🐒 git-chimp

Because writing commit messages and pull requests sucks. Let the AI do it.

git-chimp automates your Git commits and pull requests using AI. It analyzes your staged changes or commit history, then generates surprisingly coherent commit messages and PRs—so you can stop typing “fix stuff” for the fifth time today.

⚠️ This is an early-stage tool! Features are limited, monkeys are still learning.

🧠 Features

• 🧵 git-chimp commit – GPT-powered commit message generation from staged changes
• 🚀 git-chimp pr – GPT-generated pull request descriptions from commit diffs
• 📝 git-chimp changelog – Auto-generate changelogs, with optional AI summaries
• ⚙️ git-chimp config – Manage .chimprc settings without editing the file
• 🧪 Supports both local and global .chimprc configs
• 🐙 Integrates with GitHub for PR management

Coming soon:

• 🔀 Branch naming assistant (git-chimp name or git-chimp branch)
• 🧪 Dry run support (--dry-run)
• 🍿 Emoji support and improved Conventional Commit modes

📦 Installation

npm install -g git-chimp

Or use it via npx:

npx git-chimp commit

🧠 Initialize Your Config with init

You can quickly create or update your .chimprc file using the built-in init command:

npx git-chimp init

You'll be prompted to choose:

• Local or Global config location
• Local: stored in ./.chimprc
• Global: stored in ~/.chimprc

Then you'll be walked through a few simple questions to generate the correct config for your project or environment. If a config already exists, it will be merged with your new choices — no overwrites or data loss.

Some fields (like openaiApiKey) are only written to global config for security and reusability.

Get your API keys:

• 🧠 OpenAI: https://platform.openai.com/account/api-keys
• 🐙 GitHub Token: https://github.com/settings/tokens (Requires repo scope)

🛠 Configuration

[!WARNING]
The .git-chimprc file has been replaced with .chimprc. It will, however, continue to work - for now.

git-chimp supports configuration via the gitChimp namespace in a .chimprc file at the root of your repo. This should be a plain JSON file (no .json extension).

Example .chimprc:

{
  "gitChimp": {
    "model": "gpt-3.5-turbo",
    "tone": "sarcastic",
    "prMode": "draft",
    "enforceSemanticPrTitles": true,
    "enforceConventionalCommits": true,
    "changelog": {
      "aiSummary": true,
      "output": "CHANGELOG.md",
      "from": "v1.0.0",
      "to": "HEAD"
    }
  }
}

Config Options

| Key | Type | Description | | ---------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | tone | string | Sets the writing style (e.g., "corporate-safe", "dry sarcasm", "chaotic evil") | | model | string | OpenAI model to use (gpt-3.5-turbo, gpt-4, gpt-4o, gpt-4o-mini) | | enforceConventionalCommits | boolean | If true, enforces Conventional Commit style | | enforceSemanticPrTitles | boolean | If true, enforces semantic PR titles (e.g., feat: prefix) | | prMode | string | PR mode: open (default), draft, display | | changelog | object | Changelog generation options (see below) |

changelog options: | Key | Type | Description | | ----------- | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | aiSummary | boolean | If true, generates an AI summary section for the changelog | | output | string | File path to write or append changelog content (e.g., "CHANGELOG.md") | | from | string | Git tag or commit to start from (e.g., "v1.0.0") | | to | string | Git ref to end at (defaults to HEAD if omitted) |

🛠 Config Commands

You can use git-chimp config to manage settings in your .chimprc without editing the file manually (though you still can if you like that sort of thing).

config list

git-chimp config list

Prints all current config values under the gitChimp namespace.

config get <key>

git-chimp config get model

Gets the value of a specific config key.

config set

git-chimp config set tone "corporate-safe"
git-chimp config set enforceSemanticPrTitles true

Sets a config key. Supports string, boolean, number, and arrays (as comma-separated values).

🧪 CLI Commands

commit

git add .
git-chimp commit

Generates a commit message based on your staged changes.

Options

| Flag | Description | | ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | --tone <style> | Writing style for commit message | | --model <model> | OpenAI model to use | | --enforce-cc | Enforce Conventional Commit style | | --scope <scope> | Optional scope to include in commit message (e.g. feat(scope): ...) | | -c, --custom | Manually type your commit message (you beautiful control freak) | | -m, --message | Print GPT commit message to stdout and exit (good for CI, scripting) |

pr

git-chimp pr

Generates a PR description and opens one on GitHub.

Options

| Flag | Description | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | --tone <style> | Writing style for PR | | --model <model> | OpenAI model to use | | --pr-mode <mode> | PR mode: open, draft, display | | --semantic-title | Enforce semantic PR title style | | -u, --update | Update an existing PR instead of creating a new one (if it exists) |

changelog

git-chimp changelog

Generates a changelog from commit history.

Options

| Flag | Description | | ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | --from <tag> | Git tag or commit to start from (defaults to latest tag) | | --to <ref> | Git ref to end at (defaults to HEAD) | | --output <file> | File path to write the changelog to | | --ai | Use OpenAI to generate a summary section |

💡 Pro Tip

The config system is merge-friendly. It works like this (highest priority wins):

1. Command-line flags (e.g., --tone)
2. .chimprc config
3. Defaults baked into the tool

So yeah — you can go full control freak without ever touching a config file, or commit to the chimp with a persistent setup.

🧨 Can I override git commit?

Yes... but with caution. You can alias git commit to use git-chimp, but this disables standard Git commit behavior.

Here’s an alias override (not recommended unless you're into danger):

git config --global alias.commit '!git-chimp commit'

For a safer setup, try:

git config --global alias.chimp-commit '!git-chimp commit'
git config --global alias.chimp-pr '!git-chimp pr'

Then use:

git chimp-commit
git chimp-pr

Or if you're lazy and proud:

alias gc='git-chimp commit'
alias gp='git-chimp pr'

🚧 Roadmap

Features on the way:

• 🔀 Branch naming assistant (git-chimp name or git-chimp branch)
• 🧪 Dry run support (--dry-run)
• 🍿 Emoji support and improved Conventional Commit modes
• 🤖 Smarter PR and commit message generation with AI tuning
• ⚙️ Plugin system for custom formatters and AI prompts

🐛 Contributing

Feature requests, bug reports, and “this sucks” feedback all welcome. Start an issue or throw a PR.

Want to add your own AI model or custom formatter? Stay tuned for plugin support.

⚖️ License

MIT. You break it, you bought it. Just kidding. But seriously, don’t blame the monkeys.

🐵 Parting Wisdom

"Let the monkey write the messages. You’ve got bigger bugs to squash."

— Ancient Git Proverb