Smart Commit
Host-neutral workflow. Invoke by skill name (commit). Claude Code slash routing, YAML hook loaders, and .claude/chain live in references/claude-code.md.
Simple, validated commit creation. Run checks locally, no agents needed for standard commits.
Note: If disableSkillShellExecution is enabled (CC 2.1.91), the git repository check won't run. This skill requires a git repository.
Quick Start
commit
commit fix typo in auth module
Argument Resolution
COMMIT_MSG = "$ARGUMENTS" # Optional commit message, e.g., "fix typo in auth module"
# If provided, use as commit message. If empty, generate from staged changes.
# $ARGUMENTS[0] is the first token (CC 2.1.59 indexed access)
STEP 0: Choose Commit Mode (AskUserQuestion — M118 #1465)
Default is "new commit", but voice-flow needs explicit choice when amend / push / stash is wanted:
# Skip when a flag in the invocation makes the mode unambiguous:
# commit --amend → skip, mode=amend
# commit --push → skip, mode=new+push
# commit --stash → skip, mode=stash-first
# ORK_COMMIT_DEFAULT_MODE=new (or amend|push|stash) → skip, use env value
#
# Otherwise, ask:
AskUserQuestion(questions=[{
"question": "How should this commit land?",
"header": "Commit mode",
"options": [
{"label": "New commit (default)", "description": "Create a new commit, leave HEAD intact"},
{"label": "Amend HEAD", "description": "Fold staged changes into the last commit (LOCAL ONLY — refuses if HEAD is published)"},
{"label": "New commit + push", "description": "Commit then `git push` (refuses on protected branches)"},
{"label": "Stash first", "description": "Stash unrelated working-tree changes, then commit only what was already staged"}
]
}])
Mode-specific guards:
- Amend HEAD — verify HEAD is not on origin (
git rev-list HEAD..origin/<branch> empty); if it is published, refuse and recommend "New commit" instead.
- New commit + push — re-check the protected-branch rule from Phase 1 before pushing; if HEAD's branch is
main/master/dev, abort.
- Stash first —
git stash push -k -m "ork:commit autostash" (keep-index), commit, then git stash pop after push success.
Workflow
Phase 1: Pre-Commit Safety Check
# CRITICAL: Verify we're not on dev/main
BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
if [[ "$BRANCH" == "dev" || "$BRANCH" == "main" || "$BRANCH" == "master" ]]; then
echo "STOP! Cannot commit directly to $BRANCH"
echo "Create a feature branch: git checkout -b issue/<number>-<description>"
exit 1
fi
Phase 2: Run Validation Locally
Run every check that CI runs:
# Backend (Python)
poetry run ruff format --check app/
poetry run ruff check app/
poetry run mypy app/
# Frontend (Node.js)
npm run format:check
npm run lint
npm run typecheck
Fix any failures before proceeding.
Phase 3: Review Changes
git status
git diff --staged # What will be committed
git diff # Unstaged changes
Phase 3b: Agent Attribution (automatic)
Before committing, check for the branch activity ledger at .claude/agents/activity/{branch}.jsonl. If it exists and has entries since the last commit, include them in the commit message:
- Read
.claude/agents/activity/{branch}.jsonl (one JSON object per line)
- Filter entries where
ts is after the last commit timestamp (git log -1 --format=%cI)
- Skip agents with
duration_ms < 5000 (advisory-only agents go in PR, not commits)
- Add an "Agents Involved:" section between the commit body and the Co-Authored-By trailer
- Add per-agent
Co-Authored-By trailers: Co-Authored-By: ork:{agent} <[email protected]>
If the ledger doesn't exist or is empty, skip this step — commit normally.
Phase 4: Stage and Commit
CC 2.1.113 idiom: Multi-line Bash with leading # intent: comments now shows the full command in the transcript — prefix complex scripts with a one-line intent comment so future readers (and /recap scans) can grep the transcript for what happened without re-reading the diff.
