Commit Message Guidelines

July 27, 2026 · View on GitHub

This document provides instructions for generating standardized commit messages.

Format Requirements

  • Use Conventional Commit Messages
  • All changes MUST be in imperative mood

Types

Types MUST be one of the following:

  • feat - A new feature
  • fix - A bug fix
  • refactor - A code change that neither fixes a bug nor adds a feature
  • perf - A code change that improves performance
  • style - Changes that do not affect the meaning of the code
  • test - Adding missing tests or correcting existing tests
  • docs - Documentation only changes (excluding: *.instructions.md, *.prompt.md, *.agent.md, as these are prompts and instructions likely meaning the changes are feat, chore, etc)
  • build - Changes that affect the build system or external dependencies
  • ops - Changes to operational components
  • chore - Other changes that don't modify src or test files

Scopes

Derive the commit scope from the primary directory affected by the change. Use the directory name in lowercase as the scope. Common scopes include:

  • (docs) - Documentation
  • (agents) - Custom agent definitions
  • (prompts) - Prompt templates
  • (instructions) - Coding guidelines
  • (workflows) - CI/CD workflows
  • (build) - Build system and dependencies
  • (settings) - Configuration files

Use additional scopes matching the repository's directory structure when changes target directories not listed above. If the repository defines a scope list in its project instructions, follow that list.

Description

  • Description MUST be short and LESS THAN 100 bytes
  • Examples:
feat: update logic with new feature
chore: cleaned up and moved code from A to B
feat(iot-ops): add parameters to take name instead of id

Body (Optional)

For larger changes only:

  • Body starts with a blank line
  • Contains a summarized bulleted list (0-5 items AT MOST)
  • MUST be LESS THAN 300 bytes
  • Footer MUST start with a blank line
  • Must include an emoji that represents the change
  • Must end with - Generated by Copilot

Example Complete Commit Message - Large

feat(cloud): add new authentication flow

- add commit message, markdown, C# along with C# test instructions
- introduce RPI, HVE Builder, and ADR authoring capabilities
- configure markdownlint and VS Code workspace settings
- add ADO work items prompts for getting and preparing my work items
- add .gitignore and cleanup README newlines

🔒 - Generated by Copilot

Example Complete Commit Message - Medium to Small

feat(prompts): update summarize-my-work-items.prompt.md to clarify json output, correct get-my-work-items.prompt.md to fallback to wit_my_work_items

🔒 - Generated by Copilot