Committing changes

Instructions

Use git-spice (gs) to commit changes to the codebase. Never use raw git commands directly for this task.

• If we're on the main or master branch (git branch --show-current), ALWAYS create a feature branch.
• If we're on a feature branch, AND the changes to be committed are related to the feature, commit to the existing branch.
• If you're on a feature branch, and the changes to be committed are unrelated to the feature, stack a new feature branch on top of the current one.

When to use

ALWAYS use this skill when:

• Creating a new feature branch
• Committing changes to an existing branch
• Amending the last commit on a branch

ALWAYS use git-spice commands to commit changes to new or existing branches. NEVER use git checkout -b or git commit directly. NEVER use git commit --amend directly.

Flowchart

flowchart TD
    OnMain{On main or master branch?}
    OnMain -- Yes --> NewFeature[Create new feature branch]
    OnMain -- No --> RelatedToCurrent{Changes related to current feature?}
    RelatedToCurrent -- Yes --> CommitToCurrent[Commit to existing feature branch]
    RelatedToCurrent -- No --> StackNewBranch[Stack new feature branch on top of current one]

Creating a new feature branch

Before creating a feature branch, use the writing-commits skill to generate a properly formatted commit message.

Example workflow:

1. Invoke the writing-commits skill: Skill(writing-commits)
2. Generate commit message based on the staged changes
3. Run the following command to create a new feature branch:

gs branch create <branch-name> -m "<commit-message>"

Where <branch-name> is a descriptive name for the new branch, and <commit-message> is the commit message generated from the writing-commits skill.

This will commit all staged changes to the new branch and switch to that branch.

Stacking a new feature branch on top of the current one

To stack a new feature branch on top of the current one, use the same command as creating a new feature branch.

Stacking on top of a different branch

To stack on top of a different branch, use the --target option:

gs branch create --target <target-branch> <branch-name> -m "<commit-message>"

Where <target-branch> is the name of the branch to stack on top of.

Committing to a feature branch

Before committing to a feature branch, use the writing-commits skill to generate a properly formatted commit message.

Example workflow:

1. Invoke the writing-commits skill: Skill(writing-commits)
2. Generate commit message based on the staged changes
3. Run the following command to commit changes:

gs commit create -m "<commit-message>"

Where <commit-message> is the commit message generated from the writing-commits skill.

This will commit all staged changes to the current branch.

Amending the last commit

To amend the last commit on the current feature branch, use the following command:

gs commit amend

This will amend the last commit with the staged changes, retaining the existing commit message.

Changing the commit message when amending

To amend the last commit and change the commit message, use the following command:

gs commit amend -m "<new-commit-message>"

This will amend the last commit with the staged changes and update the commit message.

Naming branches

Do:

• DO use descriptive names for feature branches.
• DO use - to separate words in branch names.
• DO use lowercase letters in branch names.

Don't:

• DO NOT use / in branch names.
• DO NOT use uppercase letters in branch names.

NEVER prefix branch names with the user name or initials. These are added automatically by git-spice if needed.