committing-with-commitlint

name	committing-with-commitlint
description	Use when writing a git commit message in a repository that uses commitlint — read the enforced convention first, write a compliant message, and self-correct from hook rejections instead of bypassing them

Committing in a repository that uses commitlint

commitlint validates commit messages against the repository's configured convention (usually Conventional Commits). The configuration is the contract: read it before writing a commit message, and trust the error output when a commit is rejected.

1. Detect whether the repository uses commitlint

Any of these means commitlint is in play:

• A config file in the repository root: .commitlintrc, .commitlintrc.{json,yaml,yml,js,cjs,mjs,ts,cts,mts}, or commitlint.config.{js,cjs,mjs,ts,cts,mts}
• A "commitlint" field in package.json
• A commit-msg hook that runs commitlint (check .husky/commit-msg, lefthook.yml, or .git/hooks/commit-msg)

2. Read the enforced rules

npx commitlint --print-config json

If this exits non-zero, the configuration itself is broken (for example an unresolvable extends) — read the error on stderr instead of guessing.

Look at the rules object. Each rule is [severity, applicability, value]:

• severity — 0 = disabled, 1 = warning, 2 = error (only errors block commits)
• applicability — "always" = the condition must hold, "never" = it must not