Features
- Commit messages from your staged diff. Click the ✨ in the Source Control panel and the message drops straight into the commit box, following Conventional Commits.
- PR descriptions from your branch history. The extension reads the commits between your branch and its base, then writes a title and body.
- Your PR template, respected. If the repository has a pull request template, the generated description follows its sections.
- Two backends, one extension. Use OpenRouter for any model behind a single API key, or the Claude CLI to reuse the session you are already logged into — no API key at all.
- Bring your own prompt. Both prompts are settings. Override them when the defaults do not match how your team writes.
Requirements
- VS Code 1.85 or newer
- The built-in Git extension (
vscode.git), enabled by default
- One backend: an OpenRouter API key, or the
claude CLI installed and logged in
- Optional: the GitHub Pull Requests extension, to generate descriptions from the Create Pull Request panel
Quick start
Pick a backend with aiCommitPr.provider (open Settings with Ctrl+, and search AI Commit):
claude-cli — nothing to configure beyond having the Claude CLI installed and authenticated (claude, then /login). It reuses your existing session, SSO included. If claude is not on your PATH — common with nvm under WSL — point aiCommitPr.claudeCliPath at the binary.
openrouter (default) — needs a key:
- Create a free account at openrouter.ai
- Go to openrouter.ai/keys and click Create key
- Copy the key (it starts with
sk-or-...) into the Open Router Api Key setting
New to OpenRouter? It gives you dozens of models through one API key, so you do not need separate Anthropic, OpenAI and Google accounts. New accounts get free credits, and a commit message or PR description usually costs under $0.01 — or nothing at all on a :free model.
Usage
Generate a commit message
- Stage the files you want to commit
- Click the ✨ in the top-right of the Source Control panel
- Review the generated message and commit as usual
The ✨ only appears once you have staged changes.
Generate a PR description
From the command palette:
- Check out a feature branch (not your base branch)
- Press
Ctrl+Shift+P and run AI Commit: Generate AI PR Description
- A panel opens with the Title and Body, each with a copy button
From the GitHub Pull Requests panel:
- Open the Create Pull Request view in the sidebar
- Click the ✨ in its title bar
- The title lands on your clipboard, ready to paste; the body opens in a side panel
Commands
| Command |
Palette entry |
Where |
aiCommitPr.generateCommit |
AI Commit: Generate AI Commit Message |
Source Control title bar |
aiCommitPr.generatePR |
AI Commit: Generate AI PR Description |
Command palette, Create Pull Request title bar |
Extension settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
aiCommitPr.provider |
openrouter |
Backend to use: openrouter or claude-cli |
aiCommitPr.openRouterApiKey |
(empty) |
Your OpenRouter API key. OpenRouter backend only |
aiCommitPr.model |
openai/gpt-oss-120b:free |
OpenRouter model ID. OpenRouter backend only |
aiCommitPr.claudeCliPath |
claude |
Path to the Claude CLI binary. Override when it is not on PATH |
aiCommitPr.baseBranch |
main |
Branch the PR is compared against |
aiCommitPr.includeDiff |
true |
Send the branch diff to the model for PR descriptions. Turn off to send only commit history |
aiCommitPr.commitPrompt |
(built-in) |
Custom commit prompt. Use {diff} as the placeholder |
aiCommitPr.prPrompt |
(built-in) |
Custom PR prompt. Use {history}, {diff} and {template} as placeholders |
Choosing a model
Applies to the OpenRouter backend only. The default is openai/gpt-oss-120b:free.
Models with the :free suffix cost nothing. Filter by the Programming category to find models benchmarked on code — they handle diffs and technical writing better than general-purpose ones. Full list: openrouter.ai/models.
| Free model |
Context |
Notes |
openai/gpt-oss-120b:free |
262K |
Large model, best free option |
nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b:free |
262K |
Large model, excellent quality |
google/gemma-4-31b-it:free |
262K |
Solid quality for code |
nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b:free |
256K |
Lighter and faster |
openrouter/free |
200K |
Auto-routes to an available free model |
| Paid model |
Quality |
Cost per request |
anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet |
★★★★★ |
~$0.003 |
openai/gpt-4o |
★★★★★ |
~$0.005 |
anthropic/claude-3-haiku |
★★★★☆ |
~$0.0003 |
openai/gpt-4o-mini |
★★★★☆ |
~$0.0006 |
google/gemini-flash-1.5 |
★★★★☆ |
~$0.0001 |
PR templates
The extension looks for a template in these paths, in order, and uses the first one it finds as the structure for the generated description:
.github/pull_request_template.md.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.mdpull_request_template.mddocs/pull_request_template.md
With no template, it falls back to a built-in Summary / Motivation / Changes / Test plan structure.
Troubleshooting
The ✨ is missing from Source Control.
Stage at least one file. The action is hidden while nothing is staged.
The ✨ is missing from the Create Pull Request panel.
Install the GitHub Pull Requests extension and open the panel.
"No commits found between current branch and main"
You are on the base branch, or your branch has no commits yet. Check out a feature branch with at least one commit, or correct aiCommitPr.baseBranch.
"OpenRouter API key is not configured"
Add your key as shown in Quick start, or switch aiCommitPr.provider to claude-cli.
"Claude CLI not found"
Install the Claude CLI, or run which claude and put the result in aiCommitPr.claudeCliPath.
"Claude CLI isn't logged in"
Run claude in a terminal, authenticate with /login, then try again.
Requests fail with a valid key.
Check your balance at openrouter.ai/credits. Free credits do run out.
Release notes
See CHANGELOG.md for the full history.
Contributing
See DEVELOPMENT.md for the build, watch and packaging workflow. Issues and pull requests are welcome at github.com/w-osilva/ai-commit-pr-generator.
License
MIT
