Leveraging GitHub Copilot for Git commits

I would never call myself an early adopter when it comes to software trends, and one of those trends I’m admittedly behind on is AI integrations in my toolset. I do have access to GitHub Copilot via work, and I recognize it’s been free for everyone for a while now, but I’m all about gradual adoption when it comes to new things. Some people try stuff by tossing out their entire kit and diving into the new tools headlong. I dip my toes in to make sure it’s not too shallow.

That gradual adoption has helped me spot a lot about AI integration I’m not thrilled about, but also many smaller things that I can appreciate. Case in point: I recently learned GitHub Copilot can suggest commit messages. It’s smaller features like this that help me improve my workflow and draw me to AI more than being told to use it outright.

Normally, I’d advocate that it’s a good practice to commit often, and I stand by writing informative commit messages about the intent, not the content, of the commit. However, I’d be lying if I said I never wrote a bunch of code, only to look back and start picking through files to determine which files match with what and how to group them best in case of a reversion. I posit that’s one of the better curb-cut uses of the feature: identify what I did and summarize it for me so I can either improve on the message or commit it in the meantime.

Either way, it sure beats my commit history being a mix of:

• “Changes"
• "Fix a typo"
• "Remove a comment,” and
• ”Please work now”

Oh, and before I’m labeled an AI doubter, or worse, not a team player, I’m not saying I’d never use tools like Cursor or that I’d never vibe code. Normalizing on a set of tools is normal for an organization, and it’s a practice companies exercised before AI was a thing. I’m simply taking my time to bring it into my personal workflows.