ABOUTME: Git conventional commit format and version control best practices

ABOUTME: Commit message standards, branch strategies, workflow patterns

Source Control

Quick Reference

git commit -m "feat: add user authentication"
git checkout -b feat/user-auth
git fetch origin && git rebase origin/main
git stash && git stash pop

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Conventional Commits

Format: <type>(<scope>): <subject> (scope/body/footer optional)

Type	Use
feat	New feature
fix	Bug fix
docs	Documentation
style	Formatting
refactor	Code restructure
perf	Performance
test	Tests
chore	Maintenance
ci	CI/CD
build	Build system
revert	Revert commit

Rules: Imperative mood, present tense, lowercase, no period, max 50 chars

# Good
git commit -m "feat(auth): add JWT validation"
git commit -m "fix: resolve race condition"

# Bad
git commit -m "Fixed stuff"      # Not conventional
git commit -m "Feat: Add thing"  # Capital letter

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Commit Process

1. Check state:

   git status && git diff HEAD && git branch --show-current && git log --oneline -5
   

2. Verify NOT on main/master (abort if so, unless authorized)

3. Stage specific files (never git add -A):

   git add <specific-files>
   

4. Commit with conventional format:

   git commit -m "<type>(<scope>): <subject>"
   

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Branch Naming

Type	Pattern
Feature	feat/user-auth, feature/dashboard
Fix	fix/login-bug, bugfix/api-error
Hotfix	hotfix/security-patch
Chore	chore/update-deps

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Workflow

# Start feature
git checkout main && git pull origin main
git checkout -b feat/user-auth

# Keep up to date
git fetch origin && git rebase origin/main

# After PR merged
git checkout main && git pull
git branch -d feat/user-auth

Use	When
Rebase	Keep feature branch current, clean linear history
Merge	Integrate to main (via PR), preserve history

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Recovery

Situation	Command
Undo last commit (keep changes)	git reset --soft HEAD~1
Undo staged files	git reset HEAD <file>
Discard file changes	git checkout -- <file>
Recover deleted branch	git reflog then git checkout -b <branch> <sha>
Amend last commit	git commit --amend -m "new message"
Revert pushed commit	git revert <sha>

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Conflicts

Resolve: git status to see conflicts, edit files to remove markers, git add <resolved>, then git rebase --continue (or git merge --continue). Use git rebase --abort to bail out.

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Hooks

Pre-commit: .git/hooks/pre-commit -- run linters, formatters, tests per language.

Commit-msg: Validate conventional format (commitlint, husky, lefthook).

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Best Practices

DO	DON'T
Conventional commits	Generic messages ("fix", "update")
Small, logical commits	Huge unrelated changes
Run tests before commit	Push broken code
Use branches	Commit to main directly
--force-with-lease	--force on shared branches

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Resources

• https://www.conventionalcommits.org/
• https://git-scm.com/doc
• Tools: commitlint, husky, lefthook