Creating Good Commit Messages

Having a well-crafted commit message will save you from using many tools to inspect changes in a project. Proper commit messages will make it easy to understand why a change was made at a particular time. This post explains the approach we recommend using in commit messages.

The format of a commit message can be separated in three distinct parts separated by a blank line: the message summary, body, and footer. The summary is required but the other two sections are optional. When a change is very simple, a message summary is usually enough.

• Give a summary of your change in around 50 characters or less
• Use the imperative mood in the subject line

• No dot at the end
• Capitalize first letter

• Wrap the body at around 72 characters. You have to do it manually (or configure your editor to do it for you) because Git doesn't do it for you. If you don't then your paragraphs will flow off the edge of the screen when using something like `git log`.
• Leave out the details about how a change was made. When a commit is explained, focus on the why and what. Details about how a change was made can be explored simply by taking a look at the code. If the code being committed necessitates extra explanation, then this is best handled with source comments.
• Bullet points and new lines are okay to use.

• Mention breaking changes if applicable
• Add a reference to the issue or other issues if applicable

• How to Write a Git Commit Message

Hassan Ali