Commit

Record the current coherent change without inventing governance work or rewriting unrelated files.

Operational Baseline

Discovery

Detect Jujutsu first:

jj root

If it succeeds, use only jj. A colocated repository also contains .git, so probing Git would select the wrong VCS. Only when jj root fails, use git rev-parse --git-dir.

Treat the repository as governed when gov/config.toml or gov/ exists. In the govctl repository itself, use cargo run --quiet -- for governance commands. Inspect current changes with jj status and jj diff, or with the corresponding Git commands after Git has been selected:

git status --short
git diff
git diff --cached

Use the selected VCS --help when additional syntax is needed.

Hard Stops

• This skill is the only workflow that issues raw commit commands.
• Do not create or reactivate a Work Item solely to make a commit.
• Do not perform RFC or ADR lifecycle transitions here.
• Do not commit governed changes while govctl check fails.
• Do not absorb, revert, or reformat unrelated user changes.
• Stop when substantive implementation has no matching active or completed Work Item and is not limited to spec-only governance maintenance.

Decision Policy

Establish Traceability

For governed repositories, run govctl check and inspect active Work Items with govctl work list active. Use the matching active or completed item already visible in task context or the diff; query govctl work list done only when that context does not identify it. Spec-only changes may be committed without a Work Item.

Before committing a matching active Work Item:

• tick only criteria actually satisfied by the diff;
• move it to done only when all criteria and effective guards pass; and
• add a note only for a durable constraint or retry rule, never for progress, validation output, review state, or the fact that a commit was made.

An implementation Work Item may already be done before its final commit. Keep the closure change and implementation in the same coherent commit.

Define The Commit Boundary

Review the full diff, including generated and governance files. The commit must represent one explainable outcome. Leave unrelated work untouched. If unrelated work shares the current Jujutsu change, stop before describing it and use jj split --help or user guidance to establish a coherent change boundary. For Git, inspect the index before committing and stop if it already contains unrelated staged changes; staging reviewed paths does not remove them.

Use:

<type>(<area>): <short summary>

Choose feat, fix, refactor, docs, test, or chore from the delivered outcome, not from individual file types.

Record

For Jujutsu, describe the current change and then create a new empty change:

jj describe -m "<type>(<area>): <summary>"
jj new

For Git, stage the reviewed change and commit it:

git add -- <reviewed-path>...
git commit -m "<type>(<area>): <summary>"

Use stdin for a multi-line commit message. Do not open an interactive VCS editor.

Completion Evidence

Report:

• commit ID and subject;
• matching Work Item status, when applicable;
• govctl check result for governed repositories; and
• whether the post-commit working copy is clean.