Installing the command-line executable

Assuming you have Rust/Cargo installed, run this command in a terminal:

cargo install scripture

It will make the scripture command available in your PATH if you've allowed the PATH to be modified when installing Rust. cargo uninstall scripture uninstalls.

Back to the crate overview.

Readme

Scripture

A robust command-line tool for managing, validating, and generating standardised Git commit messages. This tool helps maintain consistent commit message standards across your project by providing automated message generation, validation, and formatting capabilities.

Features

Automated Commit Message Generation: Analyses staged changes and generates structured commit messages
Message Validation: Ensures commit messages follow standard conventions and best practices
Breaking Change Detection: Automatically identifies and highlights breaking changes
Customisable Templates: Supports structured sections for references, testing, dependencies, and more
Standard Verb Enforcement: Maintains consistent terminology in commit messages

Installation

To install the tool, ensure you have Rust and Cargo installed on your system. Then:

cargo install scripture

Usage

Generating a Commit Message

Simply stage your changes and run the tool:

git add .
scripture

This will:

Analyse your staged changes
Generate a structured commit message in commit.md
Display the message and usage instructions

Validating a Commit Message

Validate a commit message string:

scripture -m "Add new feature"

Or validate a commit message file:

scripture -f path/to/message.txt

Commit Message Structure

Generated commit messages follow this structure:

Subject line (max 50 characters)
- Starts with a standard verb
- Capitalised
- No trailing full stop
Message body sections:
- References [Required]
- Changes Overview [Required]
- Breaking Changes [Required if any]
- Testing Instructions [Optional]
- Dependencies [Optional]

Standard Verbs

The tool enforces these standard verbs:

Add: Create a capability, e.g., feature, test, dependency
Cut: Remove a capability, e.g., feature, test, dependency
Fix: Fix an issue, e.g., bug, typo, error, misstatement

Breaking Change Detection

The tool automatically identifies breaking changes based on keywords such as:

remove
delete
deprecate
break
change
rename
refactor
drop
migrate

Message Validation Rules

Commit messages are validated against these rules:

Subject line must not exceed 50 characters
Subject must start with a standard verb
Subject line must be capitalised
No full stop at the end of the subject line
Blank line between subject and body
Body lines must not exceed 72 characters

Configuration

The tool uses a default configuration that defines:

Standard verbs and their descriptions
Change indicators and verb mappings
Message template sections
Breaking change indicators

Template Sections

Generated commit messages include these sections:

References Section

# References [Required]
# Link to related tickets, docs, or discussions
Closes #
Relates to #
See also:

Testing Section

# Testing Instructions [Optional]
# Describe how to test these changes
1. Steps to test
2. Expected outcomes
3. Edge cases to verify

Dependencies Section

# Dependencies [Optional]
# List any prerequisite changes or dependencies
- [ ] Database migrations
- [ ] Configuration updates
- [ ] External service changes

Error Handling

The tool provides clear error messages for:

Invalid commit message format
Missing staged changes
File read/write errors
Invalid message structure

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure your commits follow the standards enforced by this tool.

License

MIT License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.