:toc: macro :toclevels: 5 :figure-caption!:

:git_rebase_workflow_link: https://www.alchemists.io/articles/git_rebase[Git Rebase Workflow]

Git Lint

link=badge.fury.io/rb/git-lint

image::badge.fury.io/rb/git-lint.svg[Gem Version]

link=www.alchemists.io/projects/code_quality

image::img.shields.io/badge/code_style-alchemists-brightgreen.svg[Alchemists Style Guide]

link=circleci.com/gh/bkuhlmann/git-lint

image::circleci.com/gh/bkuhlmann/git-lint.svg?style=svg[Circle CI Status]

link=travis-ci.org/bkuhlmann/git-lint

image::travis-ci.org/bkuhlmann/git-lint.svg?branch=main[Travis CI Status]

link=app.netlify.com/sites/git-lint/deploys

image::api.netlify.com/api/v1/badges/7e23b422-3412-4e7f-b654-65c0417a0b1f/deploy-status[Netlify CI Status]

Git Lint is a command line interface for linting Git commits by ensuring you maintain a clean, easy to read, debuggable, and maintainable project history. Having a consistent commit history leads to improved code reviews and is a perfect companion to tools like https://www.alchemists.io/projects/milestoner[Milestoner] for versioning and producing automated release notes of your deploys.

toc::[]

Features

  • Enforces a {git_rebase_workflow_link}.

  • Enforces a clean and consistent Git commit history.

  • Supports Git default branch configuration.

  • Provides a customizable suite of analyzers.

  • Provides Git Hook support for local use.

  • Provides Continuous Integration (CI) support.

Screencasts

link=www.alchemists.io/screencasts/git_lint

image::https://www.alchemists.io/images/screencasts/git_lint/cover.svg

Requirements

. https://www.ruby-lang.org[Ruby]

Setup

To install, run:

source,bash

gem install git-lint


Usage

Command Line Interface (CLI)

From the command line, type: `git-lint –help`

.… git-lint –hook # Add Git Hook support. git-lint -a, [–analyze] # Analyze feature branch for issues. git-lint -c, [–config] # Manage gem configuration. git-lint -h, [–help=COMMAND] # Show this message or get help for a command. git-lint -v, [–version] # Show gem version. .…

To check if your Git commit history is clean, run: `git-lint –analyze`. It will exit with a failure if at least one issue with error severity is detected.

This gem does not check commits on your default branch (i.e. `main`). This is intentional as you would, generally, not want to rewrite or fix commits on the `main` branch. This gem is best used on feature branches as it automatically detects all commits made since creation of the feature branch.

Here is an example workflow, using gem defaults with issues detected:

source,bash

cd example git checkout -b test touch text.txt git add –all . git commit –message “This is a bogus commit message that is also terribly long and will word wrap” git-lint –analyze


Output:

.… Running Git Lint…

83dbad531d84a184e55cbb38c5b2a4e5fa5bcaee (Brooke Kuhlmann, 0 seconds ago): This is a bogus commit message that is also terribly long and will word wrap.

Commit Body Presence Warning. Use minimum of 1 line (non-empty).
Commit Subject Length Error. Use 72 characters or less.
Commit Subject Prefix Error. Use: /Fixed/, /Added/, /Updated/, /Removed/, /Refactored/.
Commit Subject Suffix Error. Avoid: /\./, /\?/, /\!/.

1 commit inspected. 4 issues detected (1 warning, 3 errors). .…

Rake

This gem provides optional Rake tasks. They can be added to your project by adding the following requirement to the top of your `Rakefile`:

source,ruby

require “git/lint/rake/setup”


Now, when running `bundle exec rake -T`, you'll see `git_lint` included in the list.

If you need a concrete example, check out the Rakefile[Rakefile] of this project for details.

