CommitPilot AI

CommitPilot AI helps you keep documentation in sync with your code by using your available VS Code AI chat model, such as GitHub Copilot, to update README.md and CHANGELOG.md before you commit.

It watches for git commit commands in the VS Code terminal. Before the commit goes through, CommitPilot AI can prompt you to update your README, changelog, or both from the current git diff, so important documentation updates are caught while the change is still fresh in your mind.

Why Use CommitPilot AI?

Code changes often ship faster than documentation updates. A small bug fix, new configuration option, breaking change, or feature tweak can easily miss the README or changelog, especially when you are deep in the flow.

CommitPilot AI adds a lightweight checkpoint at the exact moment it matters: before the commit. It does not try to take over your workflow. It simply gives you a chance to ask, "Should this change be documented?" and then lets AI draft the update from your staged and unstaged changes.

Use it to:

• Reduce stale README instructions.
• Keep changelogs closer to the actual work.
• Build a habit of documenting user-facing changes.
• Avoid remembering documentation only after a pull request review.
• Keep small teams and solo projects more consistent without adding process overhead.

Features

• Detects git commit commands from VS Code terminal shell execution events.
• Lets you choose whether the reminder should run once, always, or stop asking.
• Uses your available VS Code AI chat model to update selected documentation.
• Reads staged and unstaged git changes so the update reflects the work you are committing.
• Updates README.md, CHANGELOG.md, or both from the current workspace.
• Creates either document with a simple heading when it does not already exist.
• Includes a manual command: Check Documentation Before Commit.
• Includes commands to switch automatic reminders between ask, always, and disabled modes.

How It Works

When you run a command that starts with git commit, CommitPilot AI checks your configured mode:

• ask: asks whether to run the documentation reminder for this commit.
• always: runs the documentation reminder automatically.
• disabled: does not run automatic reminders.

If the reminder runs, you can choose:

• README
• CHANGELOG
• Both
• Not needed

Choosing a document asks your available VS Code language model to update the selected file from the current git status, staged diff, and unstaged diff. CommitPilot AI writes the updated content back to the file and opens it so you can review the result before committing.

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.118.0 or newer.
• An available VS Code language model provider, such as GitHub Copilot Chat, for automatic documentation updates.
• Terminal shell integration must be available for automatic git commit detection.

Extension Settings

This extension reads the following setting:

• commitdocsGuard.promptBeforeCommit: enable or disable the prompt before git commit. Defaults to true.
• commitdocsGuard.mode: controls automatic reminders. Use ask, always, or disabled. Defaults to ask.

You can also change the mode from the command palette:

• CommitPilot AI: Ask Before Running on Commit
• CommitPilot AI: Always Run on Commit
• CommitPilot AI: Disable Automatic Commit Reminder

Commands

• Check Documentation Before Commit: manually opens the documentation reminder.
• CommitPilot AI: Ask Before Running on Commit: asks before running the reminder on future commits.
• CommitPilot AI: Always Run on Commit: always runs the reminder on future commits.
• CommitPilot AI: Disable Automatic Commit Reminder: turns off automatic commit reminders.

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Compile the extension:

npm run compile

Run lint checks:

npm run lint

Package the extension:

npm run package

Author

Rocky Asante

License

MIT