Commit Messages

How to write a commit message

Any commit needs a helpful message. Mind the following guidelines when committing to any of OMaps repositories at GitHub.

1. Separate subject from body with a blank line.
2. Try to limit the subject line to 50 characters or so.
3. Start the subject line with a capital letter.
4. Do not end the subject line with a period.
5. Do not put "gh-xx", "closes #xxx" to the subject line.
6. Use the imperative mood in the subject line. A properly formed Git commit subject line should always be able to complete the following sentence: "If applied, this commit will /your subject line here/".
7. Wrap the body to 72 characters or so.
8. Use the body to explain what and why vs. how.
9. Link GitHub issues on the lasts lines see how.
10. Use your real name and real email address.

• For OMaps project members, @omaps.org email is preferred, but not mandatory.

A template:

    Summarize changes in 50 characters or less

    More detailed explanatory text, if necessary.
    Wrap it to 72 characters or so.
    In some contexts, the first line is treated as the subject of the
    commit, and the rest of the text as the body.
    The blank line separating the summary from the body is critical
    (unless you omit the body entirely); various tools like `log`,
    `shortlog` and `rebase` can get confused if you run the two together.

    Explain the problem that this commit is solving. Focus on why you
    are making this change as opposed to how (the code explains that).
    Are there side effects or other unintuitive consequences of this
    change? Here's the place to explain them.

    Further paragraphs come after blank lines.

    - Bullet points are okay, too.

    - Typically a hyphen or asterisk is used for the bullet, preceded
      by a single space, with blank lines in between, but conventions
      vary here.

    Fixes: #123
    Closes: #456
    Needed for: #859
    See also: #343, #789

Some real-world examples:

• tarantool/tarantool@2993a75
• tarantool/tarantool@ccacba2
• [tarantool/tarantool@386df3d](https://github.com/tarantool/tarantool/commit/386df3d3eb9c5239fc83fd4dd3292d1b49446b89>`_
• tarantool/tarantool@076a842

Based on Tarantool Guidelines.