Commit Message Validator

VerifiedCaution

Validates commit messages against the Conventional Commits specification using programmatic validation. Provides instant feedback on message format, type, scope, and subject. Helps enforce team standards in pre-commit hooks, CI/CD pipelines, and code review.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentBeginner
6/2/2026
Claude Code
#conventional-commits#commit-validation#pre-commit#git-hooks#code-quality

Recommended for

Automated summary

Validates commit messages against the Conventional Commits specification using programmatic validation.

Strengths

  • Automatically enforces a standardized commit convention across the team.
  • Easily integrates into pre-commit hooks and CI/CD pipelines.
  • Provides immediate, clear feedback on formatting errors.
  • Simple implementation using a lightweight regular expression.

Limitations

  • Only checks the message format, not the relevance or accuracy of content.
  • Does not validate custom scopes beyond their syntactic presence.
  • The 72-character subject line limit can be restrictive for some messages.
When to use it

Use this skill to enforce a consistent commit convention in a team or open-source project.

When not to use it

Avoid if your team already uses a different commit format or if you need more complex validations (e.g., allowed scopes, required body).

Security analysis

Caution
Quality score92/100

The skill lists Bash among its allowed tools, which is a powerful execution capability. The instructions are limited to commit message validation and do not include destructive commands, but the presence of Bash slightly elevates risk.

Findings
  • •Bash tool declared, enabling execution of arbitrary shell commands. While the skill itself focuses on validation scripts, misuse or injection risks exist if the agent is redirected.
How this analysis is made

Examples

Validate a single commit message
Validate this commit message against Conventional Commits: 'feat(auth): add OAuth2 support'
Set up pre-commit hook
Create a pre-commit hook that validates commit messages using the Conventional Commits specification.
Explain invalid format
Why is the commit message 'Added new feature' invalid according to Conventional Commits?

name: commit-validator description: Validates commit messages against Conventional Commits specification using programmatic validation. Replaces the git-conventional-commit-messages text file with a tool that provides instant feedback. version: 1.0.0 model: haiku invoked_by: both user_invocable: true tools: [Read, Grep, Bash] best_practices:

  • Validate early in pre-commit hooks
  • Provide clear error messages
  • Enforce in CI/CD pipelines error_handling: graceful streaming: supported

References (archive): SCAFFOLD_SKILLS_ARCHIVE_MAP.md — commit validation logic inspired by claude-flow v3 git-commit hook, everything-claude-code commitlint.

<identity> Commit Message Validator - Programmatically validates commit messages against the [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/) specification. </identity> <capabilities> - Before committing code - In pre-commit hooks - In CI/CD pipelines - During code review - To enforce team standards </capabilities> <instructions> <execution_process>

Step 1: Validate Commit Message

Validate a commit message string against Conventional Commits format:

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

Types:

  • feat: A new feature
  • fix: A bug fix
  • docs: Documentation only changes
  • style: Code style changes (formatting, etc.)
  • refactor: Code refactoring
  • perf: Performance improvements
  • test: Adding or updating tests
  • chore: Maintenance tasks
  • ci: CI/CD changes
  • build: Build system changes
  • revert: Reverting a previous commit

Validation Rules:

  1. Must start with type (required)
  2. Scope is optional (in parentheses)
  3. Subject is required (after colon and space)
  4. Use imperative, present tense ("add" not "added")
  5. Don't capitalize first letter
  6. No period at end
  7. Can include body and footer (separated by blank line) </execution_process> </instructions>
<examples> <code_example> **Implementation**

Use this regex pattern for validation:

const CONVENTIONAL_COMMIT_REGEX =
  /^(feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|perf|test|chore|ci|build|revert)(\(.+\))?: .{1,72}/;

function validateCommitMessage(message) {
  const lines = message.trim().split('\n');
  const header = lines[0];

  // Check format
  if (!CONVENTIONAL_COMMIT_REGEX.test(header)) {
    return {
      valid: false,
      error: 'Commit message does not follow Conventional Commits format',
    };
  }

  // Check length
  if (header.length > 72) {
    return {
      valid: false,
      error: 'Commit header exceeds 72 characters',
    };
  }

  return { valid: true };
}

</code_example>

<code_example> Valid Examples:

feat(auth): add OAuth2 login support
fix(api): resolve timeout issue in user endpoint
docs(readme): update installation instructions
refactor(components): extract common button logic
test(utils): add unit tests for date formatting

</code_example>

<code_example> Invalid Examples:

Added new feature  # Missing type
feat:new feature   # Missing space after colon
FEAT: Add feature  # Type should be lowercase
feat: Added feature  # Should use imperative tense

</code_example>

<code_example> Pre-commit Hook (.git/hooks/pre-commit):

#!/bin/bash
commit_msg=$(git log -1 --pretty=%B)
if ! node .claude/tools/validate-commit.mjs "$commit_msg"; then
  echo "Commit message validation failed"
  exit 1
fi

</code_example>

<code_example> CI/CD Integration:

# .github/workflows/validate-commits.yml
- name: Validate commit messages
  run: |
    git log origin/main..HEAD --pretty=%B | while read msg; do
      node .claude/tools/validate-commit.mjs "$msg" || exit 1
    done

</code_example> </examples>

<examples> <formatting_example> **Output Format**

Returns structured validation result:

{
  "valid": true,
  "type": "feat",
  "scope": "auth",
  "subject": "add OAuth2 login support",
  "warnings": []
}

Or for invalid messages:

{
  "valid": false,
  "error": "Commit message does not follow Conventional Commits format",
  "suggestions": [
    "Use format: <type>(<scope>): <subject>",
    "Valid types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, chore, ci, build, revert"
  ]
}

</formatting_example> </examples>

<examples> <usage_example> **Example Commands**:
# Validate a commit message
node .claude/tools/validate-commit.mjs "feat(auth): implement jwt login"

# Validate from stdin (e.g. in a hook)
echo "fix: incorrect variable name" | node .claude/tools/validate-commit.mjs

</usage_example> </examples>

<instructions> <best_practices> 1. **Validate Early**: Check commit messages before pushing 2. **Provide Feedback**: Show clear error messages with suggestions 3. **Enforce in CI**: Add validation to CI/CD pipelines 4. **Team Training**: Educate team on Conventional Commits format 5. **Tool Integration**: Integrate with Git hooks and IDEs </best_practices> </instructions>

Memory Protocol (MANDATORY)

Before starting: Read .claude/context/memory/learnings.md

After completing:

  • New pattern -> .claude/context/memory/learnings.md
  • Issue found -> .claude/context/memory/issues.md
  • Decision made -> .claude/context/memory/decisions.md

ASSUME INTERRUPTION: If it's not in memory, it didn't happen.

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/commit-message-validator-mmio70js/download' --output '.skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

No recognized prerequisites section in this file. This does not mean it is self-contained: libraries, tools and access requirements may be mentioned elsewhere in the content or source repository.

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/commit-validator' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js' '.claude/skills/commit-validator'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation
openskills install './.skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js'

openskills read 'commit-message-validator-mmio70js'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:

Read .skill-downloads/commit-message-validator-mmio70js/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

Related skills