Git Workflow and Versioning
addyosmani/agent-skills
Sets git habits for every change: short-lived branches, atomic commits with descriptive messages, clean pull requests, plus versioning, tagging and changelogs for releases.
A skill your agent uses when writing, rewriting, or reviewing PR/CL descriptions, commit messages, or code-change summaries that explain what changed and why.
Install Engineering Change Descriptions
$ npx skills add agentara/skills --skill engineering-change-descriptions -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install agentara/skills engineering-change-descriptions --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/agentara/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions .claude/skills/engineering-change-descriptions && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "engineering-change-descriptions" agent skill from https://github.com/agentara/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions into .claude/skills/engineering-change-descriptions/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "engineering-change-descriptions", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/agentara/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptionsType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add agentara/skills --skill engineering-change-descriptions -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install agentara/skills engineering-change-descriptions --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/agentara/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions .agents/skills/engineering-change-descriptions && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "engineering-change-descriptions" agent skill from https://github.com/agentara/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions into .agents/skills/engineering-change-descriptions/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "engineering-change-descriptions", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add agentara/skills --skill engineering-change-descriptions -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install agentara/skills engineering-change-descriptions --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/agentara/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions .cursor/skills/engineering-change-descriptions && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "engineering-change-descriptions" agent skill from https://github.com/agentara/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions into .cursor/skills/engineering-change-descriptions/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "engineering-change-descriptions", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/agentara/skills.git --path skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add agentara/skills --skill engineering-change-descriptions -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install agentara/skills engineering-change-descriptions --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/agentara/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions .gemini/skills/engineering-change-descriptions && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "engineering-change-descriptions" agent skill from https://github.com/agentara/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions into .gemini/skills/engineering-change-descriptions/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "engineering-change-descriptions", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install agentara/skills engineering-change-descriptionsInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add agentara/skills --skill engineering-change-descriptions -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/agentara/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions .github/skills/engineering-change-descriptions && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "engineering-change-descriptions" agent skill from https://github.com/agentara/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions into .github/skills/engineering-change-descriptions/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "engineering-change-descriptions", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add agentara/skills --skill engineering-change-descriptions -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install agentara/skills engineering-change-descriptions --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/agentara/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions .opencode/skills/engineering-change-descriptions && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "engineering-change-descriptions" agent skill from https://github.com/agentara/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions into .opencode/skills/engineering-change-descriptions/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "engineering-change-descriptions", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
engineering-change-descriptions- GitHub stars
- 600
- Token cost
- ~931 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 324 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 20
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
A skill your agent uses when writing, rewriting, or reviewing PR/CL descriptions, commit messages, or code-change summaries that explain what changed and why.
- Works in 5 steps: Extract the actual behavior from the diff. → Replace vague first lines with a… → Add the missing why. → …
- Reviewing PR/CL descriptions
- SKILL.md covers What a Good Description Answers, First Line, Body and Templates, plus 2 more sections
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Engineering Change Descriptions is an agent skill from agentara/skills. Use when writing, rewriting, or reviewing PR/CL descriptions, commit messages, or code-change summaries that explain what changed and why. TRIGGER on "write PR description", "improve this commit message", "summarize this diff", "CL description", "change description", or "make this PR/CL description easier to review". DO NOT TRIGGER for code review, PR splitting, code restructuring, user-facing changelogs, or reviewer replies unless the requested output is a change description.
Its SKILL.md is about 930 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
It sits in Development, covering Commit messages, Pull requests and Changelog and release notes. The repository describes itself as: Original and practical skills for AI builders. The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- Reviewing PR/CL descriptions
- Commit messages
- Code-change summaries that explain what changed and why
- Write PR description
Example prompts
- “write PR description”
- “improve this commit message”
- “summarize this diff”
- “/engineering-change-descriptions”
Workflow steps
5 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- Extract the actual behavior from the diff.
- Replace vague first lines with a concrete action.
- Add the missing why.
- Preserve useful issue links and test evidence.
- Remove process noise that does not help reviewers or future maintainers.
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 950e1bf. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):
google.github.io
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Engineering Change Descriptions loads about 931 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 128 tokens; SKILL.md has 324 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check passed
The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
The full file from agentara/skills at commit 950e1bf, republished under its MIT licence (© agentara). 324 words, ~931 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/engineering-change-descriptions/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- engineering-change-descriptions
- description
- Use when writing, rewriting, or reviewing PR/CL descriptions, commit messages, or code-change summaries that explain what changed and why. TRIGGER on "write PR description", "improve this commit message", "summarize this diff", "CL description", "change description", or "make this PR/CL description easier to review". DO NOT TRIGGER for code review, PR splitting, code restructuring, user-facing changelogs, or reviewer replies unless the requested output is a change description.
Engineering Change Descriptions
A change description is permanent engineering history. It should let reviewers understand the change now and help future maintainers find and understand it later.
Adapted from Google Engineering Practices Documentation, especially "Writing good CL descriptions." Source: https://google.github.io/eng-practices/review/developer/cl-descriptions.html. License: CC-BY 3.0.
What a Good Description Answers
- What changed?
- Why did it change?
