How I Built a VS Code Extension That Solves Bad Commit Messages (No AI Required)

Developers often commit code with vague messages like "fix" or "update". This makes it difficult to understand the changes made later on. Writing good commit messages requires reviewing the code changes, deciding on the appropriate type, and crafting a clear subject line. It's a tedious process that developers would rather avoid.

To simplify this, I created Git Commit Genius, a VS Code extension that automatically generates professional commit messages. Here's how it works: first, stage the files you want to commit with "git add .". Then press Ctrl+Shift+C to bring up the extension. It provides four smart suggestions to choose from. Once you pick one, you can commit with just one click.

The extension offers several benefits. It works completely offline, so there's no need for AI or external API calls. It adheres to the Conventional Commits standard. The extension has four actions: "Commit now" to directly commit with the selected suggestion, "Copy as git command" to copy the commit command, "Copy message" to copy the commit message, or "Set in Git panel" to set the commit message directly in the Git panel. It supports over 15 different file types.

The reason behind the absence of AI is simple. While AI generators exist, they come with costs, require an internet connection, send your code to external servers, and can be slow. My tool, on the other hand, uses pattern matching and file analysis to generate suggestions locally and instantly.

If you're interested in trying it out, you can do so at https://payhip.com/b/3QYiN. And for any feedback or feature requests, you can reach out to me. Up next, I plan to introduce custom commit templates, multi-language support, and team-shared configurations.