Default Branch

Your default branch configuration is respected no matter if it is set globally or locally. If the default branch is _not set_ then Git Lint will fall back to `master` for backwards compatibility. When the next major version is released, the default branch fallback will change from `master` to `main`. You can set your default branch at any time by running the following from the command line:

source,bash

git config –add init.defaultBranch main


💡 When setting your default branch, ensure you use a consistent Git configuration across all of your environments.

Configuration

This gem can be configured via a global configuration:

.… $HOME/.config/git-lint/configuration.yml .…

It can also be configured via https://www.alchemists.io/projects/xdg[XDG] environment variables. The default configuration is:

source,yaml

:commit_author_capitalization:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error

:commit_author_email:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error

:commit_author_name:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:minimum: 2

:commit_body_bullet:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:excludes: 
  - "\\*"
  - "•"

:commit_body_bullet_capitalization:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:includes: "\\-"

:commit_body_bullet_delimiter:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:includes: "\\-"

:commit_body_issue_tracker_link:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:excludes: 
  - "(f|F)ix(es|ed)?\\s\\#\\d+"
  - "(c|C)lose(s|d)?\\s\\#\\d+"
  - "(r|R)esolve(s|d)?\\s\\#\\d+"
  - "github\\.com\\/.+\\/issues\\/\\d+"

:commit_body_leading_line:

:enabled: false
:severity: :warn

:commit_body_line_length:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:length: 72

:commit_body_paragraph_capitalization:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error

:commit_body_phrase:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:excludes: 
  - "absolutely"
  - "actually"
  - "all intents and purposes"
  - "along the lines"
  - "at this moment in time"
  - "basically"
  - "each and every one"
  - "everyone knows"
  - "fact of the matter"
  - "furthermore"
  - "however"
  - "in due course"
  - "in the end"
  - "last but not least"
  - "matter of fact"
  - "obviously"
  - "of course"
  - "really"
  - "simply"
  - "things being equal"
  - "would like to"
  - "/\\beasy\\b/"
  - "/\\bjust\\b/"
  - "/\\bquite\\b/"
  - "/as\\sfar\\sas\\s.+\\sconcerned/"
  - "/of\\sthe\\s(fact|opinion)\\sthat/"

:commit_body_presence:

:enabled: false
:severity: :warn
:minimum: 1

:commit_body_single_bullet:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:includes: "\\-"

:commit_subject_length:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:length: 72

:commit_subject_prefix:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:includes: 
  - Fixed
  - Added
  - Updated
  - Removed
  - Refactored

:commit_subject_suffix:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:excludes: 
  - "\\."
  - "\\?"
  - "\\!"

:commit_trailer_collaborator_capitalization:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error

:commit_trailer_collaborator_duplication:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error

:commit_trailer_collaborator_email:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error

:commit_trailer_collaborator_key:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:includes: 
  - "Co-Authored-By"

:commit_trailer_collaborator_name:

:enabled: true
:severity: :error
:minimum: 2

Feel free to take this default configuration, modify, and save as your own custom `configuration.yml`.

Enablement

By default, most analyzers are enabled. Accepted values are `true` or `false`. If you wish to disable a analyzer, set it to `false`.

Severity Levels

By default, most analyzers are set to `error` severity. If you wish to reduce the severity level of a analyzer, you can set it to `warn` instead. Here are the accepted values and what each means:

  • `warn`: Will count as an issue and display a warning but will not cause the program/build to fail. Use this if you want to display issues as reminders or cautionary warnings.

  • `error`: Will count as an issue, display error output, and cause the program/build to fail. Use this setting if you want to ensure bad commits are prevented.

Regular Expressions

Some analyzers support include or exclude lists. These lists can consist of strings, regular expressions, or a combination thereof. Regardless of your choice, all lists are automatically converted to regular expression for use by the analyzers. This means a string like `“example”` becomes `/example/` and a regular expression of `“\AExample.+”` becomes `/AExample.+/`.

