Git commit conventions

Using conventions in Github commits

This content was adopted from ChatGPT.

What is conventional-changelog?

conventional-changelog is a Node.js tool (and family of libraries) that automatically generates changelogs from commit messages that follow the Conventional Commits specification.

It was originally built by the Angular team and is now widely used in many ecosystems.

Conventional Commits are commit messages that follow a simple, structured convention:

<type>(<optional scope>): <short summary>

[optional body]

[optional footer]

Example:

feat(auth): add login with Google
fix(api): handle 500 errors properly
chore(deps): update Rails to 7.1

Common types:

• feat: A new feature
• fix: A bug fix
• chore: Maintenance or tooling changes
• docs: Documentation updates
• refactor: Code restructuring
• test: Adding or updating tests
• perf: Performance improvements

This structure allows tools to parse commits automatically.

How conventional-changelog works

It parses your git history and generates a changelog (typically a CHANGELOG.md file), grouping commits by type and optionally bumping versions automatically.

Example output:

# Changelog

## [1.2.0] - 2025-10-22

### Features
- Add login with Google (#45)

### Bug Fixes
- Handle 500 errors properly (#48)

### Maintenance
- Update Rails to 7.1 (#50)

How to use it

1. Install it

npm install -g conventional-changelog-cli

2. Generate a changelog

From your project root:

conventional-changelog -p angular -i CHANGELOG.md -s

• -p angular uses the Angular-style convention (most common).
• -i CHANGELOG.md points to your changelog file.
• -s means “in place” (updates the file).

Run this command each time you release.

Automating it

You can add a script to your package.json:

"scripts": {
  "changelog": "conventional-changelog -p angular -i CHANGELOG.md -s"
}

Then just run:

npm run changelog

Related Tools in the Same Ecosystem

Comparison with Similar Tools

So:

• Use conventional-changelog if you just want to generate changelogs.
• Use standard-version if you want changelog + version bumping.
• Use semantic-release if you want fully automated publishing.