CommitMessages

CommitMessages are the textual descriptions attached to commits in a version control system, most commonly Git. They document why a change was made, what was changed, and how it relates to the project’s history. Clear messages help code reviews, debugging, and release notes, and they enable developers to understand the project’s evolution over time.

A typical commit message has three parts: a subject line, an optional body, and an optional footer. The subject should be a concise summary of the change, written in present tense and imperative mood (for example, "Add user authentication" or "Fix memory leak in data cache"). The subject is usually limited to around 50 characters and should not end with a period. The body, when present, provides a more detailed explanation of the motivation, alternatives considered, and any side effects. The footer can reference related issues or breaking changes, using conventions like "Closes #123" or "BREAKING CHANGE: ...".

Many teams adopt standardized conventions to improve consistency. The Conventional Commits specification categorizes messages with a type such as feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, build, ci, chore, or revert, followed by a colon and a short description. Examples: "feat: add OAuth login" or "fix: correct off-by-one error in loop". Tools like commitlint and semantic-release can enforce these rules and automatically generate changelogs based on the commit history.

Best practices include keeping commits small and focused, writing messages after the change is made, and ensuring the message communicates intent clearly rather than merely describing the code change. Consistent commit messages improve collaboration, automation, and project maintainability.