- What context, constraints, or tradeoffs are not obvious from the code?
- How was it tested?
- What risks, migrations, rollbacks, or follow-ups should reviewers know?
Even small changes deserve context when the reason is not obvious.
First Line
The first line should:
- Stand alone in version control history.
- Be short, specific, and focused on what the change does.
- Use an imperative form when writing a commit or CL title.
- Avoid vague labels like "fix bug", "cleanup", "phase 1", "misc", or "add helpers".
- Be followed by a blank line when there is a body.
Body
Include only useful context:
- Problem being solved.
- Why this approach was chosen.
- User-visible or developer-visible behavior changes.
- Important implementation notes.
- Known limitations or follow-up work.
- Bug IDs, issue links, benchmark results, design docs, migration docs, or rollout plans.
- Enough context for links that might later become inaccessible.
- Test commands and results, when appropriate.
Before submitting, reread the description after review changes and make sure it still matches the final diff.
Templates
Standard PR
[Imperative one-line summary]
## Why
[Problem, user need, production issue, maintainability reason, or design context.]
## What Changed
- ...
- ...
## Testing
- ...
## Risk / Rollback
- Risk:
- Rollback:Small Change
[Imperative one-line summary]
[One paragraph explaining why this change exists and any non-obvious context.]
Testing: [command or manual check]Refactor
[Describe the structural change and what it replaces]
This prepares for [future change] by [specific reason], without intentionally changing behavior.
Testing: [existing or new tests that protect behavior]Generated or Mechanical Change
[Describe the mechanical rewrite]
Generated by [tool/version/command] to [reason]. Manual edits: [none/list].
Verification: [format/test/build command]Rewrite Checklist
When improving an existing description:
- Extract the actual behavior from the diff.
- Replace vague first lines with a concrete action.
- Add the missing why.
- Preserve useful issue links and test evidence.
- Remove process noise that does not help reviewers or future maintainers.
Common Mistakes
- Describing only the implementation without the reason.
- Writing a title that future searchers cannot distinguish from similar changes.
- Depending entirely on external links for crucial context.
- Leaving the description stale after review significantly changes the diff.
- Hiding risk, limitations, or rollout requirements because they feel inconvenient.
© agentara, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
Just SKILL.md in skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions of agentara/skills.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 950e1bf
Compare with similar skills
Engineering Change Descriptions next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Change Descriptions this skillagentara/skills | 600 | — | ~931 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Git Workflow and Versioningaddyosmani/agent-skills | 103k | 2 repos | ~3.5k | Automated safety check: Notes | MIT | |
| Verdaccio Pull Request Workflowverdaccio/verdaccio | 18k | — | ~1.9k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Commit And PR Messagessuperplanehq/superplane | 7.7k | — | ~1.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence | |
| Plane Release Notes Generatormakeplane/plane | 61k | — | ~2.5k | Automated safety check: Pass | AGPL-3.0 | |
| PR Pushicebear0828/codex-proxy | 1.8k | — | ~2.2k | Automated safety check: Notes | Custom licence |
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Questions about Engineering Change Descriptions
What does Engineering Change Descriptions do?
A skill your agent uses when writing, rewriting, or reviewing PR/CL descriptions, commit messages, or code-change summaries that explain what changed and why. Engineering Change Descriptions is an agent skill from agentara/skills. Use when writing, rewriting, or reviewing PR/CL descriptions, commit messages, or code-change summaries that explain what changed and why.
When should I use Engineering Change Descriptions?
Engineering Change Descriptions fits situations like: reviewing PR/CL descriptions; commit messages; code-change summaries that explain what changed and why; write PR description.
How do I install Engineering Change Descriptions in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add agentara/skills --skill engineering-change-descriptions -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions in agentara/skills) into .claude/skills/engineering-change-descriptions in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Engineering Change Descriptions in Codex?
Run `npx skills add agentara/skills --skill engineering-change-descriptions -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/engineering/engineering-change-descriptions in agentara/skills) into .agents/skills/engineering-change-descriptions in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Engineering Change Descriptions in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add agentara/skills --skill engineering-change-descriptions -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/engineering-change-descriptions, .gemini/skills/engineering-change-descriptions, .github/skills/engineering-change-descriptions and .opencode/skills/engineering-change-descriptions in your project.
What does Engineering Change Descriptions need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Engineering Change Descriptions is instructions for the agent only.
Does Engineering Change Descriptions access the network?
SKILL.md names 1 domain. As links in the text: google.github.io. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Engineering Change Descriptions safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Engineering Change Descriptions use?
Engineering Change Descriptions is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Engineering Change Descriptions use?
About 931 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
What are the alternatives to Engineering Change Descriptions?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Engineering Change Descriptions: Git Workflow and Versioning (addyosmani/agent-skills, 103k stars), Verdaccio Pull Request Workflow (verdaccio/verdaccio, 18k stars), Commit And PR Messages (superplanehq/superplane, 7.7k stars) and Plane Release Notes Generator (makeplane/plane, 61k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Engineering Change Descriptions?
agentara (a GitHub organization) maintains it in agentara/skills, which has 600 GitHub stars. The repository holds 20 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 29, 2026.
Source: agentara/skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.