Git Commit Message Best Practices
In this page:
The Structure of a Good Commit Message
The convention is a short summary line (ideally under ~50 characters), a blank line, then a body paragraph explaining the reasoning behind the change. The summary alone should make sense in a one-line git log --oneline list; the body is where you explain *why*, since the diff itself already shows *what*.
Example: The Structure of a Good Commit Message
git commit -m "Fix null pointer in checkout flow" -m "The cart total crashed when the discount field was empty because it was never defaulted to zero."Using Semantic Prefixes
Prefixes like feat:, fix:, docs:, and style: (part of the Conventional Commits convention) let you tell at a glance what kind of change a commit is without reading its full message, and tools like changelog generators can parse them automatically to build release notes.
Example: Using Semantic Prefixes
git commit -m "feat: add dark mode toggle"
git commit -m "fix: correct off-by-one error in pagination"Keeping Messages Imperative
Writing "Add login validation" instead of "Added login validation" matches the phrasing Git's own auto-generated messages use (e.g. "Merge branch"), and reads naturally as a command describing what applying this commit *does* — a convention that keeps a mixed-author log style-consistent.
Example: Keeping Messages Imperative
git commit -m "Add login validation"Referencing Issues and Pull Requests
Writing Closes #15 (or Fixes, Resolves) in a commit or PR description isn't just documentation — GitHub, GitLab, and similar platforms parse those exact keywords and automatically close the referenced issue the moment the commit merges.
Example: Referencing Issues and Pull Requests
git commit -m "Fix broken image upload" -m "Closes #15"Amending a Commit Message
git commit --amend opens your last commit's message in the editor for you to fix, replacing the commit entirely rather than adding a new one — but only do this before pushing, since amending a pushed commit changes its hash and requires a force push to sync.
Example: Amending a Commit Message
git commit --amend -m "Fix typo in login form label"Chapter Quiz — Complete all 6 topics to unlock
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