Commit Message

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Asks to create a commit
• Generate commit message
• Mentions conventional commits
• Discusses commit message formatting

Example prompts

• “create a commit”
• “generate commit message”
• “commit changes”
• “/commit-message”

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1Analyze changes: Run git status and git diff to understand modifications
2. 2Determine scope: Use component name from changed files, or GitHub issue number if available
3. 3Generate message: Create conventional commit message with proper formatting
4. 4Add trailers: Include Signed-off-by and Assisted-by trailers
5. 5Confirm with user: Display message and wait for approval before committing

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 808e3b1. 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

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • git

  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):

  • github.com

  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

Commit Message loads about 2.8k tokens when it runs, and up to ~7k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 85 tokens; SKILL.md has 969 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~85

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~2.8k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~7k

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

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 tektoncd/cli at commit 808e3b1, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© tektoncd). 969 words, ~2,798 tokens.

name

commit-message

description

This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a commit", "generate commit message", "commit changes", "make a commit", mentions "conventional commits", or discusses commit message formatting. Provides guided workflow for creating properly formatted commit messages with line length validation and required trailers.

version

0.2.0

<type>(<scope>): <description>

[optional body]

Signed-off-by: <name> <email>
Assisted-by: <Model name> (via <Tool>)

git diff --cached --name-only

# Branch: fix-123-log-race
# Scope: #123 or component name
# Result: fix(log): resolve streaming race condition

Fixes #123

# Good (40 chars)
feat(pipeline): add start --dry-run

# Too long - exceeds 72 char hard limit
feat(pipeline): add comprehensive dry-run support with preview output for pipeline start command

feat(pipeline): add start --dry-run

Add dry-run flag to pipeline start command that previews the
PipelineRun YAML without creating it. Useful for validating
parameters and workspace bindings before submission.

Signed-off-by: Developer Name <developer@example.com>
Assisted-by: <Model name> (via <Tool>)

echo "$GIT_AUTHOR_NAME <$GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL>"
git config user.name
git config user.email

Assisted-by: <Model name> (via <Tool>)

Generated commit message:
---
feat(pipeline): add JSON output support

Add --output=json flag to pipeline list and describe commands.
Uses the existing formatted package JSON helpers.

Signed-off-by: Developer Name <developer@example.com>
Assisted-by: <Model name> (via <Tool>)
---

Should I commit with this message? (y/n)

git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
feat(pipeline): add JSON output support

Add --output=json flag to pipeline list and describe commands.

Signed-off-by: Developer Name <developer@example.com>
Assisted-by: <Model name> (via <Tool>)
EOF
)"

feat(pipeline): add start --dry-run

Add dry-run flag to pipeline start command that previews the
PipelineRun YAML without creating it on the cluster.

Signed-off-by: Developer Name <developer@example.com>
Assisted-by: <Model name> (via <Tool>)

fix(log): resolve concurrent streaming panic

Prevent nil pointer dereference when multiple containers stream
logs simultaneously during a TaskRun.

Fixes #789

Signed-off-by: Developer Name <developer@example.com>
Assisted-by: <Model name> (via <Tool>)

docs(AGENTS.md): update architecture conventions

Add command tree structure and clarify golden-file testing
rules for contributors.

Signed-off-by: Developer Name <developer@example.com>
Assisted-by: <Model name> (via <Tool>)

feat(cli)!: remove deprecated --namespace flag

Remove the deprecated short-form --namespace flag from all
commands. Use -n instead. Deprecated since v0.30.

BREAKING CHANGE: Removed --namespace long flag from all
commands. Use -n or --ns instead.

Signed-off-by: Developer Name <developer@example.com>
Assisted-by: <Model name> (via <Tool>)

© tektoncd, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 2 other files (references) in .agents/skills/commit-message of tektoncd/cli.

• SKILL.md
• references/commit-types.md
• references/trailer-detection.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 808e3b1