Validate squash commit message

Question

Hi guys,

Is it possible to validate commit messages that you write on merge from bitbucket UI?

The idea is that I would like to use conventional commits so I can generate a proper changelog using semantic release.

The problem is that we squash our commits on merge and the developer should provide a new message when we "squash merge" feature into the dev branch.

I want somehow ensure that this message is in a proper format that can be later used by "semantic release" to generate the changelog.

Is there any way to do this?

Aron Gombas _Midori_ · Answer

The Better Commit Policy app provides a custom merge check that can check if commit messages match a given regex. Plus, you can set up a regex to enforce the conventional commits format.

So far so good.

In your workflow the question is the timing. If I understood correctly, you squash while merging, and I am not sure if Bitbucket invokes the merge checks before or after your developer entered the commit message for the squashed commit.

It is definitely worth a test:

* if the custom check is invoked after the message was entered
* if the custom check receives the commit message so that it can validate it
* if the custom check can effectively reject merging the PR (note that custom merge checks can be made mandatory only using the Bitbucket premium plan)

(Discl. this app is developed and supported by our team.)

Theodora Boudale · Answer

Hi Viktor and welcome to the community!

I'm afraid that this is not possible at the moment, as Bitbucket Cloud doesn't support pre-receive hooks that would allow you to configure this. We have a feature request about this in our issue tracker:

* https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/BCLOUD-10471

I would suggest adding your vote and a comment with your use case to that feature request to express your interest. You can also add yourself as a watcher (by selecting the Start watching this issue link) if you'd like to get notified via email on updates.

Implementation of new features is done as per our policy here and any updates will be posted in the feature request.

We also have another feature request for the ability to customize the PR default commit message, although this concerns providing a template rather than enforcing it:

* https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/BCLOUD-12918

Kind regards,
Theodora