Git Commit Messages (space)

Use this skill whenever you're about to create a commit (or when asked to "commit", "write a commit message", "draft a commit", etc.).

Workflow and safety

• •Verify the change set:
  • •git status
  • •git diff
  • •git diff --staged
• •Stage only what you intend to ship; prefer git add -p for mixed diffs.
• •Never commit secrets/credentials. When in doubt:
  • •git diff --staged | rg -n -i "api[_-]?key|secret|token|password|-----begin|private key"
• •Avoid destructive history ops unless explicitly asked (reset --hard, clean -fdx, rebase, --amend, force-push).

Commit subject line

• •Format: type(scope): <imperative subject> (scope optional).
• •Keep it <= 72 chars and in imperative mood ("Add", "Fix", "Refactor").
• •Types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, build, ci, chore, revert.
• •Scopes (when useful): engine, render, physics, audio, lua, ui, assets, scripts.
• •Breaking changes: append an exclamation mark after type/scope (e.g. feat!:) and call it out in Impact + Risk.

Body (required for non-trivial changes)

Be explicit about impact (user-visible) vs what changed (code/data). Include risk when plausible.

Template:

type(scope): Short imperative subject (<= 72 chars)

Impact:
- <user-visible result / behavior change; include repro if useful>

What:
- <key code/data changes>

Why:
- <motivation / constraints>

How:
- <implementation approach, key files/systems>

Risk:
- <what could go wrong + mitigations/rollback>

Testing:
- <commands run + brief summary; DO NOT paste full logs>

Follow-ups:
- <next steps / cleanup / tech debt>

References:
- Refs: #123

Testing section expectations

• •Prefer running the full suite before committing:
  • •SKIP_KEYRING_TESTS=1 XDG_DATA_HOME=/tmp/space/tests/xdg-data SPACE_DISABLE_AUDIO=1 SPACE_ASSETS_PATH=$(pwd)/assets make test
• •For targeted runs, include the command and a short result summary (e.g., “passed” / “failed: <test name>”).
• •Do not paste full test output into the commit message; keep it to a couple lines.

Practical: avoid shell-quoting footguns

• •Prefer writing the message to a file and committing with -F, especially if the body contains backticks:
  • •cat > /tmp/commitmsg.txt <<'EOF' ... EOF
  • •git commit -F /tmp/commitmsg.txt