AI-Powered GIT Commit Messages: Cloud Options

One crucial aspect of web and software development is version control and a project's commit history is its story, written one change at a time.

The ability to collaborate effectively and reference to a specific state in a project's timeline is facilitated by accurate commits; yet, crafting clear, consistent commit messages can often feel like a tedious disruption in the workflow of many developers who understand their significance in the short and long term.

This article introduces easy-to-use AI-powered options that lessen the developer burden of manually drafting adequate commit messages. We'll show you how to adopt each one and highlight probable limitations.

Prerequisites

Introductory knowledge of Git.
An Integrated Development Environment (VScode preferred).
An existing Git-tracked project/repo.

Auto-Generate Commits with Copilot

GitHub Copilot is Microsoft's flagship AI assistant. It seamlessly integrates with VScode and is capable of analyzing diffs (short for differences) in code versions to suggest appropriate commit messages. It does this by comparing the content of staged files with the content of the most recent commit in a project's git repository.

Although we'll be using VScode for demonstration, Copilot can be deployed and utilized on several other IDEs.

Generate Commit Messages with Copilot UI

To set up Copilot as a commit message-generating tool in your workspace, first, install GitHub Copilot and Github Copilot chat extensions from the VScode extension marketplace.

copilot-ext

After both extensions install successfully, press Control + Command + i (Mac) / Ctrl + Alt + i (Windows/Linux) to open the copilot chat window and sign-in to copilot.

copilot-chat

Once signed in to Copilot, open the VS code source control menu or press Ctrl+Shift+G.

Stage file changes in your local git branch and then click the sparkle icon to generate a commit message.

generate-commit-button

You can then review the generated message, make necessary modifications, commit changes, and push commits to your cloud git host (eg. Github).

Generate Commit Messages via Github Copilot CLI

If you prefer using the terminal instead of the source control user interface, do the following:

First, install Github CLI with popular installation packages like Chocolatey (Windows) or Homebrew (macOS).

For Windows
```
 $ choco install gh
```
For macOS
```
 $ brew install gh
```
Authenticate Github CLI.
```
 $ gh auth login
```

Go through the instructions and select the appropriate options. Crucially, copy the one-time code and enter it your browser.

 ? Where do you use GitHub? GitHub.com
 ? What is your preferred protocol for Git operations on this host? HTTPS
 ? Authenticate Git with your GitHub credentials? Yes
 ? How would you like to authenticate GitHub CLI? Login with a web browser

 ! First copy your one-time code: XXXX-XXXX
 Press Enter to open https://github.com/login/device 
 in your browser... 
 ✓ Authentication complete.
 - gh config set -h github.com git_protocol https
 ✓ Configured git protocol
 ✓ Logged in as <your_username>

Proceed to install (or update) Github Copilot CLI extension after authentication completion.
```
 $ gh extension install github/gh-copilot
 $ gh extension upgrade gh-copilot
```
You should now be able to use the sparkle icon in the terminal like this:

If you find the above Copilot setup procedure inaccurate due to IDE differences, you might have to consult this guide for specific details regarding its integration in your IDE.

Limitations

As with any free-tier product, there are certain limitations to what the free version of Copilot offers.

Microsoft imposes that Copilot allows only 50 messages and 2000 auto code completions per month. This consequently implies some degree of constraint on the number of commit message generations you can do within 30 days.

Recommendations

Microsoft Copilot is an excellent AI assistant choice. We recommend that you/your organization try Copilot before other alternatives which we'll cover shortly.

However, if your revenue outlook is solid, we strongly recommend you upgrade to the Copilot Pro tier for $10 per month or $100 annually.

GIT AI Commit by The-Cafe

git-ai-commit is a third-party AI commit message-generating tool built with Python by the-cafe. Compared to Copilot which provides default LLM access to Claude 3.5 Sonnet and OpenAI’s GPT-4o models, it supports a variety of models provisioned by OpenAI, Anthropic, and locally hosted Ollama. (Full list here)

Setting up git-ai-commit

To set up and use git-ai-commit in your project, first, be sure you have Python installed on your development workstation.

Once that's done, follow the instructions below.

Download and install the package.
```
 $ pip install git-ai-commit
```
Install and upgrade set up tools
```
 $ pip install --upgrade setuptools
```
Verify git-ai-commit package installation.
```
 $ git-ai-commit --version
```
You'll have to add the package folder to your system environment variable path manually if this returns an error, otherwise proceed on Step 7.

Locate the Python packages installation directory in your system with the following command.

 $ python -m site --user-site

You should get a response similar to this.

