Conventional Commits

Overview

AI Web Feeds uses the Conventional Commits specification for all commit messages. This provides a structured format that enables automated changelog generation, semantic versioning, and clear project history.

Format

Each commit message consists of a header, optional body, and optional footer:

<type>(<scope>): <subject>

[optional body]

[optional footer]

Header (Required)

The header has a special format that includes a type, optional scope, and subject:

<type>(<scope>): <subject>
│       │            │
│       │            └─> Summary in present tense. Not capitalized. No period at end.
│       │
│       └─> Scope: core|analytics|monitoring|nlp|cli|web|docs|tests|deps|ci|etc.
│
└─> Type: feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|perf|test|build|ci|chore|revert

Rules:

Maximum 100 characters
Type and subject are required
Scope is recommended but optional
Subject is lowercase, imperative mood ("add" not "added" or "adds")
No period at the end

Commit Types

Type	Description	Changelog Section	Example
`feat`	New feature	Features	`feat(core): add RSS feed parser`
`fix`	Bug fix	Bug Fixes	`fix(analytics): correct topic count calculation`
`docs`	Documentation only	Documentation	`docs(api): update fetch endpoint examples`
`style`	Code style/formatting (no logic change)	-	`style(core): format with ruff`
`refactor`	Code refactoring (no feature/fix)	-	`refactor(storage): simplify query builder`
`perf`	Performance improvement	Performance	`perf(nlp): optimize embedding generation`
`test`	Add/update tests	-	`test(validate): add edge case coverage`
`build`	Build system/dependencies	-	`build(deps): update pydantic to 2.5.0`
`ci`	CI/CD changes	-	`ci(workflow): add caching for npm deps`
`chore`	Other changes (no src/test modification)	-	`chore(release): bump version to 0.2.0`
`revert`	Revert previous commit	-	`revert(feat): remove experimental feature`

Scopes

Scopes indicate which part of the codebase is affected:

Core Package Scopes

core - Core functionality
models - Data models and schemas
storage - Database and persistence
load - Feed loading and fetching
validate - Validation logic
export - Export functionality
enrich - Enrichment pipeline
logger - Logging utilities
utils - Utility functions
config - Configuration management

Phase-Specific Scopes

analytics - Phase 002: Analytics & Discovery
discovery - Phase 002: Feed discovery
monitoring - Phase 003: Real-time monitoring
realtime - Phase 003: Real-time features
nlp - Phase 005: NLP/AI features
ai - Phase 005: AI-powered features

Component Scopes

cli - Command-line interface
web - Web documentation site
api - API endpoints

Infrastructure Scopes

db - Database changes
schema - Schema definitions
migrations - Database migrations
data - Data files (feeds.yaml, topics.yaml)

Meta Scopes

docs - Documentation
tests - Test infrastructure
deps - Dependencies
ci - CI/CD pipeline
tooling - Development tools
release - Release management

Examples

Feature Addition

feat(analytics): add topic trending analysis

Implement z-score based trending detection for topics with
configurable thresholds and time windows.

Closes #123

Bug Fix

fix(load): handle malformed RSS feed dates

Parse dates with lenient mode and fallback to current timestamp
when feed dates are invalid or missing.

Fixes #456

Documentation

docs(cli): add examples for export command

Add usage examples for JSON, OPML, and CSV export formats
with filtering options.

Breaking Change

feat(api)!: redesign feed validation endpoint

BREAKING CHANGE: The /validate endpoint now returns structured
validation results instead of boolean. Update client code:

Before:
- GET /validate?url=<url> → { "valid": true }

After:
- GET /validate?url=<url> → { "status": "valid", "issues": [] }

Closes #789

Multiple Scopes

feat(core,analytics): integrate embedding generation

Add sentence-transformers support for generating feed embeddings
with batch processing and caching.