If you need help constructing complex regular expressions for these lists, try launching an IRB session and using `Regexp.new` or `Regexp.escape` to experiment with the types of words/phrases you want to turn into regular expressions. _For purposes of the YAML configuration, these need to be expressed as strings with special characters escaped properly for internal conversion to a regular expression._

Git Hooks

This gem supports https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Hooks[Git Hooks].

It is _highly recommended_ you manage Git Hooks as global scripts as it'll reduce project maintenance costs for you. To configure global Git Hooks, add the following to your `$HOME/.gitconfig`:

.…

core

hooksPath = ~/.git_template/hooks

.…

Then you can customize Git Hooks for all of your projects. https://github.com/bkuhlmann/dotfiles/tree/main/home_files/.config/git/hooks[Check out these examples].

If a global configuration is not desired, you can add Git Hooks at a per project level by editing any of the scripts within the `.git/hooks` directory of the repository.

Commit Message

The commit-msg hook, which is the best way to use this gem as a Git Hook, is provided as a `–hook` option. Run `git-lint –help –hook` for usage:

Usage:
  git-lint --hook

Options:
  [--commit-message=PATH]  # Check commit message.

Add Git Hook support.

As shown above, the `–commit-message` option accepts a file path (i.e. `.git/COMMIT_EDITMSG`) which is provided to you by Git within the `.git/hooks/commit-msg` script. Here is a working example of what that script might look like:

source,bash

#! /usr/bin/env bash

set -o nounset set -o errexit set -o pipefail IFS=$'nt'

if ! command -v git-lint > /dev/null; then

printf "%s\n" "[git]: Git Lint not found. To install, run: gem install git-lint."
exit 1

fi

git-lint –hook –commit-message “${BASH_ARGV}”


Whenever you attempt to add a commit, Git Lint will check your commit for issues prior to saving it.

Post Commit

The post-commit hook is possible via the `–analyze –commits` option. Usage:

.… Usage:

git-lint -a, [--analyze]

Options:

-c, [--commits=one two three]  # Analyze specific commit SHA(s).

Analyze feature branch for issues. .…

The post-commit hook can be used multiple ways but, if you want it to check each commit after it has been made, here is a working example which can be used as a `.git/hooks/post-commit` script:

source,bash

#! /usr/bin/env bash

set -o nounset set -o errexit set -o pipefail IFS=$'nt'

if ! command -v git-lint > /dev/null; then

printf "%s\n" "[git]: Git Lint not found. To install, run: gem install git-lint."
exit 1

fi

git-lint –analyze –commits $(git log –pretty=format:%H -1)


Whenever a commit has been saved, this script will run Git Lint to check for issues.

Continuous Integration (CI)

This gem automatically configures itself for known CI build servers (see below for details). If you have a build server that is not listed, please log an issue or provide an implementation with support.

Calculation of commits is done by reviewing all commits made on the feature branch since branching from `main`.

Detection and configuration happens automatically by checking the `CIRCLECI` environment variable. No additional setup required!

Detection happens automatically by checking the `GITHUB_ACTIONS` environment variable as supplied by the GitHub environment. The only configuration required is to add a `.github/workflows/git_lint.yml` to your repository with the following contents:

source,yaml

name: Git Lint

on: pull_request

jobs:

run:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  container:
    image: ruby:latest
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      with:
        fetch-depth: '0'
        ref: ${{github.head_ref}}
    - name: Install
      run: gem install git-lint
    - name: Analyze
      run: git-lint --analyze

The above will ensure Git Lint runs as an additional check on each Pull Request.

Detection and configuration happens automatically by checking the `NETLIFY` environment variable. No additional setup required!

Detection and configuration happens automatically by checking the `TRAVIS` environment variable. No additional setup required!

Analyzers

The following details the various analyzers provided by this gem to ensure a high standard of commits for your project.

Commit Author Capitalization

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | none |===

Ensures author name is properly capitalized. Example:

.… # Disallowed jayne cobb dr. simon tam

# Allowed Jayne Cobb Dr. Simon Tam .…

Commit Author Email

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | none |===

Ensures author email address exists. Git requires an author email when you use it for the first time too. This takes it a step further to ensure the email address loosely resembles an email address.

