atomic-commits

name	atomic-commits
description	Use when implementing features, fixing bugs, refactoring code, or making any multi-step code changes. Guides agents to commit early and often in atomic increments, separate feature/refactor/cleanup work, and keep pull requests under ~200 lines. Use whenever writing code that will be committed, even if the user doesn't mention commits or PRs.

Atomic Commits

Work in small, focused increments. Every commit should be atomic. Every PR should be reviewable in one sitting.

Atomic Commit Criteria

Every commit must:

1. Pass CI — tests, linter, build all green
2. Be deployable — application is in a valid state
3. Introduce no dead code — no unreachable code, unused imports, or half-wired features

One Commit, One Type of Work

• Refactor — restructure code without changing behavior
• Feature — the behavior change itself
• Cleanup — remove old code, update docs

If the commit message needs "and", split it.

PR Size

Target ~200 lines per PR. If larger, find a seam — ship refactor and feature as separate PRs, each independently mergeable and deployable.

Agent Behavior

1. Plan atomic steps before coding: refactors, then features, then cleanup.
2. Commit after each atomic step — don't accumulate.
3. Stage selectively (git add --patch or specific files).
4. When branch diff nears 200 lines, open a PR and continue in a follow-up.

Hook

This skill includes a PostToolUse hook (hooks/check-diff-size.sh) that monitors diff size after Edit/Write operations and nudges when it's time to commit or open a PR.