gitsmith

GitSmith: AI powered configurable conventional commits CLI for teams and solo developers.

gitsmith is a AI powered configurable Conventional Commits CLI that adapts to every project through a single .commitconfig.json file. Install it once globally, drop a config in any repo, and ship clean, consistent commits every time. Optional AI assist turns "what did you do?" into a perfectly formatted commit using a free NVIDIA model, so you stop fighting the type, scope, and wording every time you commit.

Screenshots

Commit flow

AI flow (NVIDIA API)

Use gitsmith --ai to force the AI prompt and generate suggestions from your NVIDIA AI API key.

Quick Links

• Features
• Quick Start
• Commands
• AI-assisted commits
• Local Development
• Open Source

Why GitSmith

• Keeps commit messages consistent across teams and repos
• Supports custom project formats through .commitconfig.json
• Uses optional NVIDIA AI API suggestions for faster commit writing
• Falls back to manual prompts when AI is disabled or key is missing
• Runs safety checks before commit to reduce mistakes

Features (v1)

• Project-aware commit format via .commitconfig.json
• Interactive prompts powered by enquirer
• Config validation with clear errors (zod)
• Config file discovery by walking up directories (find-up)
• Git safety checks (must be git repo, must have staged files)
• Commit preview + confirmation before running git commit
• init command that generates a conventional default config
• Optional AI suggestions powered by the NVIDIA AI API

Install

npm install -g gitsmith

Then run the CLI command:

gitsmith --help

Quick Start

1. Go to your project:

cd your-project

1. Initialize config:

gitsmith init

1. Edit .commitconfig.json as needed.
2. Stage files:

git add .

1. Run commit flow:

gitsmith

Commands

• gitsmith or gitsmith commit: Start interactive commit flow
• gitsmith --ai: Force AI prompt for this run
• gitsmith --no-ai: Skip AI prompt for this run
• gitsmith init: Create .commitconfig.json in current directory
• gitsmith init --force: Overwrite existing config
• gitsmith key:set [key]: Save or overwrite NVIDIA API key
• gitsmith key:show: Show masked key
• gitsmith key:remove: Remove saved key
• gitsmith key:reset: Alias for key:remove
• gitsmith key:status: Show saved key status

Config Schema

.commitconfig.json supports:

• types: string[] (required)
• askScope: boolean (required)
• scopes?: string[]
• askTicket: boolean (required)
• ticketPrefix?: string
• askBreaking: boolean (required)
• format: string (required)
• headerMaxLength?: number

Available format tokens:

• {type}
• {scope}
• {ticket}
• {message}
• {breaking} (! when true, otherwise empty)

Default Config

{
  "types": ["feat", "fix", "docs", "chore", "refactor", "test", "style"],
  "askScope": true,
  "scopes": ["auth", "ui", "api", "db", "config"],
  "askTicket": false,
  "askBreaking": true,
  "format": "{type}({scope}): {message}",
  "headerMaxLength": 72,
  "ai": {
    "enabled": true,
    "askByDefault": true
  }
}

Example

Given:

• type = feat
• scope = auth
• ticket = PROJ-123
• message = add login flow

and format:

{type}({scope}): {ticket} {message}

final commit header:

feat(auth): PROJ-123 add login flow

AI-assisted commits

AI is optional and fully additive. If your project has no ai block, behavior stays exactly the same.

Quick start

npm install -g gitsmith
gitsmith key:set
gitsmith

NVIDIA AI API key

Get a free key from build.nvidia.com.

Enable AI in .commitconfig.json

{
  "types": ["feat", "fix", "docs", "chore", "refactor", "test", "style"],
  "askScope": true,
  "scopes": ["auth", "ui", "api", "db", "config"],
  "askTicket": false,
  "askBreaking": true,
  "format": "{type}({scope}): {message}",
  "ai": {
    "enabled": true,
    "provider": "nvidia",
    "model": "nvidia/llama-3.3-nemotron-super-49b-v1",
    "endpoint": "https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1/chat/completions",
    "askByDefault": true,
    "allowNewScopes": true
  }
}

Key management

| Command | Purpose | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------- | | gitsmith key:set | Prompt and save key | | gitsmith key:set <key> | Save key non-interactively | | gitsmith key:show | Show masked key | | gitsmith key:remove | Remove key after confirmation | | gitsmith key:reset | Alias for key:remove | | gitsmith key:status | Show provider/source/saved time |

CI and scripting

Set GITSMITH_AI_KEY in the environment. It overrides the saved local file.

Privacy note

Only the free-text description entered by the user is sent to AI. Source code and git diffs are not sent.

AI flags

• gitsmith --ai: force AI prompt for this run
• gitsmith --no-ai: skip AI prompt for this run

Local Development

npm install
npm link

Now test in any git repo:

gitsmith init
git add .
gitsmith

Publish Checklist

• Set final npm package name in package.json
• Ensure version is correct (first release: 0.1.0)
• Run:

npm run lint
npm publish

Open Source

• License: MIT
• Contributions welcome via pull requests
• See CONTRIBUTING.md and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md