.… # Disallowed mudder_man

# Allowed jayne@serenity.com .…

Commit Author Name

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | minimum: 2 |===

Ensures author name consists of, at least, a first and last name. Example:

.… # Disallowed Kaylee

# Allowed Kaywinnet Lee Frye .…

Commit Body Bullet

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | excludes: `[“*”, “•”]` |===

Ensures commit message bodies use a standard Markdown syntax for bullet points. Markdown supports the following syntax for bullets:

.… * - .…

It's best to use dashes for bullet point syntax as stars are easier to read when used for emphasis. This makes parsing the Markdown syntax easier when reviewing a Git commit as the syntax used for bullet points and emphasis are now, distinctly, unique.

Commit Body Bullet Capitalization

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | includes: `[“\-”]` |===

Ensures commit body bullet lines are capitalized. Example:

.… # Disallowed

  • an example bullet.

# Allowed

  • An example bullet.

.…

Commit Body Bullet Delimiter

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | includes: `[“\-”]` |===

Ensures commit body bullets are delimited by a space. Example:

.… # Disallowed -An example bullet.

# Allowed

  • An example bullet.

.…

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | excludes: (see configuration) |===

Ensures commit body doesn't contain a link to an issue tracker. The exclude list defaults to GitHub Issue links but can be customized for any issue tracker.

There are several reasons for excluding issue tracker links from commit bodies:

. Not all issue trackers preserve issues (meaning they can be deleted). This makes make reading

historic commits much harder to understand why the change was made when the link no longer works.

. When not connected to the internet or working on a laggy connection, it's hard to understand why

a commit was made when all you have is a link to an issue with no other supporting context.

. During the course of a repository's life, issue trackers can be replaced (rare but it does

happen). If the old issue tracker service is no longer paid for, none of the links within the
commit will be of any relevance.

. An issue might span several commits in order to resolve it. Including a link in each commit is

tedious and can create noise within the issue's history which is distracting.

Instead of linking to issues, take the time to write a short summary as to why the commit was made. Doing this will make it easier to understand why the commit was made, keeps the commit self- contained, and makes learning about/debugging the commit faster.

Issue tracker links are best used at the code review level due to an issue usually spanning multiple commits in order to complete the work. When reading a code review, this is a great opportunity to link to an issue in order to provide a high level overview and reason why the code review was initiated in the first place.

Commit Body Leading Line

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | none |===

Ensures there is a leading, empty line, between the commit subject and body. Generally, this isn't an issue but sometimes the Git CLI can be misused or a misconfigured Git editor will smash the subject line and start of the body as one run-on paragraph. Example:

.… # Disallowed

Curabitur eleifend wisi iaculis ipsum. Pellentque morbi-trist sentus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Vestibulum tortor quam, feugiat vitae, ultricies eget, tempor sit amet, ante. Donec eu_libero sit amet quam egestas semper. Aenean ultricies mi vitae est. Mauris placerat's eleifend leo. Quisque et sapien ullamcorper pharetra. Vestibulum erat wisi, condimentum sed, commodo vitae, orn si amt wit.

# Allowed

Curabitur eleifend wisi iaculis ipsum.

Pellentque morbi-trist sentus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Vestibulum tortor quam, feugiat vitae, ultricies eget, tempor sit amet, ante. Donec eu_libero sit amet quam egestas semper. Aenean ultricies mi vitae est. Mauris placerat's eleifend leo. Quisque et sapien ullamcorper pharetra. Vestibulum erat wisi, condimentum sed, commodo vitae, orn si amt wit. .…

Commit Body Line Length

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | length: 72 |===

Ensures each line of the commit body is no longer than 72 characters in length for consistent readability and word-wrap prevention on smaller screen sizes. For further details, read Tim Pope's original http://tbaggery.com/2008/04/19/a-note-about-git-commit-messages.html[article] on the subject.

