everyinc/compound-engineering-plugin/ce-commit

Git Commit

Create well-crafted local commit(s) from the current working tree. No push, no PR — use ce-commit-push-pr for the full ship flow.

Done when: each logical change is committed with an explicit file list and a message that states the outcome, and git status is clean of those changes. Stop when: the tree is clean (nothing to commit).

Context

Gather context with each command as its own shell tool call (program + args only). Do not join with ;, &&, ||, pipes, $(...), or redirects — that syntax fails under Windows PowerShell. A non-zero exit is a normal state to interpret, not a failure to suppress.

Treat this as a snapshot. Re-read branch and staged set immediately before committing if anything may have changed.

Default branch name: strip a leading origin/ from origin/HEAD (so origin/trunk → trunk). Use that bare name for all “on the default branch?” checks — never compare against origin/<name>.

Workflow

1. Gather — run every Context command above (own shell call each), then continue.

1. Nothing to commit — if git status shows no staged, modified, or untracked files, report that and stop. Do not use git diff HEAD alone as cleanliness (it misses untracked files).

1. Branch first — if detached HEAD, or on the default branch (main / master / the bare default name above), create a feature branch from the change content (git checkout -b <name>), then re-read git branch --show-current. Do not ask — commit-only still must not leave work only on a detached HEAD or the default branch. If the derived name exists, pick a non-conflicting suffix.

1. Convention — match project commit conventions already in context; else match the recent log pattern; else conventional commits (type(scope): description). When using conventional commits and fix/feat both fit, default to fix: (remedying broken or missing behavior); reserve feat: for new capabilities. User override wins.

1. Logical commits — if changed files clearly split into distinct concerns, make separate commits (file level only, 2–3 max, no git add -p). If ambiguous, one commit.

1. Message — subject is imperative and names the outcome (what is now possible or fixed), not the file list. Body only when motivation or trade-offs are not obvious from the subject. When a plan Implementation Unit ID is already in hand for this commit (conversation, caller, or the files belong to one unit), append that unit's U-ID in parentheses — (U3) means unit 3. Do not hunt for a plan. Omit when the commit spans units, the unit is unclear, or no plan is in hand. When the commit carries someone else's work that will not otherwise land under their name (ported from their branch or PR, or applied from their patch), end the message with a Co-authored-by: Name <email> trailer for each person that work credits: its commit authors and anyone their Co-authored-by trailers name. Copy each identity exactly from those commits or the patch. Never guess an email: when none is recorded, name them in the message body instead.

• Bad: Update checkout.rb / Add tests and fix stuff
• Good: Fix double-submit on checkout
• Good: Add per-subscription mute (U3)

1. Stage and commit — stage named files only (never git add -A or git add .). Honor exclude:<paths> when the invocation carries it: those files stay uncommitted no matter what else changed; say in the report that they were left out. Write the full message — subject line, blank line, optional body — to a file outside the repo with your file-write tool, then stage and commit as two calls per commit group:

git add file1 file2 file3

git commit -F <message-file> -- file1 file2 file3

No shell parses the message with -F: a $, quotes, backticks, or a multi-line body pass through literally under any shell, with no quoting rules to satisfy. Git's normal whitespace cleanup still applies (trailing spaces trimmed, blank-line runs collapsed), which is fine for a commit message.

The trailing path list on git commit is required: a bare git commit takes the whole index, so anything already staged before this run (a caller's exclude: paths, or work the user staged and did not name) would ride into the commit. Naming the paths commits exactly the group and leaves other index entries alone.

1. Confirm — git status; report hash(es) and subject(s).