Gait 🚶‍♂️

Your AI-powered Git commit message generator

Gait analyzes your Git repository changes and generates professional, conventional commit messages using AI. Never struggle with writing commit messages again!

Features

✨ AI-Powered: Uses OpenAI GPT-4 to understand your code changes and generate contextual commit messages

📝 Multiple Formats: Support for conventional commits, simple, and detailed formats

🎯 Smart Analysis: Analyzes file changes, diffs, and context to create relevant messages

🛡️ Validation: Built-in validation for commit message quality and format

🔍 Interactive Mode: Review and edit messages before committing

📊 Status Overview: Visual repository status with file change summaries

Installation

npm install -g @gait/cli

Prerequisites

1. OpenAI API Key: You'll need an OpenAI API key to use Gait

   export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

   Or create a .env file in your project:

   OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

2. Git Repository: Gait works within Git repositories

Quick Start

# Generate a commit message without committing
gait generate

# Generate and commit with interactive review
gait commit --interactive

# Check repository status
gait status

Commands

gait generate (alias: gen, g)

Generate a commit message without creating a commit.

gait generate [options]

Options:
  --format <type>        Message format: conventional, simple, detailed (default: "conventional")
  --max-length <number>  Maximum message length (default: "72")

Examples:

# Generate conventional commit message
gait generate

# Generate simple format message
gait generate --format simple

# Limit message length
gait generate --max-length 50

gait commit (alias: c)

Generate a commit message and create a commit.

gait commit [options]

Options:
  -s, --staged-only     Only commit staged changes
  -f, --files <files>   Comma-separated list of files to commit
  -n, --dry-run        Show what would be committed without committing
  -i, --interactive    Review and edit message before committing

Examples:

# Generate message and commit all changes
gait commit

# Interactive mode - review before committing
gait commit --interactive

# Commit only staged changes
gait commit --staged-only

# Commit specific files
gait commit --files "src/index.ts,README.md"

# Preview without committing
gait commit --dry-run

gait status (alias: st)

Show repository status and changes.

gait status [options]

Options:
  --show-diff  Show diff of changes

Examples:

# Show basic status
gait status

# Show status with diff
gait status --show-diff

Global Options

Options:
  -r, --repo <path>  Repository path (default: ".")
  -v, --verbose      Enable verbose output
  --version          Show version number
  --help             Show help

Commit Message Formats

Conventional Commits (Default)

feat(auth): add JWT token validation
fix(api): resolve user authentication bug
docs: update installation instructions

Simple Format

Add JWT token validation
Fix user authentication bug
Update installation instructions

Detailed Format

Add JWT token validation

Implement comprehensive JWT validation with proper error handling
and expiration checks to enhance authentication security.

How It Works

1. Analysis: Gait analyzes your Git repository changes, including:

   • File additions, modifications, and deletions
   • Code diffs and context
   • Change patterns and scope

2. AI Generation: Uses OpenAI's GPT-4 to generate contextually appropriate commit messages following best practices

3. Validation: Validates the generated message against:

   • Length limits
   • Conventional commit format (when selected)
   • Grammar and style guidelines

4. Commit: Optionally creates the commit with the generated message

Configuration

Gait can be configured through environment variables:

# Required: OpenAI API Key
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

# Optional: Default format
GAIT_DEFAULT_FORMAT=conventional

# Optional: Default max length
GAIT_DEFAULT_MAX_LENGTH=72

Examples

Basic Workflow

# Make some changes to your code
echo "console.log('hello world');" >> index.js

# Generate and review a commit message
gait generate
# Output: feat: add hello world logging

# Commit with interactive review
gait commit --interactive

Working with Staged Changes

# Stage specific files
git add src/auth.ts src/types.ts

# Commit only staged changes
gait commit --staged-only

Multiple File Types

# After updating docs and fixing bugs
gait generate
# Output: fix(auth): resolve token expiration handling

# Check what would be committed
gait commit --dry-run

Best Practices

1. Stage Related Changes: Group related changes together for better commit messages
2. Use Interactive Mode: Review generated messages for accuracy
3. Check Status First: Use gait status to understand your changes
4. Meaningful Changes: Make atomic commits with clear purposes

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

License

ISC

Support

• 🐛 Issues: GitHub Issues
• 📖 Documentation: Full Documentation
• 💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions

Made with ❤️ for developers who care about clean Git history