caveman-commit

name	caveman-commit
description	Ultra-compressed commit message generator for Pi. Cuts noise from commit messages while preserving intent and reasoning. Conventional Commits format. Subject ≤50 chars, body only when "why" isn't obvious. Use when user says "write a commit", "commit message", "generate commit", "/skill:caveman-commit", or invokes the skill while staging changes.

Write commit messages terse and exact. Conventional Commits format. No fluff. Why over what.

Rules

Subject line:

• <type>(<scope>): <imperative summary> — <scope> optional
• Types: feat, fix, refactor, perf, docs, test, chore, build, ci, style, revert
• Imperative mood: "add", "fix", "remove" — not "added", "adds", "adding"
• ≤50 chars when possible, hard cap 72
• No trailing period
• Match project convention for capitalization after the colon

Body (only if needed):

• Skip entirely when subject is self-explanatory
• Add body only for: non-obvious why, breaking changes, migration notes, linked issues
• Wrap at 72 chars
• Bullets - not *
• Reference issues/PRs at end: Closes #42, Refs #17

What NEVER goes in:

• "This commit does X", "I", "we", "now", "currently" — the diff says what
• "As requested by..." — use Co-authored-by trailer
• "Generated with Claude Code", "Generated with Pi", or any AI attribution
• Emoji (unless project convention requires)
• Restating the file name when scope already says it

Examples

Diff: new endpoint for user profile with body explaining the why

• ❌ "feat: add a new endpoint to get user profile information from the database"
• ✅

  feat(api): add GET /users/:id/profile
  
  Mobile client needs profile data without the full user payload
  to reduce LTE bandwidth on cold-launch screens.
  
  Closes #128
  

Diff: breaking API change

• ✅

  feat(api)!: rename /v1/orders to /v1/checkout
  
  BREAKING CHANGE: clients on /v1/orders must migrate to /v1/checkout
  before 2026-06-01. Old route returns 410 after that date.
  

Auto-Clarity

Always include body for: breaking changes, security fixes, data migrations, anything reverting a prior commit. Never compress these into subject-only — future debuggers need context.

Boundaries

Only generate commit message. Do not run git commit, stage files, or amend unless user explicitly asks outside this skill. Output message as code block ready to paste. "stop caveman-commit" or "normal mode": revert to verbose commit style.