What The Commit CLI

whatthecommit.com but local.

Installation

cargo install whatthecommitcli

Usage

Default

Generate a random commit message using built-in defaults:

whatthecommitcli

Use it directly with git:

git commit -m "$(whatthecommitcli)"

Options

Usage: whatthecommitcli [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -n, --names <FILE>                     Optional path to a custom names file
  -c, --commit-messages-template <FILE>  Optional path to a custom commit messages template file
  -h, --help                             Print help
  -V, --version                          Print version

Template String Instructions

The commit message templates support various placeholders that get replaced with dynamic values:

Name Placeholders

Names are randomly selected from the names file and substituted in three formats:

• XNAMEX - Replaces with the name as-is (e.g., "John")
• XLOWERNAMEX - Replaces with lowercase version (e.g., "john")
• XUPPERNAMEX - Replaces with uppercase version (e.g., "JOHN")

Number Placeholders (XNUM...X)

Generate random numbers within specified ranges. The parser supports multiple formats:

Basic Formats

• XNUMX - Random number from 1 to 999 (default)
• XNUM10X - Random number from 1 to 10
• XNUM100X - Random number from 1 to 100
• XNUM1000X - Random number from 1 to 1000

Range Syntax (using comma)

Commas are used to specify custom ranges:

• XNUM1,5X - Random number from 1 to 5
• XNUM,5X - Random number from 1 to 5 (start defaults to 1)
• XNUM5,X - Random number from 5 to 999 (end defaults to 999)
• XNUM10,20X - Random number from 10 to 20

Note: If start > end in a range, the end is automatically adjusted to start × 2.

Examples

Template strings can combine multiple placeholders:

"XNAMEX fixed XNUM50X bugs"          → "Alice fixed 7 bugs"
"blame it on XLOWERNAMEX"            → "blame it on john"
"XUPPERNAMEX BROKE THE BUILD AGAIN"  → "BOB BROKE THE BUILD AGAIN"
"Improved performance by XNUMX%"     → "Improved performance by 42%"
"XNAMEX deleted XNUM1000X lines"     → "Sarah deleted 834 lines"
"Fixed XNUM1,5X critical issues"     → "Fixed 3 critical issues"

Custom Template Files

You can create your own template files with one template per line:

Custom Commit Messages Template

Create a file with commit message templates (one per line):

# my-commits.txt
XNAMEX made things XNUM10X% better
Fixed XNUM1,100X bugs that XLOWERNAMEX introduced
XUPPERNAMEX DEMANDS THIS COMMIT
Reverted XNAMEX's last XNUM5X commits
Made the code XNUM42,X% more readable

Use it with:

whatthecommitcli -c my-commits.txt

Custom Names File

Create a file with names (one per line):

# my-names.txt
Alice
Bob
Charlie
Diana
Eve

Use it with:

whatthecommitcli -n my-names.txt

Combining Both

whatthecommitcli -n my-names.txt -c my-commits.txt

License

Dual-licensed under Apache 2.0 or MIT.

The default commit messages and names are sourced from https://github.com/ngerakines/commitment.