⚙️ Better Commits

"Better Commits" is a powerful Visual Studio Code extension that enforces standardized commit messages, ensuring convention and consistency across Git repositories. By utilizing predefined commit templates, it streamlines the commit process, promoting a unified style within development teams. Improve collaboration and project clarity with this efficient tool, creating clean, informative, and consistent commit histories effortlessly.

Commit Message Format

Each commit message embodies a:
1. category (feat, fix, docs, ...).
2. summary - provide a succinct description of the change.

Template

Structure of the commit message:

Category	Summary
feat	Add a new feature
fix	A bug fix
docs	Documentation only changes
style	Markup, white-space, formatting, missing semi-colons... no code change
refactor	A code change that neither fixes a bug nor adds a feature
perf	A code change that improves performance
test	Adding missing tests or correcting existing tests
chore	Update build scripts, package manager configs, etc; no production code change

Summary Format

The summary consists of a concise description of the changes made:

• use the imperative, present tense: "change" not "changed" nor "changes"
• ensure first letter is not capitalized
• avoid dot (.) at the end of the summary
• recommended: limit to 50 characters

Quick Start

1. Install the extension
2. Use: Cmd+Shift+Enter For MacBook, and Ctrl+Shift+Enter for Windows and Linux

Using your own commit types

By default, Better Commits ships with conventional types like feat, fix, docs, etc. You can completely turn these off and only show your own types.

• Turn off built‑in types (UI):

  • Open VS Code Settings → search for Better Commits.
  • Uncheck Better Commits › Use Default Types.
  • Add your own entries under Better Commits › Types (each with a label and description).

• Turn off built‑in types (settings.json):

{
  "betterCommits.useDefaultTypes": false,
  "betterCommits.types": [
    {
      "label": "feature",
      "description": "Product work visible to users"
    },
    {
      "label": "maintenance",
      "description": "Refactors, chores, and internal cleanup"
    }
  ]
}

With betterCommits.useDefaultTypes set to false, the picker will only show the types you define in betterCommits.types, and you can still write any free‑form summary when the message input box appears.