git restore --staged <path>
4. Review what will actually be committed
   • git diff --cached
   • Sanity checks:
     • no secrets or tokens
     • no accidental debug logging
     • no unrelated formatting churn
5. Describe the staged change in 1-2 sentences (before writing the message)
   • "What changed?" + "Why?"
   • If you cannot describe it cleanly, the commit is probably too big or mixed; go back to step 2.
6. Write the commit message
   • Use Conventional Commits (required):
     • type(scope): short summary
     • blank line
     • body (what/why, not implementation diary)
     • footer (BREAKING CHANGE) if needed
   • Prefer an editor for multi-line messages: git commit -v
   • Use references/commit-message-template.md if helpful.
7. Run the smallest relevant verification
   • Run the repo's fastest meaningful check (unit tests, lint, or build) before moving on.
8. Repeat for the next commit until the working tree is clean

Deliverable

Provide:

• the final commit message(s)
• a short summary per commit (what/why)
• the commands used to stage/review (at minimum: git diff --cached, plus any tests run)