Source Code Management

Commit Message Rules

All commits must have a proper commit message.

A hand-written commit message subject line must conform to the following rules:

• The first line of each commit message is the subject.
• The subject line MUST be less than 87 characters long.
• The subject line MUST NOT terminate with a period (.).
• The subject line MUST start with a change indicator followed by a colon (:).

Change Indicators

This repository uses change indicators as a mix of product-surface labels and maintenance labels. Prefer the most specific product surface when the change is clearly about one Caddy security directive, parser, provider, or runtime path. Use a maintenance label when the change is repository plumbing, documentation, testing, release work, or a bug fix that cuts across multiple surfaces.

Selection rules:

• Use exactly one indicator. Do not combine indicators or add parenthesized scopes.
• Prefer public Caddyfile and module names over internal abbreviations. For example, use authenticate instead of authn, and authorize instead of authz.
• Use caddyfile for parser/adaptation infrastructure that affects several directives, Caddyfile fixture changes, or generic config loading.
• Use provider indicators such as ldap, oauth, or saml only when the change is provider-specific. Use identity when the change is shared by identity stores or identity providers.
• Use breakfix for a reported regression, panic, or shipped behavior that is visibly broken for users. Use fix for narrower correctness fixes that are not tied to a known user breakage.
• Use tests, not unittest, for Go tests, Caddyfile adapt fixtures, and testdata changes whose primary purpose is coverage.
• Use skills for AI agent skills, skill metadata, or agent-facing repository instructions. Prefer it over docs or ops when the primary purpose is helping AI agents work with this repository.
• Use ops for dependency or toolchain version bumps. Use build only when the build behavior itself changes.
• The current Makefile release target creates subjects like released v1.1.62 without a change indicator. Treat that as existing automation behavior, not a template for hand-written commit messages. For hand-written release workflow changes, use ops.
• Use various only when a commit intentionally spans unrelated surfaces and no more specific indicator is honest.
• Normalize older repository labels when creating new messages: use authenticate for authn, authorize for authz, ldap for ids/ldap, local for ids/local, feat for feature, and tests for unittest. Replace misc or chore with a more specific indicator when possible, or ops/various when it is truly general maintenance.
• Use colon form for new dependency bumps, such as ops: go-authcrunch to v1.1.40, even though older history has subjects like upgrade to github.com/greenpau/go-authcrunch v1.1.39.

Use one of these product-surface indicators:

• app: Caddy security app provisioning, lifecycle, config validation, or runtime config resolution
• authenticate: authenticate handler behavior, authentication portals, cookies, crypto, transforms, or authentication Caddyfile directives
• authorize: authorize handler behavior, authorization policies, ACLs, bypass rules, crypto, claim extraction, or header injection
• caddyfile: global security Caddyfile parsing, directive ordering, adapt behavior, parser helpers, or Caddyfile fixtures spanning multiple surfaces
• credentials: credential directives and credentials config
• identity: shared identity store or identity provider behavior
• ldap: LDAP-specific identity store or provider behavior
• local: local identity store or local user behavior
• messaging: messaging directives and messaging config
• oauth: OAuth or OpenID Connect provider behavior
• registration: user registration directives and registration policy behavior
• saml: SAML provider behavior
• secrets: secrets manager directives and secret resolution behavior
• sso: SSO provider directives and single sign-on provider config
• ui: portal UI directives, labels, icons, metadata, themes, or UI assets
• cmd: cmd/authcrunch wrapper behavior

Use one of these maintenance indicators:

• breakfix: reported regression, panic, or user-visible breakage fix
• fix: correctness fix without a known production breakage
• feat: user-facing capability that does not fit a more specific product surface indicator
• docs: documentation-only changes
• tests: test additions, fixture updates, or coverage improvements
• refactor: behavior-preserving code restructuring
• skills: AI agent skills, skill metadata, AGENTS.md, or agent-facing repository instructions
• ops: dependency, Caddy, Go, toolchain, release, version-reference, or repository maintenance changes
• build: Makefile, build output, xcaddy, packaging, or local build behavior
• github: GitHub Actions, issue templates, CLA workflow, or repository GitHub metadata
• security: vulnerability, dependency audit, hardening, or disclosure-policy changes
• various: intentionally mixed changes that do not fit one indicator

The commit message body must contain the following sections in this order:

1. Before this commit:
2. After this commit:
3. Tests:
4. More info:

The body may also contain the following optional sections:

1. Resolves:
2. Partial Resolution:
3. See also:
4. Links:

The following rules apply to the body of a commit message:

• Separate sections with one blank line.
• Each section title MUST end with a colon (:).
• Lines MUST NOT exceed 87 characters, except in Links and More info.
• Use Resolves ONLY when the PR or commit resolves an issue completely.
• Use Partial Resolution when the PR or commit addresses an issue partially.
• Use See also for additional related references.
• Resolves, Partial Resolution, and See also MUST contain valid links.
• Multiple links in those reference sections MUST be separated by comma and space (, ).
• Tests MUST describe the command or manual check performed.
• If no smoke test was run, Tests MUST say not run and include the reason.
• More info MUST summarize the implementation details or notable decisions.

The Links section must contain a list of valid links or references, e.g.:

- Text reference
  - [HTTP link](http://google.com/)

Use this template for commit messages:

indicator: concise subject under 87 characters

Before this commit: describe the previous behavior, limitation, or state.

After this commit: describe the new behavior, implementation, or state.

Tests: describe the command or manual check performed.

More info: summarize important implementation details or decisions.

For example, a commit message may look like this:

docs: add contributing guidance

Before this commit: the repository had no guidance related to open-source
contributions.

After this commit: contribution guidance is documented in `CONTRIBUTING.md`.

Tests: reviewed the rendered Markdown manually.

More info: added a focused contributor workflow and repository etiquette notes.

Commit Message File Workflow

When asked to "create commit message for the change", create a file in tmp/commits and place the commit message in that file. Commit message files in tmp/commits are working artifacts and should not be committed unless explicitly requested. Prefix the file name with YYYYMMDD_HHMM_ prefix.