Commitizen for contributors

When you commit with Commitizen, you'll be prompted to fill out any required commit fields at commit time. No more waiting until later for a git commit hook to run and reject your commit (thoughthatcan still be helpful). No more digging throughCONTRIBUTING.mdto find what the preferred format is. Get instant feedback on your commit message formatting and be prompted for required fields.

Installing the command line tool

Commitizen is currently tested against Node.js 12, 14, & 16, although it may work in older versions of Node.js. You should also have npm 6 or greater.

Installation is as simple as running the following command (if you seeEACCESerror, readingfi xing npm permissionsmay help):

npm install -g commitizen

Using the command line tool

If your repo isCommitizen friendly:

Simply usegit czor justczinstead ofgit commitwhen committing. You can also usegit-cz,which is an alias forcz.

Alternatively,if you are usingnpm 5.2+you canusenpxinstead of installing globally:

npx cz

or as an npm script:

...
"scripts":{
"commit":"cz"
}

When you're working in a Commitizen-friendly repository, you'll be prompted to fill in any required fields, and your commit messages will be formatted according to the standards defined by project maintainers.

If your repo is NOT Commitizen friendly:

If you'renotworking in a Commitizen-friendly repository, thengit czwill work just the same asgit commit,butnpx czwill use thestreamich/git-czadapter. To fix this, you need to firstmake your repo Commitizen friendly

Making your repo Commitizen friendly

For this example, we'll be setting up our repo to useAngularJS's commit message convention,also known asconventional-changelog.

First, install the Commitizen CLI tools:

npm install commitizen -g

Next, initialize your project to use the cz-conventional-changelog adapter by typing:

#npm
commitizen init cz-conventional-changelog --save-dev --save-exact

#yarn
commitizen init cz-conventional-changelog --yarn --dev --exact

#pnpm
commitizen init cz-conventional-changelog --pnpm --save-dev --save-exact

Note that if you want to force install over the top of an old adapter, you can apply the--forceargument. For more information on this, just runcommitizen help.

The above command does three things for you:

1. Installs the cz-conventional-changelog adapter npm module
2. Saves it topackage.json'sdependenciesordevDependencies
3. Adds theconfig mitizenkey to the root of yourpackage.jsonfile as shown here:

...
"config":{
"commitizen":{
"path":"cz-conventional-changelog"
}
}

Alternatively, Commitizen configs may be added to a.czrcfile:

{
"path":"cz-conventional-changelog"
}

This just tells Commitizen which adapter we actually want our contributors to use when they try to commit to this repo.

commitizen.pathis resolved viarequire.resolveand supports:

• npm modules
• directories relative toprocess.cwd()containing anindex.jsfile
• file base names relative toprocess.cwd()with.jsextension
• full relative file names
• absolute paths

Please note that in the previous version of Commitizen we used czConfig.czConfig has been deprecated,and you should migrate to the new format before Commitizen 3.0.0.

Optional: Install and run Commitizen locally

Installing and running Commitizen locally allows you to make sure that developers are running the exact same version of Commitizen on every machine.

Install Commitizen withnpm install --save-dev commitizen.

Onnpm 5.2+you canusenpxto initialize the conventional changelog adapter:

npx commitizen init cz-conventional-changelog --save-dev --save-exact

Forprevious versions of npm (< 5.2)you can execute./node_modules/.bin/commitizenor./node_modules/.bin/czin order to actually use the commands.

You can then initialize the conventional changelog adapter using:./node_modules/.bin/commitizen init cz-conventional-changelog --save-dev --save-exact

And you can then add some nice npm scripts in yourpackage.jsonfile pointing to the local version of Commitizen:

...
"scripts":{
"commit":"cz"
}

This will be more convenient for your users because then if they want to do a commit, all they need to do is runnpm run commitand they will get the prompts needed to start a commit!

NOTE:If you are usingprecommithooks thanks to something likehusky,you will need to name your script something other than"commit" (e.g."cm": "cz"). The reason is because npm scripts has a "feature" where it automatically runs scripts with the nameprexxxwherexxxis the name of another script. In essence, npm and husky will run"precommit"scripts twice if you name the script"commit",and the workaround is to prevent the npm-triggeredprecommitscript.

Optional: Running Commitizen ongit commit

This example shows how to incorporate Commitizen into the existinggit commitworkflow by using git hooks and the--hookcommand-line option. This is useful for project maintainers who wish to ensure the proper commit format is enforced on contributions from those unfamiliar with Commitizen.

Once either of these methods is implemented, users runninggit commitwill be presented with an interactive Commitizen session that helps them write useful commit messages.

NOTE:This example assumes that the project has been set up touse Commitizen locally.

Traditional git hooks

Update.git/hooks/prepare-commit-msgwith the following code:

#!/bin/bash
exec</dev/tty&&node_modules/.bin/cz --hook||true

Husky

Forhuskyusers, add the following configuration to the project'spackage.jsonfile:

"husky":{
"hooks":{
"prepare-commit-msg":"exec < /dev/tty && npx cz --hook || true"
}
}

Whyexec < /dev/tty?By default, git hooks are not interactive. This command allows the user to use their terminal to interact with Commitizen during the hook.

Congratulations! Your repo is Commitizen friendly. Time to flaunt it!

Add the "Commitizen friendly" badge to your README using the following markdown:

[![Commitizen friendly](https://img.shields.io/badge/commitizen-friendly-brightgreen.svg)](http://commitizen.github.io/cz-cli/)

Your badge will look like this:

It may also make sense to change yourREADME.mdorCONTRIBUTING.mdfiles to include or link to the Commitizen project so that your new contributors may learn more about installing and using Commitizen.

