🚀 Introducing the New Commit Composer View

[justinrobots]

Currently in GitLens pre-release

Building on the feedback from our initial Commit Composer preview, we're excited to share the next evolution of this feature: the new Commit Composer view that puts you in control of the composition process.

🔄 From Automatic to Interactive

The original Commit Composer preview worked as a streamlined one-step process: send your changes to AI, get back well-formed commits with clear messages, done. While this saved tons of time on commit message writing, it wasn't flexible enough to take custom instructions or allow composed commits to be previewed and modified before committing.

The new Commit Composer view transforms this into a comprehensive drafting and review experience for working changes where you can:

• Preview before committing: See exactly what will be committed before it touches your repository
• Switch Models: Try composition with different AI models
• Guide the AI: Provide custom instructions to match your team's conventions and preferences
• Iterate and refine: Regenerate individual messages or entire commit compositions
• Review and edit: Manually tweak any commit message or approach

✨ What You Can Do in the New View

Before AI Composition

• Preview your changes that will be sent to AI for analysis
• Select your preferred AI model from available providers
• Add custom instructions to guide AI output (e.g., "Follow conventional commits format" or "Keep messages under 50 characters")

After AI Composition

• Review draft commits in an organized list showing what will actually be committed
• Edit commit messages directly in the interface
• Regenerate individual messages using AI with
• Re-compose the entire set if you want to try a different approach with different instructions
• Review code changes for each proposed commit through integrated diffs

Manual Control

• Create commits manually by writing your own messages (or having AI generate them)
• Commit directly from within the Composer view
• Undo or reset at any point in the process

🎯 How to Access the Commit Composer View

You can launch the new Commit Composer view from several places in GitLens:

• GitLens commit details view
• Context menu on the WIP row in the GitLens Commit Graph
• Active branch card in the GitLens Home View
• ✨ icon in the SCM view header
• Command palette: Search for "Compose Commits"

Note: You don't need AI features connected to access the view—you can use it for manual commit composition too. AI features (auto-composition and message generation) will require a connected AI provider.

🔮 What's Coming Next

This new foundation enables exciting features we're planning for future releases:

• Drag-and-drop functionality for moving lines and hunks between draft commits
• Create new draft commits on the fly during the composition process
• Reorder commit sequences
• Recompose existing branches and commits with the same controls

🤝 We Want Your Feedback

This represents a significant evolution of Commit Composer based on your input from the preview. As we continue to refine this feature, we'd love to hear:

• How does the draft-first workflow feel compared to the immediate commit approach?
• What custom instructions are most useful for your team's workflow?
• Are there any gaps in the current composition controls?
• How intuitive is the new interface for your daily Git workflow?
• What future features would be most valuable to you?

🚨 A Note on This Release

This is still marked as PREVIEW as we continue to iterate based on community feedback. The core functionality is solid, but we're actively improving the experience based on how you use it in practice.

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Ready to try the new Commit Composer view? Access it through any of the entry points mentioned above and let us know how it works for your workflow. Your feedback directly shapes how we continue to evolve this feature!

Drop your thoughts, questions, or suggestions in the comments below! 👇