Autocommiter

Autocommiter is a small VS Code extension prototype that helps you generate commit messages from the Source Control (SCM) view. It provides a small "wand" action in the SCM view title and a status-bar button that inserts a generated commit message into the Git commit input box.

This project is an early prototype focusing on a lightweight, non-invasive UX: it uses the built-in Git extension when possible to read and set the commit input, and falls back to copying the message to clipboard if necessary.

Features

• Generate a commit message and insert it into the SCM commit input.
• Status bar button (🪄) to trigger message generation.
• Small toolbar action in the Source Control view title for quick access.
• Try Copilot first: Uses GitHub Copilot's built-in commit message generation if available.
• Intelligent API fallback: When Copilot isn't available, uses GitHub Models API with automatic model detection and selection.
• Model selection UI: Choose from available models with one-time or persistent selection.
• Automatic model caching: Caches available models for fast model selection without extra network calls.
• Gitmoji support (opt-in): Intelligently adds gitmoji prefixes to commit messages based on content matching.
• Lightweight prototype generator with a clear hook to add LLM/GitHub/Copilot integrations.

Usage

Basic Usage

1. Open a repository in VS Code and make some changes (staged or unstaged).
2. Open the Source Control view (Ctrl+Shift+G / Cmd+Shift+G).
3. Click the status bar wand (right side) or the wand in the Source Control view title to generate a commit message.
4. The generated message will be inserted into the SCM commit input if VS Code's built-in Git extension is available.

With GitHub Models API

When Copilot is not available, the extension can use the GitHub Models API to generate commit messages:

1. First time setup: The extension will prompt you for a GitHub API token (stored securely in VS Code).

2. Model selection: On first API usage, you'll be prompted to select a model. Choose one of:

   • gpt-4o-mini (fast and cost-effective, default)
   • gpt-4o (high quality)
   • Meta-Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct or other open models
   • Other available models in GitHub Models catalog

3. Save your choice: After selecting, you can:

   • Use for this commit only: Model selection won't persist.
   • Save as default: Your choice will be remembered and used for all future commits (unless changed in settings).

Configuration

Open VS Code Settings and search for "Autocommiter" to find:

• autocommiter.selectedModel: Set your default AI model (e.g., gpt-4o-mini, gpt-4o, Meta-Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct)
• autocommiter.enableGitmoji (optional): Enable gitmoji prefixes for commit messages (default: false)
• autocommiter.updateGitignore (optional): Automatically update .gitignore to protect sensitive files (default: false)
• autocommiter.gitignorePatterns (optional): Patterns to add to .gitignore when protection is enabled

Development

Requirements

• Node.js and pnpm (pnpm is used by this workspace)
• VS Code

Run locally

1. Install dependencies:

pnpm install

2. Start the TypeScript and bundler watchers (the workspace already includes watch tasks):

pnpm run watch

3. Open this project in VS Code and press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host. In the new window, open a Git workspace and try the wand button in Source Control.

Build and package

pnpm run package
# or use `vsce package` if you prefer

Notes on typechecks

• The project uses tsconfig.json with skipLibCheck and explicit types entries to avoid third-party ambient type issues during development.

Code highlights

• src/extension.ts registers the command autocommiter.generateMessage, adds a status bar item, and attempts to use the vscode.git extension's API to read and write the inputBox value for the repository.
• src/modelManager.ts handles model fetching, caching, and selection UI for GitHub Models API.
• generateMessageFromContext is a minimal placeholder where richer generation logic should plug in.

Extending the generator (recommended next steps)

1. Use staged/unstaged diffs to build a richer prompt

   • Use the Git extension API to enumerate changed files and produce a short summary of additions/deletions per file.

2. Customize commit message style

   • Add extension settings for conventional commits, scope inclusion, etc.

3. UI polishing

   • Replace the text status bar item with an icon-only button.
   • Add more commit message style templates.

Security & privacy

• API keys are stored securely in VS Code's SecretStorage.
• File diffs are compressed and sent to GitHub Models API for message generation.
• No data is stored on extension or external services beyond the API call itself.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Open an issue or PR describing the feature you'd like to add.

License

This project does not include a license by default. Add a LICENSE file if you want to make the code reusable.