Commit Body Paragraph Capitalization

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | none |===

Ensures each paragraph of the commit body is capitalized. Example:

.… # Disallowed curabitur eleifend wisi iaculis ipsum.

# Allowed Curabitur eleifend wisi iaculis ipsum. .…

Commit Body Phrase

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | excludes: (see configuration) |===

Ensures non-descriptive words/phrases are avoided in order to keep commit message bodies informative and specific. The exclude list is case insensitive. Detection of excluded words/phrases is case insensitive as well. Example:

.… # Disallowed

Obviously, the existing implementation was too simple for my tastes. Of course, this couldn't be allowed. Everyone knows the correct way to implement this code is to do just what I've added in this commit. Easy!

# Allowed

Necessary to fix due to a bug detected in production. The included implementation fixes the bug and provides the missing spec to ensure this doesn't happen again. .…

Commit Body Presence

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | false | warn | minimum: 1 |===

Ensures a minimum number of lines are present within the commit body. Lines with empty characters (i.e. whitespace, carriage returns, etc.) are considered to be empty.

Automatically ignores fixup! commits as they are not meant to have bodies.

Commit Body Single Bullet

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | includes: `“\-”` |===

Ensures a single bullet is never used when a paragraph could be used instead. Example:

.… # Disallowed

  • Pellentque morbi-trist sentus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Vestibulum tortor quam, feugiat vitae, ultricies eget, tempor sit amet, ante. Donec eu_libero sit amet quam.

# Allowed

Pellentque morbi-trist sentus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Vestibulum tortor quam, feugiat vitae, ultricies eget, tempor sit amet, ante. Donec eu_libero sit amet quam. .…

Commit Subject Length

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | length: 72 |===

Ensures the commit subject length is no more than 72 characters in length. This default is more lenient than the http://tbaggery.com/2008/04/19/a-note-about-git-commit-messages.html[50/72 rule] as it gives one the ability to formulate a more descriptive subject line without being too wordy or suffer being word wrapped.

Automatically ignores fixup! or squash! commit prefixes when calculating subject length.

Commit Subject Prefix

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | includes: (see below) |===

Ensures each commit subject uses consistent prefixes that explain what is being committed. The `includes` are _case sensitive_ and default to the following prefixes:

  • Fixed - Identifies what was fixed. The commit should be as small as possible and consist of changes to implementation and spec only. In some cases this might be a single line change. The important point is the change is applied to existing code which corrects behavior that wasn't properly implemented earlier.

  • Removed - Identifies what was removed. The commit should be as small as possible and consist only of removed lines/files from the existing implementation. This might also mean breaking changes requiring the publishing of a major version release in the future.

  • Added - Identifies what was added. The commit should be as small as possible and consist of implementation and spec. Otherwise, it might be a change to an existing file which adds new behavior.

  • Updated - Identifies what was updated. The commit should be as small as possible and _not add or fix_ existing behavior. This can sometimes be a grey area but is typically reserved for updates to documentation, code comments, dependencies, etc.

  • Refactored - Identifies what was refactored. https://thoughtbot.com/blog/lets-not-misuse-refactoring[_Refactoring is for changing code structure without changing observable behavior_]. The commit should be as small as possible and not mix multiple kinds of changes at once. Refactored code should never break existing implementation behavior or corresponding specs because, if that happens, then one of the other four prefixes is what you want to use instead.

In practice, it is quite rare to need a prefix other than what has been detailed above to explain what is being committed. These prefixes are not only short and easy to remember but also have the added benefit of categorizing the commits for building release notes, change logs, etc. This becomes handy when coupled with another tool, https://www.alchemists.io/projects/milestoner[Milestoner], for producing consistent project milestones and Git tag histories. For a deeper dive on subject prefixes and good commit messages in general, please read about https://www.alchemists.io/articles/git_commit_anatomy[commit anatomy ] to learn more. 🎉

💡 This analyzer automatically ignores amend!, fixup!, or squash! commit prefixes when used as a Git Hook in order to not disturb interactive rebase workflows.

