git-ca 0.2.3

git plugin that drafts commit messages using GitHub Copilot
git-ca-0.2.3 is not a library.

git-ca

git-ca is a Git subcommand that drafts commit messages and pull request text using either GitHub Copilot or the OpenAI Codex (ChatGPT) backend. It reads git diff --cached for commits, or branch changes for PRs, asks the configured backend for a draft, opens the result in your editor by default, and then lets Git or GitHub CLI finish the action.

Installation

Option 1 (recommended): Install from crates.io or main stream package managers:

cargo install git-ca
brew install hankcraft/tap/git-ca
npm install -g @hankcraft/git-ca
bun install -g @hankcraft/git-ca
npx @hankcraft/git-ca --help
bunx @hankcraft/git-ca --help

Option 2: Install from this checkout:

cargo install --path .

To make git ca --help resolve through Git's man-page help path from a checkout install, also run:

install -D -m 0644 docs/man/git-ca.1 ~/.local/share/man/man1/git-ca.1

Quick Start

Use git-ca when you have local changes and want a reviewed AI draft before committing or opening a PR.

Prerequisites:

  • Git
  • GitHub Copilot access or a ChatGPT account for the Codex backend
  • GitHub CLI (gh) for PR creation
git ca auth login
git add <files>
git ca

For pull requests:

git ca pr

Key Features

  • Drafts Conventional Commits messages from staged changes.
  • Drafts PR title/body text from branch diffs or commit logs and creates PRs with gh.
  • Supports GitHub Copilot and OpenAI Codex (ChatGPT) backends, with model selection.
  • Opens generated text in your editor by default, with --yes / -y for direct commit or PR creation.
  • Supports multiple AI provider accounts, with token persistence and swapping.

Commands

Command Description
git ca Draft a message for staged changes and run git commit -e -F <message>
git ca pr Draft a PR title/body from current branch changes and run gh pr create
git ca pr --base <branch> Compare the current branch against a specific PR base branch
git ca pr --source commits Draft PR text from commit messages instead of the branch diff
git ca --model <id>, git ca -m <id> Use a specific backend model for this command
git ca --yes, git ca -y Accept generated text without opening the editor; for PRs this creates the PR directly
git ca --no-verify Pass --no-verify through to git commit
git ca auth login Prompt for backend on a TTY, then log in (defaults to Copilot when stdin is not a TTY)
git ca auth login <account> Same prompt behavior, then store credentials for the named account
git ca auth login --provider codex [account] Log in via ChatGPT OAuth (PKCE) for a Codex account
git ca auth set-token <token> Store a GitHub token manually as the default active account (Copilot only)
git ca auth set-token --account <account> <token> Store a GitHub token manually for a named Copilot account
git ca auth use <account> Select the named account; the active account decides the backend
git ca auth logout Delete locally stored tokens
git ca auth logout <account> Delete locally stored tokens for one named account
git ca auth status Show local auth state, active account's provider, and per-provider token state
git ca models List available models for the active account's backend
git ca config list Print all persisted config values
git ca config set-model <id> Persist the default model
git ca config get-model Print the persisted default model
`git ca config set-auto-accept <true false>`
git ca config get-auto-accept Print the persisted commit auto-accept setting
`git ca config set-auto-accept-pr <true false>`
git ca config get-auto-accept-pr Print the persisted PR auto-accept setting

auth logout only removes local credentials. Revoke the OAuth grant separately from GitHub account settings if the server-side grant should be invalidated.

Authentication Notes

git ca auth login prompts for a backend on a TTY and defaults to Copilot when stdin is piped or running in CI. Copilot supports GitHub device flow or manual token storage with git ca auth set-token <github-token>. Codex uses ChatGPT OAuth with a loopback callback on 127.0.0.1:1455 or fallback :1457.

Copilot Request Accounting

GitHub Copilot request accounting depends on both plan and model. GitHub's documentation is the source of truth because included models and multipliers can change: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/billing/copilot-requests#model-multipliers

Configuration Files

git-ca stores configuration under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git-ca when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, otherwise under ~/.config/git-ca:

~/.config/git-ca/config.json
~/.config/git-ca/auth.json
~/.config/git-ca/commit-system-prompt.md
~/.config/git-ca/pr-system-prompt.md

On Unix, the config directory is set to 0700 and JSON files are written with 0600 permissions.

Available configuration keys in config.json:

  • default_model: The default model to use for git ca and git ca pr.
  • auto_accept: Whether to automatically accept generated commit messages.
  • auto_accept_pr: Whether to automatically accept generated PR messages.

System prompt overrides

To replace the built-in system prompts, manually create or edit these files:

  • ~/.config/git-ca/commit-system-prompt.md for git ca.
  • ~/.config/git-ca/pr-system-prompt.md for git ca pr.

When XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, use $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git-ca/ instead of ~/.config/git-ca/. Missing files are ignored. Empty or unreadable files print a warning and fall back to the built-in prompt. Custom PR prompts must still ask the model to return JSON with title and body.

Development

See docs/development.md for architecture, runtime flow, release flow, backend caveats, and local development checks.