Body Guidelines

The body is optional but recommended for:

Complex changes requiring explanation
Breaking changes (required)
Performance impacts
Migration instructions

Format:

Separate from header with blank line
Wrap at 100 characters
Use imperative mood
Explain "what" and "why", not "how"

Footers are optional and used for:

Issue References

Closes #123
Fixes #456, #789
Relates to #101

Breaking Changes

BREAKING CHANGE: <description>

Deprecations

DEPRECATED: <what is deprecated and alternative>

Co-authors

Co-authored-by: Name <email@example.com>

Interactive Commits with Commitizen

For interactive commit creation, use commitizen:

# Initialize (one-time setup)
npx commitizen init cz-conventional-changelog --save-dev --save-exact

# Create commits interactively
npx cz
# or
git cz

Commitizen will prompt you for:

Type of change
Scope of change
Short description
Longer description (optional)
Breaking changes (optional)
Issue references (optional)

Tools Integration

Pre-commit Hook

Conventional commits are enforced via pre-commit hook:

# .pre-commit-config.yaml
- repo: https://github.com/compilerla/conventional-pre-commit
  rev: v3.0.0
  hooks:
    - id: conventional-pre-commit
      stages: [commit-msg]

Commitlint

Validation rules are defined in commitlint.config.js:

module.exports = {
  extends: ['@commitlint/config-conventional'],
  rules: {
    'type-enum': [2, 'always', ['feat', 'fix', 'docs', ...]],
    'scope-enum': [2, 'always', ['core', 'analytics', ...]],
    'subject-case': [2, 'never', ['sentence-case', 'start-case', ...]],
    'header-max-length': [2, 'always', 100],
  },
};

CI/CD Validation

GitHub Actions validates commits on PRs:

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
conventional-commits:
  name: Validate Conventional Commits
  if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
  steps:
    - name: Validate PR commits
      run: |
        npx commitlint --from ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }} \
                       --to ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}

Common Patterns

Feature Development

feat(scope): add new capability
feat(scope): enhance existing feature
feat(scope): implement X support

Bug Fixes

fix(scope): correct incorrect behavior
fix(scope): handle edge case in X
fix(scope): prevent Y when Z

Refactoring

refactor(scope): simplify X logic
refactor(scope): extract Y into separate module
refactor(scope): rename X to Y for clarity

Performance

perf(scope): optimize X operation
perf(scope): cache Y results
perf(scope): reduce memory usage in Z

Documentation

docs(scope): add X documentation
docs(scope): update Y examples
docs(scope): clarify Z behavior

Validation

Test your commit message format:

# Test with commitlint
echo "feat(core): test message" | npx commitlint

# Validate last commit
npx commitlint --from HEAD~1

# Validate range
npx commitlint --from HEAD~5 --to HEAD

Best Practices

✅ Good Commits

feat(analytics): add topic clustering algorithm
fix(load): handle timeout for slow RSS feeds
docs(api): add authentication examples
perf(nlp): optimize embedding batch processing
test(validate): add schema validation edge cases

❌ Bad Commits

# Too vague
fix: bug fix

# Not imperative mood
feat(core): Added new parser

# Capitalized subject
feat(core): Add new parser

# Period at end
feat(core): add new parser.

# Missing scope (when appropriate)
feat: add trending analysis

# Wrong type
feat(core): fix typo in README

Changelog Generation

Conventional commits enable automated changelog generation:

# Generate changelog
npx standard-version

# Preview next version
npx standard-version --dry-run

# First release
npx standard-version --first-release

Resources

FAQ

Why conventional commits?

Automated Changelog: Generate release notes automatically
Semantic Versioning: Determine version bumps (major/minor/patch)
Clear History: Understand changes at a glance
Better Collaboration: Consistent format across team
Tooling Integration: Enable automation and analysis

What if I forget the format?

Use commitizen for interactive prompts:

npx cz

Or refer to this guide!

Can I use multiple scopes?

Yes, separate with commas:

feat(core,cli): add new export format

What about merge commits?

Merge commits follow the same format:

Merge pull request #123 from feature-branch

feat(analytics): add trending detection

How do I indicate breaking changes?

Three ways:

! after scope: feat(api)!: redesign endpoint
Footer: BREAKING CHANGE: description
Both (recommended for visibility)

Support

For questions or issues with conventional commits:

Check this documentation
Review commitlint.config.js
Open an issue on GitHub

Conventional Commits

On this page