styleguide-git-commit-message icon indicating copy to clipboard operation
styleguide-git-commit-message copied to clipboard

/sBin/StyleGuide/Git/CommitMessage

Git & Unicorn

Powered by Emojis! GitHub contributors GitHub stars license

Git Commit Message StyleGuide

TOC
  • About
  • Commit Message Format
  • Suggested Emojis
  • Tools
  • References
  • Fun Emoji Usages
  • Contributing
  • License

About

This is an attempt to standardize the format of commit messages, for the sake of uniformity in git log, best practices for writing commit messages & fun!

Using emojis at the beginning of commit messages, other than being fun, provides a simple way to indicate the intention of that commit, an ease for the eyes when browsing/reviewing git log. It's also a simple measure of the fact that how much that commit is focused on a single purpose, which is a good practice.

If these rules and/or using emojis is an overkill for your productivity or simply losing its purposes, please tailor them to your needs or don't use them.

Summary of the reasons for these conventions:

  • Fun!
  • Simple navigation through git history (e.g. ignoring style changes).
  • Automatic generating of the changelog.

Commit Message Format

<type>(<scope>): <subject>

<body>

<footer>

Message Subject(first line)

  • Capitalize the <subject>.
  • Do not end the first line with a period.
  • Total characters of the first line MUST be Less than or Equal to 50 characters Long.
  • Use the present tense ("Add feature" not "Added feature").
  • Use the imperative mood ("Move cursor to..." not "Moves cursor to...").
  • Use <type> to identify what type of changes introduced in this commit; Allowed <type> keywords:
    • An Emoji(see below for list of Suggested Emojis)
    • Or a Text:
      • feat: new feature for the user(or :sparkles: emoji)
      • fix: bug fix for the user(or :ambulance: emoji)
      • docs: changes to the documentation(or :books: emoji)
      • style: formatting, missing semi colons, etc; no production code change(or :art: emoji)
      • refactor: refactoring production code, eg. renaming a variable(or :tractor: emoji)
      • test: adding missing tests, refactoring tests; no production code change(or :microscope: emoji)
      • chore: updating grunt tasks etc; no production code change
  • If you need more than one keyword or emoji to use, you should probably think twice!. This usally means you need to break this commit into more smaller commits; If thats not the case then separate each emoji with a space.
  • Use <scope> to identify which component this <type> is related to; Example <scope> values:
    • init
    • runner
    • watcher
    • config
    • web-server
    • proxy
    • etc.
  • The <scope> can also be empty (e.g. if the change is a global or difficult to assign to a single component), in which case the parentheses are omitted.

Message Body

  • Includes motivation for the change and contrasts with previous behavior.
  • Use the body to explain whats and whys vs. hows.
  • Wrap each line of the body at 72 characters.

Message Footer

  • Reference issues this commit is related to with the status of that Issue; Ex. Issue #27, Ref T27 or Ref T27, T56 or Fixes T8.
  • Supported issue tracker status keywords:
    • Fixes
    • Fixed
    • Closes
    • Closed
    • Resolves
    • Resolved
    • Ref
    • Issue
    • Issues
  • More info on issue tracker status keywords:
  • It's also recommended to use Full URL to the Issues, instead of just issue ID Number; Doing so will ease browsing issues from terminal.
  • In the case of multiple issues separate them with commas, Ex. Closes #27, #56.

Notes

  • Use valid MarkDown format in the <body>.
  • All WIP(Work In Progress) commits SHOULD have the :construction: Emoji.
  • All WIP commits SHOULD be avoided!.
  • Referencing Issues by using special keywords like Fixes or Resolves will mark them as closed automatically! For more information about automatic issue closing using ketwords see their documentation(linked above).
  • There is NO new-line after the <footer>.
  • Every emoji text(:emoji:) is counted as one character!.
  • See ToDo Grammar StyleGuide for more Information on @XXX Comment Tags.

Suggested Emojis

Emoji Raw Emoji Code Description
:art: :art: when improving the format/structure of the code
:newspaper: :newspaper: when creating a new file
:pencil: :pencil: when performing minor changes/fixing the code or language
:racehorse: :racehorse: when improving performance
:books: :books: when writing docs
:bug: :bug: when reporting a bug, with @FIXMEComment Tag
:ambulance: :ambulance: when fixing a bug
:penguin: :penguin: when fixing something on Linux
:apple: :apple: when fixing something on Mac OS
:checkered_flag: :checkered_flag: when fixing something on Windows
:fire: :fire: when removing code or files, maybe with @CHANGED Comment Tag
:tractor: :tractor: when change file structure. Usually together with :art:
:hammer: :hammer: when refactoring code
:umbrella: :umbrella: when adding tests
:microscope: :microscope: when adding code coverage
:green_heart: :green_heart: when fixing the CI build
:lock: :lock: when dealing with security
:arrow_up: :arrow_up: when upgrading dependencies
:arrow_down: :arrow_down: when downgrading dependencies
:fast_forward: :fast_forward: when forward-porting features from an older version/branch
:rewind: :rewind: when backporting features from a newer version/branch
:shirt: :shirt: when removing linter/strict/deprecation warnings
:lipstick: :lipstick: when improving UI/Cosmetic
:wheelchair: :wheelchair: when improving accessibility
:globe_with_meridians: :globe_with_meridians: when dealing with globalization/internationalization/i18n/g11n
:construction: :construction: WIP(Work In Progress) Commits, maybe with @REVIEW Comment Tag
:gem: :gem: New Release
:egg: :egg: New Release with Python egg
:ferris_wheel: :ferris_wheel: New Release with Python wheel package
:bookmark: :bookmark: Version Tags
:tada: :tada: Initial Commit
:speaker: :speaker: when Adding Logging
:mute: :mute: when Reducing Logging
:sparkles: :sparkles: when introducing New Features
:zap: :zap: when introducing Backward-InCompatible Features, maybe with @CHANGED Comment Tag
:bulb: :bulb: New Idea, with @IDEA Comment Tag
:snowflake: :snowflake: changing Configuration, Usually together with :penguin: or :ribbon: or :rocket:
:ribbon: :ribbon: Customer requested application Customization, with @HACK Comment Tag
:rocket: :rocket: Anything related to Deployments/DevOps
:elephant: :elephant: PostgreSQL Database specific (Migrations, Scripts, Extensions, ...)
:dolphin: :dolphin: MySQL Database specific (Migrations, Scripts, Extensions, ...)
:leaves: :leaves: MongoDB Database specific (Migrations, Scripts, Extensions, ...)
:bank: :bank: Generic Database specific (Migrations, Scripts, Extensions, ...)
:whale: :whale: Docker Configuration
:handshake: :handshake: when Merge files
:cherries: :cherries: when Commit Arise from one or more Cherry-Pick Commit(s)

Tools

  • Commit(CLI): This is a nifty CLI tool to aid in standardizing commit messages based on this document, thanks to @jakeasmith.
  • gitMoji(Firefox & Chrome Extension): Enhance your commits with emojis!, thanks to @louisgrasset.

Fun Emoji Usages

  • CodeEmoji: Mozilla’s Codemoji enciphers your messages with emoji for fun and profit
  • Emoji Based Diagram: Emoji Based Diagram of Data Bearing Subscription Updates(WebPush VAPID)

Contributing

Ask to Be Creative!

To add a new Emoji to the list: Create an Issue & Send a PR.

License

The Code is licensed under the MIT License.