Claude CLI Commit Message
Generate commit messages with the local Claude CLI, straight from the Source
Control panel of VS Code or Cursor.
One-time setup
The button sits inside the Source Control input box. That menu is a VS Code
proposed API, and the editor only grants it to extensions listed in
argv.json. On the first run the extension offers to add itself there; it
keeps a .bak copy of the file and leaves your comments untouched. The change
takes effect after the editor is quit and started again — reloading the window
is not enough.
Until the setup is finished, a Claude Commit entry in the status bar says what
is still missing — the argv.json change itself, or the restart that activates
it. Clicking it, or running Claude Commit: Enable the Source Control Input Box Button, resumes the setup at any point, including after Never ask again. The
entry goes away for good once the button is pressed and proves to work.
Until then, generation still works from the command palette via
Claude Commit: Generate Commit Message.
How it works
- Press the sparkle button in the Source Control input box, where you type
the commit message. While Claude is working, the icon spins; clicking it
again cancels the run.
- The extension takes the staged diff, the current branch, a diffstat and the
recent commit subjects, and sends them to
claude -p.
- The generated message lands in the input box, where you can edit it before
committing.
When nothing is staged, the unstaged diff is used instead; when that is empty
too, the untracked files are described. Both cases come with a warning, so it
is always clear what the message is based on.
Requirements
- The
claude CLI, already authorized. No API key and no extra configuration.
- If the CLI is not on the PATH of the editor process (a common case for GUI
apps on macOS), set
claudeCommit.claudePath to its absolute path — run
which claude in a terminal to find it.
Git hook
Claude Commit: Install prepare-commit-msg Hook copies prepare-commit-msg
and gen-commit-msg.sh into the .git/hooks directory of the chosen
repository. After that, git commit without -m fills the message
automatically, from the terminal and from any git client.
The hook is local to the clone: it is not versioned and it is gone after a
re-clone. Skip it for a single commit with CLAUDE_COMMIT_MSG=0 git commit.
Use either the button or the hook. With both enabled, committing from the
Source Control panel with an already generated message keeps that message —
the hook only fills an empty one — but committing from the terminal after
pressing the button is not the flow either of them is designed for.
Settings
| Key |
Default |
Purpose |
claudeCommit.claudePath |
claude |
path to the CLI |
claudeCommit.model |
sonnet |
model passed to claude -p |
claudeCommit.diffLimit |
60000 |
diff cut-off in characters |
claudeCommit.timeoutSec |
90 |
timeout of a single call |
claudeCommit.recentCommits |
8 |
commit subjects sent as a style reference |
- Conventional Commits,
type(scope): Subject.
- Subject in English, capitalized, imperative mood, no trailing period, at most
72 characters.
- A body only when the change is not self-evident.
- No
Co-Authored-By trailer and no mention of AI.
Diagnostics
Everything the extension does is logged to the Claude CLI Commit Message output
channel: prompt size, exit codes, the stderr of the CLI. Error notifications
carry a Show Output button.
Install from a .vsix
./package.sh
code --install-extension dist/claude-cli-commit-message-<version>.vsix
./deploy-vscode.sh publishes to the Visual Studio Marketplace and
./deploy-openvsx.sh to Open VSX, which is what Cursor, Antigravity, Windsurf
and VSCodium install from. Both pass --allow-proposed-apis, because the
manifest declares enabledApiProposals.
In Cursor, use the Extensions: Install from VSIX… command.