 C:\Users\<YOUR_USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\site-packages

Modify the path response above by replacing the tail-end folder site-packages with Scripts.

 C:\Users\<YOUR_USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\Scripts

Add the modified path to system Environment Variables.
- Open the Start Menu and search for Environment Variables.
- Select Edit the system environment variables.
- In the System Properties window, click on the Environment Variables button.
- In the Environment Variables window, under System variables, find and select the Path variable, then click Edit.
- In the Edit Environment Variable dialog, click New and paste the path to the Scripts directory (C:\Users\<YOUR_USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\Scripts).
  
  Important: The above path is totally subjective to your system's PIP package install location; make sure you add the right path.
- Click OK to close all dialog boxes.

Configure the package with the config --setup flag.

 $ git-ai-commit config --setup

When you run this command, you may encounter the error attached below. Skip the steps addressing the error if that is not the case and continue on Step 9.

 Welcome to AI Commit MSG! Let's get you set up.

 [Setup] Git prepare-commit-msg hook
 Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "<frozen runpy>", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
   File "<frozen runpy>", line 88, in _run_code
   File "C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\Scripts\git-ai-commit.exe\__main__.py", line 7, in <module>
   File "C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\site-packages\ai_commit_msg\main.py", line 154, in main
     config_handler(args)
   File "C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\site-packages\ai_commit_msg\cli\config_handler.py", line 50, in config_handler
     handle_config_setup()
   File "C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\site-packages\ai_commit_msg\cli\config_handler.py", line 9, in handle_config_setup
     onboarding_flow()
   File "C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\site-packages\ai_commit_msg\services\onboarding_service.py", line 81, in onboarding_flow
     setup_git_hook()
   File "C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\site-packages\ai_commit_msg\cli\hook_handler.py", line 99, in setup_git_hook
     handle_setup_hook(file_path)
   File "C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\site-packages\ai_commit_msg\cli\hook_handler.py", line 56, in handle_setup_hook
     file.write(get_bash_script())
   File "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_3.12.2288.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\Lib\encodings\cp1252.py", line 19, in encode
     return codecs.charmap_encode(input,self.errors,encoding_table)[0]
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 UnicodeEncodeError: 'charmap' codec can't encode characters in position 273-274: character maps to <undefined>

This UnicodeEncode error indicates that Python is trying to encode characters to a text file using an unsupportive character-encoding format.

To address this error, open hook_handler.py from the file paths listed in the error message "C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.12_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python312\site-packages\ai_commit_msg\cli\hook_handler.py"

Locate the handle_setup_hook(hook_directory_path: str) function and replace it with the following:

 ...

 def handle_setup_hook(hook_directory_path: str):
     existing_hook_content = ""
     if os.path.exists(hook_directory_path):
         with open(hook_directory_path, "r", encoding='utf-8') as file: # Adds encoding='utf-8' to open() function to read the hook file
             existing_hook_content = file.read()

     if existing_hook_content == get_bash_script():
         Logger().log("prepare-commit-msg hook already exists")
         return

     if existing_hook_content:
         override_content = input(
             f"prepare-commit-msg hook already exists in {hook_directory_path}\n\nWould you like to overwrite it? (y/n): "
         )

         if override_content.lower() == "n":
             return
         elif override_content.lower() != "y":
             Logger().log("Invalid input. Exiting.")

     ## create the prepare-commit-msg file and write the hook code
     with open(hook_directory_path, "w", encoding='utf-8') as file: # Adds encoding='utf-8' to open() function to write to bash script
         file.write(get_bash_script())

     # make the file executable
     os.chmod(hook_directory_path, 0o755)

     ...

Note: ... indicates unchanged code.

Save the file.

This should fix the UniEncode error and let you proceed to choose your preferred LLM provider after you rerun the command git-ai-commit config --setup.

Select your preferred large language provider and model.

OpenAI and Anthropic each require an API key for LLM access - we'll use OpenAI.

To obtain an OpenAI API key, login to OpenAI and create one.

Choose OpenAI and gpt-40-mini as your AI provider and model respectively then enter the obtained API key. (other models require a paid subscription).

 Welcome to AI Commit MSG! Let's get you set up.

 [Setup] Git prepare-commit-msg hook
 prepare-commit-msg hook already exists in .git/hooks/prepare-commit-msg

 Would you like to overwrite it? (y/n): n

 Choose your preferred AI provider:
 [?] Select AI Provider:
  > OpenAI
    Anthropic
    Ollama

 [?] Select Model:
    gpt-4-0125-preview
    gpt-4-turbo-preview
    gpt-4-vision-preview
    gpt-4-1106-vision-preview
    gpt-4-turbo
    gpt-4-turbo-2024-04-09
    gpt-4-32k
    gpt-4-32k-0314
    gpt-4-32k-0613
    gpt-4o
    gpt-4o-2024-05-13
  > gpt-4o-mini
    gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18

 Let's set up your Openai API key.
 [?] Enter your Openai API key: sk-XXXXXXXXXXX

On successful API key entry, you'll be asked to enable event logging feature. Confirm (y) or decline (N) to complete setup.

