rsyslog_commit

This skill standardizes the final step of the development workflow: committing and contributing.

Quick Start

1. Format First: For C/H changes, agents MUST run devtools/format-code.sh --git-changed to rewrite formatting when needed.
2. Commit Message: Follow the 62/72 rule and the mandatory "Why" structure.
3. Attribution: Include the AI-Agent footer.

Detailed Instructions

1. Pre-Commit Checklist

• Code Style: Agents MUST run devtools/format-code.sh --git-changed if any .c or .h files were modified and formatting may need to be applied. This is mandatory for C source changes before commit. For a read-only local validation gate, agents MUST run devtools/format-code.sh --git-changed --check --check-if-available; this skips with a warning if the exact configured clang-format executable is not installed. CI will not pass with improperly formatted C/H code; a missing local formatter is only a local tooling limitation, not permission to skip formatting.
• Python Style: If Python files changed and pycodestyle is installed, run devtools/format-python.sh <changed-python-files>. Use devtools/format-python.sh --fix <changed-python-files> only when you intentionally want autopep8 rewrites. If the tools are missing, suggest installing them (sudo apt-get install -y pycodestyle python3-autopep8 on Debian/Ubuntu) but do not block unrelated build or test validation. The shared 120-column style configuration lives in setup.cfg; review autopep8 output carefully for legacy Python-2-style scripts.
• Local Preflight Linters: Before heavier validation or opening/updating a PR, run useful diff-scoped linters when installed: shellcheck for changed *.sh, checkbashisms -p for changed scripts that claim POSIX sh portability, devtools/format-python.sh --check-if-available for changed Python, actionlint and pinned zizmor for changed workflows, hadolint for changed Dockerfiles, trivy config for changed infrastructure/config files, and jscpd for larger changed source/test sets. Guard optional commands with command -v; if a tool is missing, suggest installing it but do not block unrelated build or test validation. On Debian/Ubuntu, checkbashisms is provided by devscripts. Do not run cppcheck routinely unless requested; it is too noisy for the rsyslog tree.
• Validation: Ensure the relevant build/test path passed. For PR-ready implementation work, prefer the local container-testing skill's change-gated validation over unconditional full-suite local runs.
  • Late Prompt Audits: For non-trivial C/H, concurrency, or test/build plumbing changes, follow the local container-testing skill's late prompt-audit stage. Read and apply the project's canned prompts directly; do not launch another AI CLI from repository scripts.
  • Optional AI Review: Local Cubic review may provide useful additional feedback when cubic is installed and reachable, especially for non-trivial code, test, workflow, build, or tooling changes. It is not a required validation gate. Hosted Cubic/Gemini PR comments likewise provide supplemental review feedback and must be considered when present.
  • Container Gate: For implementation changes, run the rsyslog_local_container_testing skill's PR-ready change-gated local container sequence when container tooling is available. Focused run-ci.sh TEST=... commands are targeted container tests, not PR-ready local container validation unless that skill explicitly permits the reduced lane.
  • Mock Smoke Check: If you added or renamed test files, run make distcheck TEST_RUN_TYPE=MOCK-OK -j$(nproc) as a final distribution check.
  • Note: If you already successfully built and tested your changes immediately before formatting, you do NOT need to re-run the build/test cycle. Formatting is a normalization step and does not affect functionality. A read-only formatting check is already part of the deterministic local validation helper for changed C/H files.

2. Commit Message Structure

Rsyslog requires rich, structured commit messages (plain ASCII).

• Title: <component>: <action> (Max 62 characters).
• Body: Max 72 characters per line.
• GitHub Issues: Use full URLs (e.g., https://github.com/rsyslog/rsyslog/issues/883) instead of shorthand #883.
• Mandatory Sections:
  • Why: Brief non-technical rationale.
  • Impact: One line if behavior/tests changed.
  • Before/After: One-line summary.
  • Technical Overview: 4–12 lines describing the change conceptually.
• AI Footer: With the help of AI-Agents: <agent-name>

3. Using the Assistant

• Offline/Agents: Use the base prompt at ai/rsyslog_commit_assistant/base_prompt.txt.
• Web: rsyslog.com/tool_rsyslog-commit-assistant

4. Branching & PRs

• Base Branch: Always target main.
• Naming: i-<issue-number> or <agent-name>-i-<issue-number>.
• Target: PRs must target rsyslog/rsyslog directly.

Related Skills

• rsyslog_build: To verify the code before committing.
• rsyslog_test: To provide validation metrics for the commit message.