Usage

noto makes generating commit messages effortless. Here's everything you need to know.

Generating Commits

Basic Usage

Stage your changes and run noto:

git add .
noto

noto analyzes your staged changes, generates a commit message in an interactive editor, and commits the changes automatically.

Preview Mode

Preview the generated message without committing:

git add .
noto -p # or --preview

Copy to Clipboard

Copy the message to clipboard:

git add .
noto -c # or --copy

Working with Previous Messages

Reuse Previous Message

Retrieve and commit with the last generated commit message (default behavior):

noto prev

The command will prompt you to edit the message before committing. Use with flags:

noto prev -p  # Preview without committing or editing
noto prev -c  # Copy previous message

Amend Previous Commit

Amend your last commit with the previously generated message:

noto prev --amend

The command will prompt you to edit the message before amending (unless --preview is used).

Note: When using --preview, the message is shown without prompting for editing. Without --preview, the command will prompt you to edit the message before committing (or amending).

Project Setup

Initialize Custom Prompts

Create a custom commit prompt for your project:

noto init

noto will interactively ask where to create the file and whether to generate guidelines from your commit history.

Available flags:

  • --root - Create the prompt file in the git root
  • --generate - Generate prompt from existing commits (requires 5+ commits)

Examples:

noto init --root              # Create in git root
noto init --generate          # Generate from commits
noto init --root --generate   # Both options

Note: Learn more about custom prompts in Configuration.

Branch Management

Switch Branches

noto checkout

Create New Branch

noto checkout -b feat/new-feature

Upgrading noto

Check for Updates

Upgrade to the latest version:

noto upgrade

Specific Version Types

Upgrade to stable or beta versions:

noto upgrade --stable  # Latest stable version
noto upgrade --beta    # Latest beta version

All Available Flags

Commit generation:

  • -p, --preview - Preview the generated message without committing
  • -c, --copy - Copy the message to clipboard
  • -m, --message - Provide context for the commit message
  • -f, --force - Bypass cache and force regeneration of commit message
  • --push - Commit and push the changes
  • --manual - Write a custom commit message manually

Previous message:

  • -p, --preview - Preview the previous message without committing or editing (for noto prev)
  • -c, --copy - Copy the previous message to clipboard (for noto prev)
  • --amend - Amend the previous commit (with noto prev)

Initialization:

  • --root - Create prompt file in git root
  • --generate - Generate prompt from existing commits

Upgrade:

  • --stable - Upgrade to the latest stable version
  • --beta - Upgrade to the latest beta version

Quick Examples

# Quick commit (default behavior)
git add .
noto
 
# Preview message without committing
noto -p
 
# Commit and push
noto --push
 
# Provide context for the commit
noto -m "fixing authentication bug"
 
# Force regenerate (bypass cache)
noto -f
 
# Write manual commit message
noto --manual
 
# Copy for manual use
noto -c
 
# Reuse previous (commits by default)
noto prev
 
# Preview previous message
noto prev -p
 
# Amend last commit
noto prev --amend
 
# Set up custom prompts
noto init --root --generate

Tip: Need to configure API keys or models? Check out Configuration for setup instructions. Using custom commit prompts? noto automatically uses your .noto/commit-prompt.md file.

Note: noto caches generated commit messages based on your git diff. If you run noto multiple times with the same staged changes, it will reuse the cached response to save time and API costs. Use the -f or --force flag to bypass the cache and force regeneration.

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