High-Quality Git Commits

VerifiedSafe

Create high-quality Git commits by gathering context, running verification agents, and structuring changes into logical commits.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
7/28/2026
Claude Code
#git#commit-workflow#changelog#code-quality#subagents

Recommended for

Automated summary

This skill inspects pending Git changes, runs a pipeline of quality agents (Python modernisation, docstrings, tests, linting, changelog) and then produces one or more coherent Git commits.

Strengths

  • Gathers Git context in parallel (diff, diff --cached, status, style of the last 20 commit messages) before deciding anything
  • Runs ordered, conditional agents (python-moderniser, click-auditor, docstring-fixer, copy-editor, test-writer, qa-fixer) scoped only to the changed files
  • Decides when to split work into multiple commits and applies per-component prefix rules, including handling of incidental files (CHANGELOG.md, dictionary.txt)
  • Carefully gates the changelog agent on whether a change is genuinely user-facing

Limitations

  • Tightly coupled to one project layout: instagram_archiver/ paths, .claude/agents/*.md files and the Wiswa generator must all exist
  • Depends entirely on Claude Code's Agent tool and on pre-defined agent definition files
  • Does not cover pushing, pull requests or merge conflict resolution
When to use it

Use it when you have pending changes and want a clean, reviewed and correctly named commit or set of commits.

When not to use it

Avoid it on repositories that don't follow this agent and component structure, or when you just want to commit without running the agent chain.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score94/100

The skill instructs running read-only git commands (diff, status, log, grep) and launching coding subagents to follow project-specific agent files. It does not include destructive commands, exfiltration, obfuscation, or unsafe network operations. The actions are standard development workflow steps.

No concerns found

How this analysis is made

Examples

Commit pending work
Commit my pending changes with a good message.
Commit a new CLI flag
I added a --dry-run flag to the main command; run the commit workflow and split it properly.
User-facing change with changelog
Commit the behaviour change in instagram_archiver/ and update the changelog if it's user-facing.

Commit

Create high-quality Git commits for all pending changes.

Gathering context

Run these in parallel:

  1. git diff - unstaged changes.
  2. git diff --cached - staged changes.
  3. git status - untracked files and overall state.
  4. git log --no-merges --format='%s%n%b---' -20 | grep -v '^bump:' | grep -iv dependabot - recent commit message style examples.

Running agents

After gathering context but before committing, determine which agents to run based on the changed files. Launch each agent sequentially using the Agent tool with subagent_type general-purpose, telling it to follow the corresponding .claude/agents/<name>.md file. Scope each agent to only the changed files, not the entire project.

You must skip any agents that are not relevant to the changed files (e.g. if no Click command files changed, skip the click-auditor).

When Python code is being committed

If any changed files are under instagram_archiver/ or tests/, run the following agents in order:

  1. python-moderniser - upgrade to modern Python features.
  2. click-auditor - validate Click command consistency. Only run if files under instagram_archiver/commands/ changed.
  3. docstring-fixer - fix missing or incomplete docstrings.
  4. copy-editor - fix prose in comments, docstrings, and strings.
  5. test-writer - generate/update tests for new/changed code. Skip if the only changes are in tests/.
  6. qa-fixer - format and fix lint/spelling issues.

When user-facing changes are being committed

  • changelog - update CHANGELOG.md only for user-facing changes (behaviour, CLI, public API, security, or meaningful dependency constraints that affect installs). After it completes, check if CHANGELOG.md was modified (git diff CHANGELOG.md). If it was, stage it with the relevant commit. Follow .claude/agents/changelog.md, including its skip list.

    Files under instagram_archiver/, tests/, or version changes in pyproject.toml are candidates for the changelog agent only when they change what users see or how the software behaves. Editing those paths is not sufficient on its own.

    Skip the changelog agent for workflows, CI config, .claude/, documentation-only churn, cruft or generator clean-up (for example replacing template placeholders such as unknown in repository URLs, badges, packaging metadata, or CODEOWNERS with the real project identity), internal refactors with no behaviour change, and other non-user-facing work.

Analysing changes

Group changed files by component. Determine if one commit or multiple logical commits are needed.

Incidental files

The following files do not count when determining the component prefix, unless they are the only file in a commit:

  • CHANGELOG.md
  • .vscode/dictionary.txt

For example, if a commit contains instagram_archiver/commands/main.py, tests/test_main_command.py, and CHANGELOG.md, the component is determined by the source files only. CHANGELOG.md is simply staged alongside them.

If CHANGELOG.md is the only file being committed, use the changelog: prefix. If .vscode/dictionary.txt is the only file, use dictionary: prefix.