Conventional commit messages as a global utility

Installcommitizenglobally, if you have not already.

npm install -g commitizen

Install your preferredcommitizenadapter globally (for examplecz-conventional-changelog).

npm install -g cz-conventional-changelog

Create a.czrcfile in yourhomedirectory, withpathreferring to the preferred, globally-installed,commitizenadapter

echo'{ "path": "cz-conventional-changelog" }'>~/.czrc

You are all set! Nowcdinto anygitrepository and usegit czinstead ofgit commit,and you will find thecommitizenprompt.

Pro tip: You can use all thegit commitoptionswithgit cz.For example:git cz -a.

If your repository is aNode.jsproject, making itCommitizen friendlyis super easy.

If your repository is alreadyCommitizen friendly,the localcommitizenadapter will be used, instead of globally installed one.

Commitizen for multi-repo projects

As a project maintainer of many projects, you may want to standardize on a single commit message format for all of them. You can create your own node module which acts as a front-end for Commitizen.

1. Create your own entry point script

// my-cli.js

#!/usr/bin/env node
"use strict";

constpath=require('path');
constbootstrap=require('commitizen/dist/cli/git-cz').bootstrap;

bootstrap({
cliPath:path.join(__dirname,'../../node_modules/commitizen'),
// this is new
config:{
"path":"cz-conventional-changelog"
}
});

2. Add the script to yourpackage.jsonfile

// package.json

{
"name":"company-commit",
"bin":"./my-cli.js",
"dependencies":{
"commitizen":"^2.7.6",
"cz-conventional-changelog":"^1.1.5"
}
}

3. Publish it to npm and use it!

npm install --save-dev company-commit

./node_modules/.bin/company-commit

Adapters

We know that every project and build process has different requirements, so we've tried to keep Commitizen open for extension. You can do this by choosing from any of the pre-built adapters or even by building your own. Here are some of the great adapters available to you:

• cz-conventional-changelog
• cz-conventional-changelog-for-jira
• cz-conventional-changelog-with-jiraid-detection
• cz-jira-smart-commit
• @endemolshinegroup/cz-jira-smart-commit
• @endemolshinegroup/cz-github
• rb-conventional-changelog
• @mapbox/cz-mapbox-changelog
• cz-customizable
• cz-commitlint
• commitlint
• vscode-commitizen
• cz-emoji
• cz-adapter-eslint
• commitiquette
• cz-format-extension
• cz-emoji-conventional
• cz-git
• cz-vinyl

To create an adapter, just fork one of these great adapters and modify it to suit your needs. We pass you an instance ofInquirer.js,but you can capture input using whatever means necessary. Just call thecommitcallback with a string and we'll be happy. Publish it to npm, and you'll be all set!

Retrying failed commits

As of version 2.7.1, you may attempt to retry the last commit using thegit cz --retrycommand. This can be helpful when you have tests set up to run via a git precommit hook. In this scenario, you may have attempted a Commitizen commit, painstakingly filled out all of the commitizen fields, but your tests fail. In previous Commitizen versions, after fi xing your tests, you would be forced to fill out all of the fields again. Enter the retry command. Commitizen will retry the last commit that you attempted in this repo without you needing to fill out the fields again.

Please note that the retry cache may be cleared when upgrading Commitizen versions, upgrading adapters, or if you delete thecommitizen.jsonfile in your home or temp directory. Additionally, the commit cache uses the filesystem path of the repo, so if you move a repo or change its path, you will not be able to retry a commit. This is an edge case but might be confusing if you have scenarios where you are moving folders that contain repos.

It is important to note that if you are runningczfrom an npm script (let's say it is calledcommit) you will need to do one of the following:

• Pass-- --retryas an argument for your script. i.e:npm run commit -- --retry
• Usenpxto find and call theczexecutable directly. i.e:npx cz --retry

Note that the last two optionsdo notrequire you to pass--before the args but the firstdoes.

Commitizen for project maintainers

As a project maintainer, making your repo Commitizen friendly allows you to select pre-existing commit message conventions or to create your own custom commit message convention. When a contributor to your repo uses Commitizen, they will be prompted for the correct fields at commit time.

Go further

Commitizen is great on its own, but it shines when you use it with some other amazing open source tools. Kent C. Dodds shows you how to accomplish this in his Egghead.io series,How to Write an Open Source JavaScript Library.Many of the concepts can be applied to non-JavaScript projects as well.

Philosophy

About Commitizen

Commitizen is an open source project that helps contributors be good open source citizens. It accomplishes this by prompting them to follow commit message conventions at commit time. It also empowers project maintainers to create or use predefined commit message conventions in their repos to better communicate their expectations to potential contributors.

Commitizen or Commit Hooks

Both! Commitizen is not meant to be a replacement for git commit hooks. Rather, it is meant to work side-by-side with them to ensure a consistent and positive experience for your contributors. Commitizen treats the commit command as a declarative action. The contributor is declaring that they wish to contribute to your project. It is up to you as the maintainer to define what rules they should be following.

We accomplish this by letting you define which adapter you'd like to use in your project. Adapters just allow multiple projects to share the same commit message conventions. A good example of an adapter is the cz-conventional-changelog adapter.

Related projects

• conventional-changelog– Generate a changelog from conventional commit history
• commitlint- Lint commit messages

Authors and Contributors

@JimTheDev (Jim Cummins, author) @kentcdodds @accraze @kytwb @Den-dp

Special thanks to @stevelacy, whosegulp-gitproject makes commitizen possible.

Contributors

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