commit-messageslisted

# Commit messages A commit message is documentation with a captive audience: everyone who ever runs `git blame` on this line. Write for the person debugging at 2 a.m. two years from now. ## Method 1. **One change per commit.** If the diff mixes a bug fix with a rename and a formatting pass, split it before writing anything. A message cannot be honest about three changes at once. 2. **Subject line: imperative, ≤ 50 characters, no trailing period.** "Fix stale cache on user switch", not "Fixed some caching issues". The test: the subject completes the sentence *"If applied, this commit will …"*. 3. **Body: the why, not the what.** The diff already shows what changed. The body carries what the diff cannot: why this approach, what else was tried, what breaks without it, which trade-off was accepted. Wrap at 72 characters. A one-line body beats a missing one: "Without this, deleting a notebook left its documents in search results." 4. **Reference, don't recount.** Link the issue or incident instead of restating it; state behavior instead of narrating your afternoon. 5. **Never write these subjects:** "fix", "wip", "updates", "address comments", "more changes". Each is a hole in history exactly where someone will need a rope. ## Litmus tests - Could a reviewer decide whether to cherry-pick this commit onto a release branch from the message alone? - Does the message still make sense with no access to the pull request, the chat thread, or y