Commit Subject Suffix

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | true | error | excludes: `[“\.”, “\?”, “\!”]` |===

Ensures commit subjects are suffixed consistently. The exclude list is case sensitive and prevents the use of punctuation. This is handy when coupled with a tool, like https://www.alchemists.io/projects/milestoner[Milestoner], which automates project milestone releases.

Commit Trailer Collaborator Capitalization

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | false | error | none |===

Ensures collaborator name is properly capitalized. Example:

.… # Disallowed shepherd derrial book

# Allowed Shepherd Derrial Book .…

Commit Trailer Collaborator Duplication

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | false | error | none |===

Ensures collaborator trailers are not duplicated. Example:

.… # Disallowed Co-Authored-By: Shepherd Derrial Book <shepherd@firefly.com> Co-Authored-By: Shepherd Derrial Book <shepherd@firefly.com>

# Allowed Co-Authored-By: Malcolm Reynolds <malcolm@firefly.com> Co-Authored-By: Shepherd Derrial Book <shepherd@firefly.com> .…

Commit Trailer Collaborator Email

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | false | error | none |===

Ensures collaborator email address is valid for commit trailer.

.… # Disallowed Co-Authored-By: River Tam <invalid>

# Allowed Co-Authored-By: River Tam <river@firefly.com> .…

Commit Trailer Collaborator Key

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | false | error | includes: `[“Co-Authored-By”]` |===

Ensures collaborator trailer key is correct format.

.… # Disallowed Co-authored-by: River Tam <river@firefly.com>

# Allowed Co-Authored-By: River Tam <river@firefly.com> .…

Commit Trailer Collaborator Name

options=“header”

|=== | Enabled | Severity | Defaults | false | error | minimum: 2 |===

Ensures collaborator name consists of, at least, a first and last name. Example:

.… # Disallowed Co-Authored-By: River <river@firefly.com>

# Allowed Co-Authored-By: River Tam <river@firefly.com> .…

Style Guide

In addition to what is described above and automated for you, the following style guide is also worth considering:

General

  • Use a {git_rebase_workflow_link} instead of a Git Merge Workflow.

  • Use `git commit –amend` when fixing a previous commit, addressing code review feedback, etc.

  • Use `git commit –fixup` when fixing an earlier commit, addressing code review feedback, etc., and don't need to modify the original commit message.

  • Use `git commit –squash` when fixing an earlier commit, addressing code review feedback, etc., and want to combine multiple commit messages into a single commit message. _Avoid using squash to blindly combine multiple commit messages without editing them into a single, coherent message._

  • Use `git rebase –interactive` when cleaning up commit history, order, messages, etc. This should be done prior to submitting a code review or when code review feedback has been addressed and you are ready to rebase onto `main`.

  • Use `git push –force-with-lease` instead of `git push –force` when pushing changes after an interactive rebasing session.

  • Avoid checking in development-specific configuration files (add to `.gitignore` instead).

  • Avoid checking in sensitive information (i.e. security keys, passphrases, etc).

  • Avoid “WIP” (a.k.a. “Work in Progress”) commits and/or code review labels. Be confident with your code and colleagues' time. Use branches, stashes, etc. instead – share a link to a feature branch diff if you have questions/concerns during development.

  • Avoid using https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Submodules[Git Submodules]. This practice leads to complicated project cloning, deployments, maintenance, etc. Use separate repositories to better organize and split out this work. Sophisticated package managers, like https://bundler.io[Bundler], exist to manage these dependencies better than what multiple Git Submodules can accomplish.

  • Avoid using https://git-lfs.github.com[Git LFS] for tracking binary artifacts/resources. These files are not meant for version control and lead to large repositories that are time consuming to clone/deploy. Use storage managers, like https://aws.amazon.com/s3[Amazon S3] or https://lakefs.io[LakeFS] for example, that are better suited for binary assets that don't change often.

