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How It Works

Inky analyzes your commit diffs and generates improved commit messages using Claude CLI. It rewrites your message to follow conventional commit format, adds structured Summary: and Test Plan: sections, and amends the commit automatically. When you run Inky, it:
  1. Validates the working directory is clean and you’re not on the main branch
  2. Reads the current commit message and diff
  3. Checks that the diff is non-empty — Inky won’t process empty commits
  4. Sends both to Claude CLI with instructions for generating a better message
  5. Amends the commit with the improved message
  6. Tags the commit with #inky for tracking
Inky uses the diff to understand what changed, then writes a message explaining what and why rather than restating the code.

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Usage

Run Inky through the Lift CLI, either isolated or as part of the full pipeline: 
# Run only Inky
lift -m

# Run the full pipeline (Inky runs first, then Doc)
lift

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Cleanup Mode

Cleanup mode replaces the commit message with a placeholder instead of generating a new one. This is useful when you want to reset a commit message before re-running the pipeline: 
lift -m -c
The placeholder message is set to "please wait: finding something to put here..." and the commit is still tagged with #inky.

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Generated Message Format

Inky generates messages that follow these conventions:
  • Summary line under 72 characters
  • Conventional commit prefix when appropriate (feat:, fix:, refactor:, etc.)
  • Present tense (“Add feature” not “Added feature”)
  • Summary and Test Plan sections included in the body
  • Existing hashtags preserved (like #inky, #doc)
If Inky determines your existing message is already good, it may keep it mostly as-is rather than rewriting it.

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Flags

These flags are passed to Lift and apply when Inky runs:
FlagDescription
-mRun only Inky (skip other tools)
-t NUMPrepend a task number to the commit message (e.g., TAHO-123:)
-cCleanup mode — set a placeholder message instead of generating
-qQuiet mode — suppress progress indicators
The task prefix defaults to TAHO and can be overridden via the inky.task_prefix config setting.

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VCS Support

Inky works with both Git and Sapling, detected automatically. See VCS Support for details.