Generate AI-powered commit messages and inspect current-line Git history directly in VS Code.
Features
One-click generation — click the Smart Git Pilot icon in the Source Control panel's title bar and it writes a commit message straight into the commit input box.
Bring your own provider — works with either OpenAI or Anthropic. You supply the API key and base URL, so it also works with OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible proxies and self-hosted gateways.
Conventional Commits by default — the built-in prompt asks the model for a type(scope): subject header plus body/footer, validated against @commitlint/config-conventional rules (lowercase type, 100-char line wraps, BREAKING CHANGE: footer handling, etc.).
Customizable prompt — override the default instructions with your own house style via a single setting.
Secure credentials — your API key is stored in VS Code's encrypted secret storage, never written to settings.json.
Model picker — fetches the live list of models available to your account/provider and lets you pick one, instead of hardcoding a model name.
Current line blame — shows the author, relative time, and commit summary for the active line, with full details and a copyable hash on hover. Local edits are marked as uncommitted without losing history for unchanged lines.
Requirements
The built-in Git extension (vscode.git) must be enabled — Smart Git Pilot reads staged changes and repository history through it.
A git repository open in the workspace with at least one staged change.
Getting Started
Open the Command Palette and run Smart Git Pilot: Setup Provider.
Pick OpenAI or Anthropic, confirm/edit the base URL, and paste your API key.
You'll immediately be asked to pick a model — this list is fetched live from your provider.
Stage the changes you want to commit (git add or the Source Control panel).
Click the Generate Commit Message icon in the Source Control panel's title bar.
Review the generated message in the commit input box, edit if needed, and commit as usual.
You can re-run Setup Provider or Select Model any time to switch providers or models.
Extension Settings
Setting
Description
smartCommitPilot.provider
Selected LLM vendor: OpenAI or Anthropic.
smartCommitPilot.baseUrl
Base URL used to reach the selected provider (supports compatible proxies/gateways).
smartCommitPilot.model
Model used to generate commit messages, chosen via Select Model.
smartCommitPilot.prompt
Custom instructions appended to the commit-message prompt. Leave empty to use the built-in Conventional Commits template.
smartCommitPilot.blame.enabled
Shows commit information for the current editor line. Enabled by default.
smartCommitPilot.blame.avatars
Shows Gravatar or generated cartoon avatars in blame hovers. Enabled by default.
Your API key is not stored in this list — it lives in VS Code's secret storage and is set via Setup Provider.
When blame avatars are enabled, Smart Git Pilot derives a Gravatar URL from the commit author's email address and VS Code may request that remote image. Disable smartCommitPilot.blame.avatars to use a local editor icon instead.
Commands
Command
What it does
Smart Git Pilot: Setup Provider
Configure provider, base URL, and API key; then prompts you to select a model.
Smart Git Pilot: Select Model
Re-fetch and choose a model for the currently configured provider.
Smart Git Pilot: Setup Prompt
Opens the smartCommitPilot.prompt instructions in a multi-line editor; save (Cmd/Ctrl+S) to apply.
Smart Git Pilot: Generate Commit Message
Generates a commit message from staged changes (also available as the icon in the Source Control title bar).
Smart Git Pilot: Toggle Current Line Blame
Enables or disables the current-line commit hint for the workspace.
Known Issues
Requires at least one staged change — Smart Git Pilot won't generate a message from unstaged or working-tree changes.
Very large diffs may be truncated or produce lower-quality messages depending on the selected model's context window.
Current line blame requires the Git executable configured for VS Code, or git available on your PATH.
