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name: atomic-commits description: Analyzes git changesets to create atomic, non-breaking, incremental commits. Use when you have multiple changes in the working directory and need to commit them in logical, independent steps that "just work".

Atomic Commits

This skill guides the process of creating atomic git commits from an existing changeset.

Core Principle

"The goal is that every commit just works - so you need to commit features in a non-breaking, incremental way."

Workflow

1. Analyze Changes

   • Examine the current status with git status.
   • Review diffs with git diff to understand all pending changes.

2. Plan Atomic Commits

   • Group changes into logical units.
   • Rule: Dependencies must be committed before dependents.
   • Rule: Each commit must be self-contained and non-breaking.
   • Rule: Tests (if present and relevant) should ideally pass after each commit.

3. Execute

   • Stage specific files or hunks using git add (or git add -p for partial file staging).
   • Commit with a clear, descriptive message explaining why the change was made, not just what changed.
   • Repeat until the working directory is clean (or only contains changes meant for a later batch).

Example Scenario

Context: You have modified a backend API, updated the frontend to use the new API, and added a new dependency in package.json.

Bad Approach: git commit -am "update api and frontend" (Too large, mixes concerns).

Atomic Approach:

1. git add package.json package-lock.json -> Commit: "Add axios dependency" (Safe, pre-requisite).
2. git add backend/api.py -> Commit: "Update API endpoint to support user filtering" (Backend works independently).
3. git add frontend/UserList.js -> Commit: "Connect frontend to new user filtering API" (Frontend uses the now-available API).