Commit messages

In the Source Control view, the sparkle icon in the title bar runs Twinny - Generate commit message. twinny reads the diff, asks the chat provider for a message, and writes it into the commit box for you to edit before committing.

Which diff

Staged changes if there are any; otherwise everything unstaged. Stage the files you mean to commit first and the message describes exactly those. The command needs the built-in Git extension and an open repository.

The diff is capped at 24,000 characters, cut at a file boundary, so small local models are not overwhelmed; the message notes when part of the diff was left out. For very large commits, stage and commit in pieces.

The message style

The default prompt (commit-message.hbs) asks for:

• the imperative mood (“Add”, “Fix”, “Refactor”),
• a subject line under 72 characters,
• a short body only when it explains something the subject cannot,
• the message alone, with no fences, quotes or explanation.

The reply is cleaned of stray fences and quotes anyway, since small models do not always comply.

Making it yours

Edit ~/.twinny/templates/commit-message.hbs to change the style. Common changes:

• Conventional Commits: ask for type(scope): subject with the allowed types listed.
• Ticket references: ask the model to keep any ticket id found in the branch name; attach the branch with @git if you write the message from the chat instead.
• Language: ask for messages in your team’s language.

See Prompt templates for the mechanics.

From the chat

You can also write commit messages in the chat with @git attached, which is handy when you want to discuss the change first. The Source Control button is faster for the everyday case.