Generate Commit Messages Immediately After Staging with a Git add Wrapper and AI

Automate commit message generation after git add: a wrapper CLI reads the staged diff, suggests a message, confirms and commits—no post-add hook needed.

Automating commit message generation right after staging files is a common wish: you run git add, your tool grabs the staged diff, drafts a message, asks for approval, and, upon confirmation, commits. The sticking point is timing. Built-in Git hooks like pre-commit run before git commit, not after git add, and there is no hook that fires post-add. The practical path is to wrap git add in a small CLI that immediately performs the rest of the flow.

What we want to automate

The target developer experience is straightforward: stage changes, automatically generate a message from the staged diff, confirm, and commit.

git add myfile.js

At this point nothing in Git natively triggers. That’s why a lightweight wrapper around git add is the simplest way to run your message generator immediately after staging.

Why hooks don’t fit here

There is no Git hook that runs after git add. Suggestions to use pre-commit do not match the requirement because that hook runs before git commit. You can plug your generator into prepare-commit-msg if you don’t mind running at commit time, or even commit files directly with git commit files... and rely on normal hooks. But if the goal is to act right after staging, a custom CLI or alias is the natural fit.

The minimal CLI approach

Create a tiny shell script that first stages the files you pass to it, then inspects the staged diff, feeds it to your AI message generator, shows the suggestion, asks for confirmation, and commits on approval. Save the script into your $PATH under a name you like (for example, gitadd), make it executable, and use it instead of calling git add directly.

#!/bin/bash
git add "$@"
staged_delta=$(git diff --cached)
suggested_msg=$(echo "$staged_delta" | your_ai_commit_generator)
echo "Suggested commit message:"
echo "$suggested_msg"
read -p "Use this commit message? (y/n): " user_choice
if [[ "$user_choice" == "y" ]]; then
  git commit -m "$suggested_msg"
else
  echo "Commit canceled."
fi

Place this file somewhere on your PATH, for instance as gitadd, and grant execute permission.

chmod +x gitadd

From there, call it the same way you’d stage files, and it will take care of the rest.

gitadd myfile.js

How it works

The script keeps the flow you want without relying on a nonexistent post-add hook. It forwards any file arguments to git add, then uses git diff --cached to retrieve exactly what’s staged. That diff is piped into your_ai_commit_generator, which returns a proposed message. The script prints the suggestion, prompts for a simple y/n decision, and, only if approved, runs git commit -m with the generated text.

When to use a hook instead

If you are comfortable running the generator at commit time, wire it into prepare-commit-msg. That hook is explicitly designed to prepare the commit message before the editor opens or a message is finalized. Otherwise, keep the wrapper approach and trigger generation immediately after staging.

Why this matters

This pattern gives you the speed boost and message quality you’re after while staying within Git’s model. No need to wait for a post-add hook that doesn’t exist. A thin CLI lets you work exactly at the moment you stage changes and keeps your commit step a quick confirmation away.

Takeaways

Don’t look for a hook that fires after git add; there isn’t one. Either plug the generator into prepare-commit-msg to run at commit time or wrap git add in a small command that stages, reads the cached diff, proposes a message, and commits on your confirmation. Keep the script on your PATH, mark it executable, and use it as your new muscle memory for staging and committing with an AI-assisted message.