Commit Message Storyteller Agent Skill

Analyzes git diffs or staged changes and generates narrative commit messages that explain WHY a change was made, not just what changed — following Conventional Commits format. Use when asked to "write a commit message", "generate a commit", "describe my changes", "what should I commit this as", "commit this", "summarize my diff", or "help me commit". Works with git diff output, staged files, or plain descriptions of changes.

2k tokens

context cost

the whole folder, loaded on every use

files

instructions only

copies elsewhere

how many repositories repackaged it

37394

stars on the repo

on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository

npx skills add https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot --skill commit-message-storyteller

What comes with it

4 061 bytes besides the instruction

references/conventional-commits-guide.md

The instruction itself

12 sections, as written by the author

Commit Message Storyteller

Transforms raw git diffs and change descriptions into clear, story-driven commit messages that follow the Conventional Commits specification. Instead of "update file.js", you get messages that communicate intent, context, and impact.

When to Use This Skill

User says "write a commit message", "help me commit", or "generate a commit"
User pastes a git diff or describes code changes
User says "what should I commit this as?" or "summarize my diff"
User wants better commit history for their team or open-source project
User is preparing a pull request and wants meaningful commit messages

Prerequisites

Have at least one of the following ready:

Output from git diff or git diff --staged
A description of what you changed and why
A list of modified files

How It Works

Step 1: Gather the Change Context

Ask the user (or infer from the diff) for:

What changed — files, functions, logic affected
Why it changed — bug fix, new feature, refactor, performance, etc.
Who/what triggered it — issue number, user request, tech debt, etc.

If the user provides a raw git diff, extract this context automatically from the diff.

Step 2: Identify the Commit Type

Map the change to a Conventional Commits type using this guide:

| Type | Use When |

|------|----------|

| feat | A new feature or capability is added |

| fix | A bug or incorrect behavior is corrected |

| refactor | Code restructured without changing behavior |

| perf | A change that improves performance |

| docs | Documentation only changes |

| style | Formatting, whitespace, missing semicolons (no logic change) |

| test | Adding or updating tests |

| chore | Build process, dependency updates, config changes |

| ci | CI/CD pipeline changes |

| revert | Reverting a previous commit |

See references/conventional-commits-guide.md for detailed examples.

Step 3: Write the Commit Message

Follow this structure:

<type>(<optional scope>): <short imperative summary>

<body — the story: why this change was made, what problem it solves>

<footer — issue refs, breaking change notices>

Rules for Each Part

Subject line (first line):

Use imperative mood: "add", "fix", "remove" — not "added" or "fixes"
Max 72 characters
No period at the end
Lowercase after the colon

Body (the story):

Explain the *why*, not the *what* (the diff already shows the what)
Describe the problem that existed before this change
Mention any alternatives considered if relevant
Keep lines under 100 characters
Separate from subject with a blank line

Footer:

Reference issues: Closes #123, Fixes #456, Refs #789
Mark breaking changes: BREAKING CHANGE: <description>

Step 4: Generate Output

Produce the commit message in a copyable code block, followed by a one-line plain-English explanation of the story you told.

Example output:

fix(auth): prevent token refresh loop on expired sessions

When a user's session expired mid-request, the auth middleware was
triggering a token refresh, which itself failed validation and triggered
another refresh — causing an infinite retry loop that crashed the app.

This adds a recursion guard flag that aborts the refresh cycle if a
refresh is already in progress, returning a clean 401 instead.

Closes #312

> Story told: A silent infinite loop on session expiry was crashing the app; this stops the cycle early and returns a clean error.

Multiple Commits from One Diff

If the diff contains logically separate changes, split them into multiple commit messages and tell the user. Use this heuristic:

Different files with unrelated purposes → likely separate commits
Same file but distinct concerns (e.g., bug fix + refactor) → suggest splitting
Everything tightly coupled → one commit is fine

Edge Cases

| Situation | How to Handle |

|-----------|---------------|

| User provides no context beyond a diff | Infer type and scope from file names and changed symbols |

| Changes span many files with no clear theme | Ask: "Is this one logical change, or multiple?" |

| Breaking change detected | Add BREAKING CHANGE: footer automatically |

| User says "keep it short" | Omit body, just write a strong subject line |

| No issue number available | Omit the footer entirely |

Quick Reference

# Get your staged diff to paste into Copilot
git diff --staged

# Or get the last uncommitted working tree changes
git diff

See references/conventional-commits-guide.md for type examples and scope guidelines.

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How to use it

Copy the folder

Take github/commit-message-storyteller from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

Check the name does not clash

The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.