API-key-successful

Run config command to view configuration settings.

$ git-ai-commit config

Settings
----------------------
Anthropic Api Key: 
Openai Api Key: sk-proj-...154j
Logger Enabled: True
Model: gpt-4o-mini
Ollama Url: http://localhost:11434/api/chat
Last Updated At: 2024-12-23 13:26:54
Max Length: 50

Finally, stage file changes and generate commit message.

$ git add .
$ git-ai-commit summarize

Below is an example response from GPT-4o-mini assuming the API key provided is valid:

Fetching your staged changes...

Here is a summary of your changes:

  added ai-generated commit message guidelines document

to use this summary run: `git commit -m "added ai-generated commit message guidelines document"`

All git-ai-commit configuration options and their implementation are outlined in this documentation.

Limitations

git-ai-commit usage is only limited by your API key and subscription rate limit. For example, Open AI restricts free-tier accounts API use to 40,000 - 60,000 tokens per minute and 200 requests per day. You can increase this limit by buying OpenAI credits or upgrading your account.

Recommendations

Aside the seemingly unstable nature of the package which results in an avoidably lengthy setup process, it is a more versatile AI commit message tool considering the variety of model options it supports.

Auto Git Commit (autogitc)

autogitc is a Ruby package built by Adrian Goh Jon Wei to help developers write clear and consistent commit messages. It uses GPT-4o-Mini which is OpenAI's most cost-effective model.

Installation and Setup

To use autogitc in your project, follow these steps.

Visit rubyinstaller.org to download and install Ruby or use OS installation packages.

For Windows
```
 $ choco install ruby
```
For macOS
```
 $ brew install ruby
```
Verify package installation.
```
 $ ruby -v
```
Install Gem bundler (not mandatory).
```
 $ gem install bundler
```
Note: You may have to restart your IDE and terminal to integrate Ruby and gem bundler installations.
Install autogitc with the Gem package installer.
```
 $ gem install autogitc
```
Set AUTOGITC_KEY key as the API key obtained from OpenAI in your system environment variables.

You can do this easily in the Powershell terminal using the following command. (replace the placeholder with your key - retain apostrophes)
```
 $ [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('AUTOGITC_KEY', 'your_openai_api_key_here', [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
```
Verify environment variable addition.
```
 $ Get-ChildItem Env:AUTOGITC_KEY
```
You should see your API key returned in the terminal.

You can also verify or set the key via the system environment variables window.

Stage file changes then run autogitc to automatically generate commit message and commit changes.

 $ git add .

 $ autogitc

For the purpose of reviewability, it is recommended that you use the --nc (or --nocommit) flag instead to generate commit messages.

$ autogitc --nc

You should get a successful response that looks like this:

Running autogitc...
Generated commit message:
Add AI-Generated GIT Commit guidelines and API key image

N/B: You can also add the --text=XXX flag to indicate specific text(s) that must be included in the commit message. Replace XXX with the text you wish to include.

Review commit message suggestions and make changes (where necessary) to be more precise.

Limitations

As mentioned earlier, with autogitc you're restricted to just one LLM model which is Gpt-4o-mini, unlike Copilot and git-ai-commit that offer multiple LLM provider options.

Recommendation

autogitc is a great choice if you want to try a quick, straightforward third-party option with its only configuration requirement being your OpenAI API key.

Conclusion

In ~10 minutes, you’ve learned to use AI tools to ease and refine the project version documentation process.

We've covered three different options that analyze code changes to produce contextual commit messages and provided practical steps on how you can adopt them.

While these tools do not completely alleviate your responsibility of ensuring that commit messages are clear, informative, and relevant, they help maintain conventional commit standards and offer solid starting points.

Go make your project's story better, one commit message at a time.

AI-Generated GIT Commit Messages - Why and How: Cloud Options

Prerequisites

Auto-Generate Commits with Copilot

Generate Commit Messages with Copilot UI

Generate Commit Messages via Github Copilot CLI

Limitations

Recommendations

GIT AI Commit by The-Cafe

Setting up git-ai-commit

Limitations

Recommendations

Auto Git Commit (autogitc)

Installation and Setup

Limitations

Recommendation

Conclusion