commit

name	commit
description	Create a clean, policy-compliant git commit, and audit existing commits. Use whenever you are about to commit in this repository, when the user asks to "commit", or when asked to check a commit. It enforces the message format (subject <= 80 characters, then up to 5 bullets of <= 120 characters each, plus the Co-authored-by trailer) and runs safety checks for secrets, local filesystem paths (Windows and Linux), personal data, .gitignore violations, and the commit-related rules in any applicable AGENTS.md. By default it splits unrelated changes into separate commits per logical change, or makes a single commit when the user says "all", "as one", or "together". The bundled scripts can be run directly, against staged changes or against any existing commit.
compatibility	Requires git and PowerShell 7.4+ (pwsh). The scripts are optional accelerators; if pwsh is unavailable, perform the equivalent checks by hand.
metadata	{"scope":"repository-wide"}

Commit

Create small, reviewable, policy-compliant commits — and audit existing ones. The scripts in this skill's scripts/ directory are the heart of the skill; you (or Copilot) can run them directly at any time, against the staged changes or against any existing commit.

Scripts

All live in scripts/ and need nothing beyond git + pwsh. Each exits 0 when clean, 1 on a blocking issue, 2 on bad usage, and prints blocking issues (X) and warnings (!). Resolve every X; confirm each ! is intentional.

• check-message.ps1 — validate a commit message's format.
  • pwsh .agents/skills/commit/scripts/check-message.ps1 <message-file>
  • pwsh .agents/skills/commit/scripts/check-message.ps1 -Commit HEAD
• check-changes.ps1 — scan changes for secrets, local filesystem paths (Windows and Linux), and force-added .gitignored files.
  • pwsh .agents/skills/commit/scripts/check-changes.ps1 # staged (default)
  • pwsh .agents/skills/commit/scripts/check-changes.ps1 -Commit <sha>
• check-commit.ps1 — audit an existing commit in one shot (message + changes).
  • pwsh .agents/skills/commit/scripts/check-commit.ps1 [<sha>] # default HEAD

Message format

• Subject (first line): imperative mood, no trailing period, <= 80 characters.

• One blank line.

• Then up to 5 bullets, each starting with - and <= 120 characters. Bullets are optional for trivial changes; one idea per bullet, no hard-wrapping.

• Trailers go last (after a blank line) and don't count toward the bullet limit. Always include, unless the user says otherwise:

  Co-authored-by: Copilot <[e-mail]>

Grouping changes into commits

This is the main thing the skill adds on top of the scripts: decide how many commits to make.

• Default — split by logical change. When the working tree holds several unrelated changes (e.g. a feature, an unrelated fix, a docs tweak), make a separate commit for each: group the related files, then run the steps below once per group, staging only that group's files. A single logical change is naturally one commit.
• Single commit on request. If the user signals it with words like "all", "as one", "together", "in one", "one commit", or "squash", put everything in one commit.
• If the right split is unclear, ask before committing.

Creating a commit

Do this once per commit group decided above.

1. Stage deliberately. Only the files for this one logical change; prefer explicit paths over git add -A. Confirm with git diff --cached --stat.
2. Write the message to a temp file and validate it with check-message.ps1.
3. Scan the staged changes with check-changes.ps1. Resolve blocking issues (unstage the file, edit out the value, or add a .gitignore rule) and confirm warnings.
4. Judgment checks the scripts can't fully automate:
   • Read AGENTS.md at the repo root and in every touched folder and honor each commit-related rule (e.g. "never commit real data", file/line caps, what stays out of git). .github/copilot-instructions.md and .github/instructions/** also apply.
   • No personal data: names, emails (other than the trailer), machine names, home paths.
   • No blatantly insecure code: hardcoded credentials, disabled TLS/cert verification, eval of untrusted input, command injection, etc.
   • Skim git diff --cached so the change contains only what you intend.
5. Commit: git commit -F <message-file>, then confirm with git --no-pager log --oneline -1 and a clean git status.

Auditing an existing commit

Run check-commit.ps1 <sha> (or no argument for HEAD) to validate the message and scan the changes of a commit that already exists — useful before pushing or when reviewing history.

Notes

• One logical change per commit.
• Do not rewrite published history (no rebase / force-push on shared branches) unless the user explicitly asks.
• To intentionally allow a flagged line (e.g. a pattern definition or a test fixture), put commit-skill:allow in a comment on that line; check-changes.ps1 skips such lines.
• The scripts are accelerators, not gates: if pwsh is unavailable, perform the same checks by hand using the lists above.