Feature Request: Automatic Commit Message Generation from Staged or Unstaged Changes

Feature Request: Automatic Commit Message Generation from Staged or Unstaged Changes

Summary

Enable a /commit slash command in Claude Code that automatically generates a commit message based on the current changes in the git repository—whether staged or unstaged—without requiring manual copy-paste of diffs or summaries. The command should also allow optional user input as context.

Current Workflow Pain Point

To generate a commit message with Claude’s slash command, users must:

• Manually run git diff --cached (for staged changes) or git diff (for unstaged changes),
• Copy the output,
• Paste it as an argument to /commit.

This interrupts the development workflow and is repetitive.

Requested Feature

• New Capability:

Allow Claude Code to detect and use the most relevant changes automatically:

• If there are staged changes, use git diff --cached.
• If there are no staged changes but there are unstaged changes, use git diff.
• If there are no changes, prompt the user to provide context or input manually.
• Behavior:
• When typing /commit (with no arguments), Claude fetches the appropriate diff and generates a commit message.
• Allow /commit [your message or summary] to override the diff with user input.
• Security:
• Restrict access to only relevant diffs, with user consent as needed.

Benefits

• Saves time (no more manual copy-paste).
• Works seamlessly with either staged or unstaged changes.
• Makes commit message generation smoother and more intuitive.
• Reduces friction and errors, supports more workflows.

Similar Features

• GitHub Copilot Labs “commit message” feature
• VSCode “generate commit message” from changes

Optional Enhancements

• Allow choosing commit message style (Conventional, plain English, etc.).
• Optionally prompt the user to select which changes to include if both staged and unstaged are present.

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Thank you for considering this improvement!