Commit command

Home / Commands / commit

commitbrief commit

Generate a commit message from the staged diff and, after you confirm, run git commit. This is the only CommitBrief command that writes to git — every review path is read-only. It never auto-stages and never edits files; it commits only what you already staged, and only on your confirmation (or --yes).

Synopsis

commitbrief commit [--type <format>] [--generate <N>] [--yes] [provider flags]

Takes no positional arguments. The scope is always the staged index, so the --staged / --unstaged scope flags do not apply.

What it does

1. Reads the staged diff (errors if nothing is staged).
2. Prints the detected staged file count, listing the names beneath it when there are 20 or fewer (a larger stage shows the count alone to avoid flooding the screen).
3. Runs the pre-send .commitbrief/** guard, the secret scan, and the cost preflight on the diff — exactly as a review does.
4. Asks the configured provider for the commit message(s) in a single call.
5. Shows the message (or a selector for --generate N) and asks to confirm, pre-selected on Yes.
6. On Yes (or --yes), runs git commit and prints git's summary line.

The message is passed to git via git commit -F - (stdin), so multi-line bodies commit verbatim. Commit hooks run normally (no --no-verify); a failing pre-commit hook surfaces as an error.

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
-t, --type <format>	plain (or commit.type)	Message format. One of plain, conventional, conventional+body, gitmoji, subject+body.
-g, --generate <N>	1 (or commit.generate)	Produce N alternatives (1–10) and pick one in an arrow-key selector. A single provider call generates all N.
--provider, --model, --cli	from config	Select the backend, identical to a review.
--yes	off	Commit the first suggestion with no prompt (non-interactive). Does not bypass the secret scan or cost preflight.
--no-cost-check, --allow-secrets, --no-cache	off	Same meaning as on a review.
--show-prompt	off	Print the exact prompt that would be sent, then exit (no provider call).

Defaults resolve flag > config > built-in. The commit.type and commit.generate config keys set the defaults when the flags are omitted.

Message types

--type	Output
plain (default)	A single short imperative subject line, no type prefix.
conventional	type(scope): subject (Conventional Commits). Subject only.
conventional+body	Conventional subject plus a generated body.
gitmoji	An emoji matching the change, then a short subject.
subject+body	A subject line plus a generated body.

Messages are always written in English, regardless of --lang (which still controls the CLI's own strings).

Behavior in CI / non-interactive shells

Committing needs a confirmation that can only be shown on a TTY. On a non-TTY (piped or CI) without --yes, commit errors before spending anything. Pass --yes to commit the first suggestion unattended. Even with --yes, a detected secret (non-TTY) or an over-threshold cost estimate still aborts.

Examples

# Suggest a plain message, confirm, commit.
commitbrief commit

# Conventional Commit with a generated body.
commitbrief commit -t conventional+body

# Offer four alternatives and choose one.
commitbrief commit -g 4

# Use a specific backend for this commit only.
commitbrief commit --provider openai --model gpt-5.4-mini

# Non-interactive: commit the first suggestion.
commitbrief commit --yes

# See the prompt without calling a provider.
commitbrief commit --show-prompt

Relationship to --suggest-commit

The --suggest-commit review flag is a read-only sibling: it prints one Conventional Commit message after a review and never touches git. commit is the standalone, write-capable command with format and alternative-count options. Both are supported.

See also

• Review — the read-only review path and --suggest-commit.
• Configuration files — the commit.* keys.
• Secret scanner / Cost preflight — the pre-send guards commit shares with reviews.
• Global flags — flags shared with every command.