Commit messages

Commit messages, also known as CL (changelist) descriptions, should be formatted per https://tip.golang.org/doc/contribute.html#commit_messages . For example,

net/http: frob the quux before blarfing

[longer description here in the body]

Fixes #nnnn

Notably, for the subject (the first line of description):

• the name of the package affected by the change goes before the colon
• the part after the colon uses the verb tense + phrase that completes the blank in, “This change modifies Go to ___________”
• the verb after the colon is lowercase
• there is no trailing period
• it should be kept as short as possible (many git viewing tools prefer under ~76 characters, though Go isn't super strict about this).

For the body (the rest of the description):

• the text should be wrapped to ~76 characters (to appease git viewing tools, mainly), unless you really need longer lines (e.g. for ASCII art, tables, or long links)
• the Fixes/Updates line goes after the body with a blank newline separating the two
• there is no Markdown in the commit message
• we do not use Signed-off-by lines. Don't add them. Our Gerrit server & GitHub bots enforce CLA compliance instead.

If it's not a complete fix and more is coming, use:

Updates #nnnn

instead of Fixes. Don't use the other GitHub-supported verbs.

Other repos

For non-“go” repos (“crypto”, “tools”, “net”, etc), the subject is still the name of the package, but you need to fully-qualify the issue number with the GitHub org/repo syntax:

cipher/rot13: add new super secure cipher

Fixes golang/go#1234

Notably, the first line subject should not contain the x/crypto/ prefix. We only do that for the issue tracker.

Non-normative references

• Please heed my plea and write good CL descriptions for Go—and for any other project you work on.
• The CL description is a public document that explains to the future what has been done and why.

GitHub Pull Requests

If you‘re using GitHub Pull Requests, your commit message is constructed by GerritBot based on your PR’s title & description. See https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/GerritBot#how-does-gerritbot-determine-the-final-commit-message

If somebody asks you to modify your commit message, you'll need to modify your PR.