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.
• Lightweight prototype generator with a clear hook to add LLM/GitHub/Copilot integrations.

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. Otherwise it will be copied to the clipboard and you can paste it manually.

Tip: The current generator is a simple placeholder; see "Extending the generator" below to connect to an LLM or GitHub/Copilot.

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.
• 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. Integrate an LLM provider

   • Add an extension setting to accept an API key (or use the vscode.authentication API to get GitHub credentials).
   • Provide an option to choose between providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, local model, etc.).
   • Send a concise prompt including the file list and small diffs to generate a high-quality commit message.

3. Explore Copilot/GitHub integration

   • Copilot integration is not a public API; however you can integrate with GitHub's REST API for repository context or use the user's authenticated GitHub token for richer context.

4. UI polishing

   • Replace the text status bar item with an icon-only button.
   • Add settings for style (conventional commits, short/long, scope inclusion).

Security & privacy

If you integrate a third-party LLM, make sure to:

• Explicitly show in the extension settings when network calls are made and what data is sent.
• Allow users to opt in/out of sending patch contents to external services.

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.

If you'd like, I can now:

• Implement LLM integration (OpenAI/Anthropic) and add settings to store API keys securely.
• Improve the generator to inspect diffs and produce conventional commit messages.
• Add tests and CI configuration.

Which should I do next?