Security

Ensure signed commits, pushes, and tags are enabled within your global Git Configuration to reduce an https://blog.gruntwork.io/how-to-spoof-any-user-on-github-and-what-to-do-to-prevent-it-e237e95b8deb[attack vector]. Run the following commands to enable:

source,bash

git config –global commit.gpgSign true git config –global push.gpgSign true git config –global tag.gpgSign true


⚠️ GitHub, unfortunately, doesn't support signed pushes so you might need to leave that configuration disabled.

Commits

  • Use a commit subject that explains what is being committed.

  • Use a commit message body that explains why the commit is necessary. Additional considerations:

** If the commit has a dependency to the previous commit or is a precursor to the commit that will

follow, make sure to explain that.

** Include links to dependent projects, stories, etc. if available.

  • Use small, atomic commits:

** Easier to review and provide feedback. ** Easier to review implementation and corresponding tests. ** Easier to document with detailed subjects (especially when grouped together in a pull request). ** Easier to reword, edit, squash, fix, or drop when interactively rebasing. ** Easier to combine together versus tearing apart a larger commit into smaller commits.

  • Use logically ordered commits:

** Each commit should tell a story and be a logical building block to the next commit. ** Each commit should, ideally, be the implementation plus corresponding test. Avoid committing

changes that are a jumble of mixed ideas as they are hard to decipher and a huge insult not only
to the reviewer but your future self.

** Each commit, when reviewed in order, should be able to explain how the feature or bug fix was

completed and implemented properly.
  • Keep refactored code separate from behavioral changes. This makes the review process easier because you don't have to sift through all the line and format changes to figure out what is new or changed.

Branches

  • Use feature branches for new work.

  • Maintain branches by rebasing upon `main` on a regular basis.

Tags

** Makes it easier to record milestones and capture associated release notes. ** Makes it easier to compare differences between versions. ** Provides a starting point for debugging production issues (if any).

Rebases

  • Avoid rebasing a shared branch. If you must do this, clear communication should be used to warn those ahead of time, ensure that all of their work is checked in, and that their local branch is deleted first.

Hooks

  • Use hooks to augment and automate your personal workflow such as checking code quality, detecting forgotten debug statements, etc.

  • Use hooks globally rather than locally per project. Doing this applies the same functionality across all projects automatically, reduces maintenance per project, and provides consistency across all projects. This can best be managed via your https://github.com/bkuhlmann/dotfiles/tree/main/home_files/.config/git/hooks[Dotfiles].

  • Avoid forcing global or local project hooks as a team-wide mandate. Hooks are a personal tool much like editors or other tools one choose to do their work. For team consistency, use a continuous integration build server instead.

Code Reviews

For an in depth look at how to conduct code reviews, please read my https://www.alchemists.io/articles/code_reviews[article] on this subject to learn more.

Development

To contribute, run:

source,bash

git clone github.com/bkuhlmann/git-lint.git cd git-lint bin/setup


You can also use the IRB console for direct access to all objects:

source,bash

bin/console


Tests

To test, run:

source,bash

bundle exec rake


Versioning

Read https://semver.org[Semantic Versioning] for details. Briefly, it means:

  • Major (X.y.z) - Incremented for any backwards incompatible public API changes.

  • Minor (x.Y.z) - Incremented for new, backwards compatible, public API enhancements/fixes.

  • Patch (x.y.Z) - Incremented for small, backwards compatible, bug fixes.

Code of Conduct

Please note that this project is released with a CODE_OF_CONDUCT.adoc[CODE OF CONDUCT]. By participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms.

Contributions

Read CONTRIBUTING.adoc[CONTRIBUTING] for details.

License

Read LICENSE.adoc[LICENSE] for details.

History

Read CHANGES.adoc[CHANGES] for details.

Credits

Engineered by https://www.alchemists.io/team/brooke_kuhlmann[Brooke Kuhlmann].