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Jim Burbridge
Jim Burbridge

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Introducing Git Angular: a VSCode extension for Angular-style commits

Why does this extension exist?

A lot of the projects I work on have some variety of pattern you need to follow in order contribute. This largely is because the commit messages will become part of the release notes and/or changelog later on.

My previous company had a very rough process for Git messages, and most of my personal projects tend to have commits designed for "Future Jim" to read. Because of that, I personally adopted the Git-Emoji commit style, as I enjoy a little bit of spice in my commits.

My current company, however, is very particular about their commit structure. They use a version of Angular's Commit Message Guidelines. The thing is I am having just the hardest time with it, so I wrote this little extension to help myself, and I figured I would share it with other people.

What does it do?

One thing, fairly simply: helps you build the starting point for an Angular-style commit.

... OK?

I know, that doesn't sound so awesome, and if I'm honest this extension isn't meant to be something like GitLens, it's just meant to be a simple helper that plugs in to VSCode's default Git extension.

The biggest thing about Git Angular is that it is configurable, either globally or via workspaces. This was done because not every person who is using the Angular commit style will be using Angular's commit style (much like my current company). You and your team could be using different types or scopes, and Git Angular allows for that.

How do I use it?

Unfortunately, VSCode has about a million extensions that have "Angular" in the title, so it's best to follow this link. Otherwise, the easiset way I found to find it without a lot of fuss or muss is searching for "Git Angular" (quotes included) into the VSCode Extension search box.

It contributes a single command, gitAngular.commit, that you can bind to a keybinding or use from the command palette. I personally bind this to ctrl+shift+c

Wrapping up

Let me know if you think there's something missing from the extension that many Angular-style commit users would enjoy to have.

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