Setup Pre-Commit Hooks

SkillDev tools

Lets your agent set up pre-commit hooks that run checks before each git commit.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Setup Pre-Commit Hooks skill

About this capability

Set up Husky pre-commit hooks with lint-staged (Prettier), type checking, and tests in the current repo. Use when user wants to add pre-commit hooks, set up Husky, configure lint-staged, or add commit-time formatting/typechecking/testing.

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by mattpocock/skills in skills/misc/setup-pre-commit/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

What This Sets Up

  • Husky pre-commit hook
  • lint-staged running Prettier on all staged files
  • Prettier config (if missing)
  • typecheck and test scripts in the pre-commit hook

Steps

1. Detect package manager

Check for package-lock.json (npm), pnpm-lock.yaml (pnpm), yarn.lock (yarn), bun.lockb (bun). Use whichever is present. Default to npm if unclear.

2. Install dependencies

Install as devDependencies:

husky lint-staged prettier

3. Initialize Husky

npx husky init

This creates .husky/ dir and adds prepare: "husky" to package.json.

4. Create .husky/pre-commit

Write this file (no shebang needed for Husky v9+):

npx lint-staged
npm run typecheck
npm run test

Adapt: Replace npm with detected package manager. If repo has no typecheck or test script in package.json, omit those lines and tell the user.

5. Create .lintstagedrc

{
  "*": "prettier --ignore-unknown --write"
}

6. Create .prettierrc (if missing)

Only create if no Prettier config exists. Use these defaults:

{
  "useTabs": false,
  "tabWidth": 2,
  "printWidth": 80,
  "singleQuote": false,
  "trailingComma": "es5",
  "semi": true,
  "arrowParens": "always"
}

7. Verify

  • .husky/pre-commit exists and is executable
  • .lintstagedrc exists
  • prepare script in package.json is "husky"
  • prettier config exists
  • Run npx lint-staged to verify it works

8. Commit

Stage all changed/created files and commit with message: Add pre-commit hooks (husky + lint-staged + prettier)

This will run through the new pre-commit hooks: a good smoke test that everything works.

Notes

  • Husky v9+ doesn't need shebangs in hook files
  • prettier --ignore-unknown skips files Prettier can't parse (images, etc.)
  • The pre-commit runs lint-staged first (fast, staged-only), then full typecheck and tests

Signals

GitHub stars
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Last commit
Sep 2026
Installs
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Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
setup-pre-commit-mattpocock
Source
github.com/mattpocock/skills