📝 Commit Message Convention

This project follows Conventional Commits specification for automated changelog generation and semantic versioning.

Format

<type>[optional scope]: <description>

[optional body]

[optional footer(s)]

Types

Type	Description	Version Bump
`feat`	New feature	Minor
`fix`	Bug fix	Patch
`perf`	Performance improvement	Patch
`refactor`	Code refactoring	Patch
`docs`	Documentation changes	Patch
`style`	Code style changes	Patch
`test`	Adding or updating tests	Patch
`build`	Build system changes	Patch
`ci`	CI/CD changes	Patch
`chore`	Maintenance tasks	No bump

Breaking Changes

Add BREAKING CHANGE: in the footer or ! after type to indicate breaking changes:

bash

feat!: remove deprecated API endpoints

BREAKING CHANGE: The old API endpoints have been removed. Use the new v2 endpoints instead.

Examples

Features

bash

feat: add GitHub auto-fill integration
feat(ui): implement dark mode toggle
feat!: migrate to Next.js 15 App Router

Bug Fixes

bash

fix: resolve skill selection persistence issue
fix(mobile): correct responsive navigation layout
fix(a11y): improve keyboard navigation for forms

Performance

bash

perf: optimize image loading with next/image
perf(build): reduce bundle size by 30%

Documentation

bash

docs: update installation instructions
docs(api): add TypeScript examples
docs(readme): fix broken demo links

Refactoring

bash

refactor: convert components to TypeScript
refactor(store): migrate to Zustand state management

Scopes (Optional)

Use scopes to indicate the area of change:

ui - User interface components
api - API related changes
build - Build system
ci - Continuous integration
docs - Documentation
test - Testing
a11y - Accessibility
perf - Performance
mobile - Mobile-specific changes

Tools

Commitizen (Recommended)

Install commitizen for interactive commit messages:

bash

npm install -g commitizen cz-conventional-changelog
echo '{ "path": "cz-conventional-changelog" }' > ~/.czrc

Use git cz instead of git commit:

bash

git add .
git cz

VS Code Extension

Install "Conventional Commits" extension for VS Code to get commit message templates.

Automated Release Process

Commit using conventional format
Push to master branch
Release Please analyzes commits
Creates PR with changelog and version bump
Merge PR to trigger release and deployment

Examples in Practice

bash

# Adding new feature
git commit -m "feat(ui): add accessibility menu with font size controls"

# Fixing bug
git commit -m "fix(mobile): resolve navigation menu overflow on small screens"

# Breaking change
git commit -m "feat!: migrate to Next.js 15 App Router

BREAKING CHANGE: Pages directory structure has changed.
See migration guide for updating custom pages."

# Performance improvement
git commit -m "perf(build): implement code splitting for 50% bundle reduction"

# Documentation update
git commit -m "docs(contributing): add TypeScript coding standards"

Benefits

✅ Automated changelogs - No manual changelog maintenance
✅ Semantic versioning - Automatic version bumps based on commit types
✅ Release notes - Rich, categorized release notes
✅ Consistency - Standardized commit history
✅ Tooling integration - Works with Release Please, semantic-release, etc.