Prefixing Git commits

  • 23rd Mar 2025
  • 3 min read
  • • 
  • Tags: 
  • Git
  • GitHub
  • Last updated on 23rd Mar 2025

I recently began incorporating prefixes into my Git commits to add more context to them.

git_prefixes

The prefixes I used last week are:

  • feat: when developing a new feature
  • fix: for correcting an error
  • chore: when changing configuration or renaming files
  • test: for tasks related to testing
  • docs: when documenting something, for example in the README.md
  • refactor: for restructuring existing code without changing its external behavior
  • post: for adding a new blog entry

When I prefix a Git commit, I use lowercase for the prefix, followed by a message that starts with a capitalized letter. Finally, I include a reference to the related issue. For example:

feat: Show a message to the user indicating successful sign-in (#15)

I believe this is a good practice, and I’ve seen it used in other open-source project on GitHub, so I’ve added it to my workflow. I’ll be incorporating more prefixes if I find others that could be useful to me.

Recent Git prefixes used

  • feat: when developing a new feature
  • fix: for correcting an error
  • chore: when changing configuration or renaming files
  • test: for tasks related to testing
  • docs: when documenting, e.g., in README.md
  • refactor: to restructure code without altering its functionality
  • post: for adding a new blog entry