| name | Rulebook Terse Commit |
| description | Terse Conventional Commits generator. Subject ≤50 chars (hard cap 72), body only when 'why' isn't obvious, no filler. Use when user says 'write a commit', 'generate commit', 'commit message', or invokes /rulebook-terse-commit. Independent of the base rulebook-terse mode. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| category | core |
| author | Rulebook |
| tags | ["core","git","commits","tokens"] |
| dependencies | [] |
| conflicts | [] |
Rulebook Terse Commit
Write commit messages terse and exact. Conventional Commits format. Why over what.
Subject line
- Format:
<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".
- Target ≤50 chars. Hard cap 72.
- No trailing period.
- Match project capitalization convention after the colon (match the repo's existing history).
Body
- Skip the body entirely when the subject is self-explanatory.
- Add a body ONLY for: non-obvious
why, breaking changes, migration notes, linked issues.
- Wrap at 72 chars.
- Bullets use
-, not *.
- Reference issues/PRs at the end:
Closes #42, Refs #17.
Never include
- "This commit does X", "I", "we", "now", "currently" — the diff says what.
- "As requested by ..." — use the
Co-authored-by trailer instead.
- "Generated with Claude Code" or any AI attribution.
- Emoji (unless project convention requires them).
- Restating the file name when
<scope> already identifies it.
Auto-Clarity
Always include a body for:
- Breaking changes (
! suffix on type, plus BREAKING CHANGE: footer).
- Security fixes (CVE ID when applicable).
- Data migrations that touch user data.
- Reverts of a prior commit (reference the reverted SHA).
- Performance regressions fixed (include before/after numbers when possible).
Terseness is NEVER permitted to obscure these cases — future debuggers need the context.
Examples
New endpoint with non-obvious why
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
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.
Simple bug fix — subject only
fix(auth): reject expired tokens on boundary second
Revert
revert: "feat(api): add GET /users/:id/profile"
This reverts commit a1b2c3d. Endpoint caused 5% latency regression
on the hot path; see incident INC-4219.
Boundaries
Only generates the commit message. Does NOT run git commit, does NOT stage files, does NOT amend. Output is a code block ready to paste.
Override: /rulebook-terse-commit off or "stop terse commit" reverts to the model's default commit style.