# intent: stage the hook change + its test + built artifacts
# Stage files
git add <files>
# Or all: git add .
# Commit with conventional format (with agent attribution if ledger exists)
git commit -m "<type>(#<issue>): <brief description>
- [Change 1]
- [Change 2]
Agents Involved:
backend-system-architect — API design + data models (2m14s)
security-auditor — Dependency audit (0m42s)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>
Co-Authored-By: ork:backend-system-architect <[email protected]>
Co-Authored-By: ork:security-auditor <[email protected]>"
# Verify
git log -1 --stat
CC 2.1.183 — attribution.sessionUrl: In web and Remote Control sessions, CC appends a claude.ai session link to commit/PR attribution. Set attribution.sessionUrl: false (/config attribution.sessionUrl=false) to omit it — useful for public repos where the session link should not leak. The Co-Authored-By trailers above are unaffected.
Handoff File
After successful commit, write handoff:
Write(".claude/chain/committed.json", JSON.stringify({
"phase": "commit", "sha": "<commit-sha>",
"message": "<commit-message>", "branch": "<branch>",
"files": [<staged-files>]
}))
Commit Types
| Type |
Use For |
feat |
New feature |
fix |
Bug fix |
refactor |
Code improvement |
docs |
Documentation |
test |
Tests only |
chore |
Build/deps/CI |
Quick Rules
- Run validation locally - Don't spawn agents to run lint/test
- NO file creation - Don't create MD files or documentation
- One logical change per commit - Keep commits focused
- Reference issues - Use
#123 format in commit message
- Subject line < 72 chars - Keep it concise
Quick Commit
For trivial changes (typos, single-line fixes):
git add . && git commit -m "fix(#123): Fix typo in error message
Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>"
Verification Gate
Before committing, apply the 5-step gate: Read("../../shared/rules/verification-gate.md"). Run tests fresh. Read the output. Only commit if tests pass. "Should be fine" is not evidence.
Quality Bar
Done means all of these hold:
- Commit landed on a feature branch, never dev/main/master (Phase 1 guard held)
- Subject uses a conventional type (feat/fix/docs/refactor/test/chore) matching the diff content, <=72 chars
- Issue reference (#N) present in the message whenever HEAD is on an issue branch
- Local validation for the touched stack (lint/type/test) ran and passed before the commit
Co-Authored-By: Claude trailer present; per-agent trailers added only when the activity ledger has post-last-commit entries
git log -1 --stat shows exactly the intended files, no secrets and no generated-only-noise commit
Related Skills
ork:create-pr: Create pull requests from commits
ork:review-pr: Review changes before committing
ork:fix-issue: Fix issues and commit the fixes
ork:issue-progress-tracking: Auto-updates GitHub issues with commit progress
Rules
Each category has individual rule files in rules/ loaded on-demand:
| Category |
Rule |
Impact |
Key Pattern |
| Atomic Commits |
rules/atomic-commit.md |
CRITICAL |
One logical change per commit, atomicity test |
| Branch Protection |
rules/branch-protection.md |
CRITICAL |
Protected branches, required PR workflow |
| Commit Splitting |
rules/commit-splitting.md |
HIGH |
git add -p, interactive staging, separation strategies |
| Conventional Format |
rules/conventional-format.md |
HIGH |
type(scope): description, breaking changes |
| History Hygiene |
rules/history-hygiene.md |
HIGH |
Squash WIP, fixup commits, clean history |
| Issue Reference |
rules/issue-reference-required.md |
HIGH |
Reference issue #N in commits on issue branches |
| Merge Strategy |
rules/merge-strategy.md |
HIGH |
Rebase-first, conflict resolution, force-with-lease |
| Stacked PRs |
rules/stacked-pr-workflow.md |
HIGH |
Stack planning, PR creation, dependency tracking |
| Stacked PRs |
rules/stacked-pr-rebase.md |
HIGH |
Rebase management, force-with-lease, retargeting |
Total: 9 rules across 8 categories
References
Load on demand with Read("references/<file>"):
| File |
Content |
references/conventional-commits.md |
Conventional commits specification |
references/recovery.md |
Recovery procedures |