When to split into multiple commits

  • Changes span unrelated components.
  • A refactor and a bug fix in the same file should be separate commits.
  • New tests for existing code should be separate from the code changes they test only if the code changes are themselves separate.
  • Dictionary updates (.vscode/dictionary.txt) should be committed first with message dictionary: update.

Cruft updates

When all changes are from re-running Wiswa (the project generator) and no hand-written code changed, this is a cruft update. Indicators:

  • Only Wiswa-managed files changed (workflows, package.json, pyproject.toml, .pre-commit-config.yaml, .claude/agents/, .claude/rules/, CITATION.cff, .vscode/dictionary.txt, uv.lock, .wiswa.jsonnet, etc.).
  • No files under the primary module or tests/ changed.

Commit everything in a single commit with the subject cruft: update. Include a body summarising what changed (e.g. new/updated workflows, updated agent files, dependency version bumps, new managed files). Do not run any agents. Do not split into multiple commits. Do not update the changelog.

When a single commit is fine

  • All changes serve the same purpose within a closely related set of files.
  • A bug fix and its test.

Commit message format

component.name: short description

Optional longer description explaining the why, not the what. Wrap at 72
characters.

Signed-off-by: Author Name <email>
Closes: #123

Subject line rules

  • Format: component.name: short description. Component name must be lowercase and must skip the first period if present (vscode not .vscode, README.md -> readme not README), and must omit the period with extension.
  • Lowercase after the colon (unless a proper noun).
  • No period at the end.
  • Maximum 72 characters.
  • Use imperative mood: 'add', 'fix', 'update', 'remove', not 'added', 'fixes', 'updated'.

Component prefix rules

For Python files, strip the instagram_archiver/ prefix and replace / with . (like module imports).

  • Python file instagram_archiver/media.py → media:.
  • Multiple files under instagram_archiver/commands/ → commands:.
  • Single command file instagram_archiver/commands/admin.py → commands.admin:.
  • Workflow file .github/workflows/qa.yml → workflows/qa:.
  • Multiple workflows → workflows/*:.
  • Agent files .claude/agents/*.md → .claude: or specific agent name.
  • Instruction files across all 3 locations → project: (since they span Copilot/Cursor/Claude).
  • Test files tests/test_media.py → tests/test_media: (or tests: for multiple).
  • Dictionary .vscode/dictionary.txt → dictionary: (only when committed alone).
  • Top-level config (pyproject.toml, package.json) → project:.
  • If changes span many unrelated areas → project:.
  • CHANGELOG.md → changelog: (only when committed alone).
  • CONTRIBUTING.md → contributing:.

Trailers

  • Closes: #N - when a commit closes an issue. If it is another project, use the full URI.
  • Fixes: #N - when a commit fixes a bug reported in an issue. If it is another project, use the full URI.
  • Related: #N - when a commit is related to an issue but does not fully close or fix it. If it is another project, use the full URI.
  • Reviewed-by: - if applicable.
  • Co-authored-by: - if applicable.
  • Reported-by:: - if applicable. Could get this information from a bug report that led to the fix if the issue ID/URL is known.
  • Signed-off-by: - always included on every commit. This will be added with -s.

Making commits

Run commands separately. Do not chain commands with && or ;. Do not use scripts.

  1. Stage files for each logical commit using git add with specific file paths.
  2. If CHANGELOG.md was updated by the changelog agent, stage it with the relevant commit.
  3. Create the directory if it does not exist: mkdir -p .wiswa-ci. Skip if it already exists.
  4. Create a unique temp file with mktemp .wiswa-ci/message-XXXXXXXX. Write the commit message there using the Write tool (not Bash echo or cat)
  5. Commit with git commit -S -s -F <tempfile> without using the sandbox.
  6. If a pre-commit hook fails, fix the issue, re-stage (use appropriate agent if there is one), and try to commit again.
  7. After all commits, run git status to verify clean state.

Temp commit message files under .wiswa-ci/ do not need to be deleted after a successful commit; you may leave them in place.

Rules

  • Never use --no-verify or --no-gpg-sign.
  • Amend the previous commit when the new change is logically part of it (e.g. same file, same topic, fixing something just committed). Create a new commit when the change is distinct.
  • Never push unless explicitly asked.
  • Always use -S for GPG signing and -s for sign-off.
  • If there are no changes, do nothing.
  • Stage specific files, never use git add -A or git add ..

From the file to a first result

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View the source and supporting files

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

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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/high-quality-git-commits-ms47vo2l/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.

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