AI-powered conventional commit message generator from staged git changes.

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What is cwai?

cwai is a command-line tool that writes git commit messages for you. It looks at your staged changes (git add), sends them to an AI model, and generates a clear, well-formatted Conventional Commits message. You can accept it, edit it, or ask for a new one. All you need is an API key from any OpenAI-compatible provider.

Features

• Generates Conventional Commits messages from git diff
• Works with any OpenAI-compatible API (OpenAI, Anthropic, local models)
• Two modes: interactive standalone or silent prepare-commit-msg hook
• Structured output support for consistent formatting
• Smart diff truncation to fit model token limits

Prerequisites

• Git installed and available in your terminal

• API key from one of these providers (or any OpenAI-compatible API):

  Provider	Get your key
  OpenAI	https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
  OpenRouter	https://openrouter.ai/keys
  DeepSeek	https://platform.deepseek.com/api_keys

  You can also use local models via Ollama or LM Studio — no API key needed, just point CWAI_API_URL to your local server.

Installation

Quick install (Linux / macOS)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nikmd1306/cwai/main/install.sh | bash

To install to a custom directory:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nikmd1306/cwai/main/install.sh | bash -s -- -b ~/.local/bin

Note: The default install path /usr/local/bin requires sudo. If you prefer to install without sudo, use ~/.local/bin and make sure it's in your PATH:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

For zsh, replace ~/.bashrc with ~/.zshrc.

go install

Requires Go 1.23+.

go install github.com/nikmd1306/cwai@latest

Note: Ensure $(go env GOPATH)/bin is in your PATH:

export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"

Windows

Download the Windows zip from Releases, extract cwai.exe, and add its folder to your PATH. Or, if you have Go installed:

go install github.com/nikmd1306/cwai@latest

Binary releases

Download pre-built binaries from Releases.

From source

git clone https://github.com/nikmd1306/cwai.git
cd cwai
make install

Quick Start

1. Set up your API key (one-time):

   cwai setup

   The wizard will ask for your API key, provider URL, model, and language. See Prerequisites for where to get an API key.

2. Stage your changes:

   git add .

3. Generate a commit message:

   cwai

   cwai will show the staged files, generate a message, and let you accept, edit, regenerate, or cancel.

Tip: Use cwai -y to auto-accept the generated message (useful in CI/scripts).

Standalone mode

$ cwai
Staged files (3):
  internal/ai/client.go
  internal/prompt/prompt.go
  cmd/root.go

Generated commit message:

  feat(ai): add structured output support for commit generation

[y]es / [e]dit / [r]egenerate / [n]o:

Hook mode

cwai hook set    # Install prepare-commit-msg hook
cwai hook unset  # Remove hook

Configuration

Config file: ~/.cwai (INI format). Use cwai config set KEY VALUE or cwai setup.

Essential settings

Key	Description	Default
CWAI_API_KEY	API key from your provider (required)	not set
CWAI_API_URL	Base URL of the AI API	https://api.openai.com/v1
CWAI_MODEL	Model to use for generation	gpt-5-mini
CWAI_LANGUAGE	Commit message language (ISO 639-1: en, de, fr, es, ...)	en

Advanced settings

Key	Description	Default
CWAI_MAX_TOKENS_INPUT	Max input tokens for diff (higher = more context, more cost)	4096
CWAI_MAX_TOKENS_OUTPUT	Max output tokens for response	500
CWAI_TEMPERATURE	Sampling temperature (0.0 = deterministic, 1.0 = creative)	not set
CWAI_REASONING_EFFORT	Reasoning effort for reasoning models (low, medium, high)	not set
CWAI_VERBOSITY	Output verbosity level	not set
CWAI_STRUCTURED_OUTPUT	Enable structured JSON output (true/false)	not set

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Solution
CWAI_API_KEY is not set	No API key configured	Run cwai setup or cwai config set CWAI_API_KEY <your-key>
API error (HTTP 401)	Invalid or expired API key	Regenerate your key at your provider's dashboard
API error (HTTP 429)	Rate limit exceeded	Wait a moment and try again, or upgrade your API plan
no staged changes	Nothing added to git staging area	Run git add <files> before running cwai
not a git repository	cwai was run outside a git repo	Navigate to a git repository first (cd your-project)
cwai: command not found	Binary not in PATH	See Installation for PATH setup instructions

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and guidelines.

License

MIT