commits

name	commits
description	Use this skill whenever the user asks to commit changes, write or fix a commit message, amend or rename a commit, or do a workflow that includes committing in the IntelliJ repository. This is a thin repo-specific overlay: use IntelliJ commit format, write full commit messages by default, and keep requested suffixes such as IJ-MR trailers in a final separate paragraph.

Commits

Critical: SafePush/Patronus validates commit messages before allowing merges. Invalid format wastes CI time and reviewer time.

Workflow

1. Review the full diff (staged + unstaged) before writing the message.
2. Identify the motivation: why is this change being made?
3. Write a subject line: ticket + concise summary (subsystem is not needed when a ticket is present), or label + subsystem + concise summary.
4. Write a body for any non-trivial change: explain the "why", summarize key design decisions, and note any non-obvious behavioral effects. Do not just restate what the diff shows — explain what the reader cannot see from the code alone.

Source Of Truth

• Follow docs/IntelliJ-Platform/0_Intro/2_Commits.md.
• This skill is a repo-specific overlay, not a replacement for that document.
• In this repository, IntelliJ commit format takes precedence over generic commit conventions.
• Do not use Conventional Commits here.
• If the user asks to push, use the safe-push skill for push workflow details.

Quick Rules

• Behavioral changes need a YouTrack ticket in the subject line.
• When a ticket ID is present, omit the subsystem prefix — the ticket provides sufficient context.
• Clearly non-behavioral changes may use a non-production label such as tests, cleanup, refactor, docs, format, style, setup, or misc.
• If there is any doubt whether the change is behavioral, do not use a non-production label.
• Write a full commit message (subject + body) for any non-trivial change. Subject-only is acceptable only for truly mechanical changes (typo, import, format).
• The body must explain why the change was made and summarize key decisions. Do not just list what files changed — the diff already shows that.
• Keep the first line concise; put rationale and important behavior notes in the body.
• If the user requests a suffix such as IJ-MR-100, put it in a final separate paragraph after a blank line.
• Do not use commits starting with WIP, fixup!, squash!, or amend!.

Examples

MRI-3589 harden single-flight recursion checks

Track active single-flight computations in coroutine context so recursive
awaits fail fast in both the owning coroutine and child coroutines.

IJ-MR-100

tests cidr: migrate JUnit 5 coverage

Convert remaining JUnit 4 test suites under cidr/coverage to JUnit 5.
Parametrized tests now use @MethodSource instead of Theories runner.

Anti-patterns

• Subject-only messages for non-trivial changes (even non-production ones).
• Restating the diff ("changed X in file Y") instead of explaining motivation.
• Using Conventional Commits format (fix(scope): ...).

References

• Commit Message Format (comprehensive)
• Online: YouTrack Article IJPL-A-217