How to tell BitBucket Cloud not to shorten commit messages in Slack?

[rdouma]

Until now we've been using webhooks to get commit notifications in Slack. They work fine but I wanted to try the BitBucket Cloud application, due to simpler setup and advanced features. However, it shortens messages, how do I turn that off?

[Tim Pettersen]

Hi @rdouma, @Janne Husberg & @Mathieu Cruts,

I'm the lead for the Bitbucket Cloud for Slack project — thanks for your feedback!

We currently limit the commit message length to the first 50 characters of the first line of the commit. This was based on the 50/72 rule used for commit messages in large open source projects like the Linux kernel and the Git project itself, and also to minimize the chance of messages wrapping in the Slack UI.

However we've received a large amount of feedback from teams (like yourselves) that commonly use longer commit messages and would like to see more of the message in Slack. So we've decided to increase this limit to the first 200 characters of the first line of the commit. Does that sound reasonable?

cheers,

Tim

[Mathieu Cruts]

Hi @Tim Pettersen

Thank you very much for the support! This will be perfect for our needs.

BR

[rdouma]

Hi @Tim Pettersen, thanks for coming back on this. Much better than the 50 char limit of course, but personally I'd prefer no clipping at all. I don't care if lines wrap. Alternatively maybe make it an option?

[Tim Pettersen]

Hi @rdouma, thanks for the feedback. We do have to impose a limit of some kind due to platform restrictions, but we'll monitor how often we're truncating and revisit if needed. We can potentially add a config option, but I'm loathe to introduce them unless absolutely necessary due to the UX and implementation complexity they introduce.

[rdouma]

Ok @Tim Pettersen, I do understand your hesitation surrounding config options. Like I said; 200 is better than 50. Maybe 1000 is better than 200, I don't know yet ;-)

[Janne Husberg]

Thanks @Tim Pettersen!

[Seppo Korpelainen]

What is the reasoning for using only the first line of the commit message?

We usually have several fixes in same commit, or at least they are associated with several modules and would like to keep these changes together. 
In commit message the module's changes are each in separate line.

Now we can see only the first line.

[rdouma]

I know @Seppo Korpelainen ... Maybe some extra voices here will help convince Atlassian that this would be better without clipping.

[malabyan]

Hi @Tim Pettersen I've just encountered the same issue with the commit message being cropped to 50 characters in the integration of BitBucket and Jira automation. Was that decision on cropping 200+ symbols only for Slack? 

[Christopher Toh]

This happens for GitHub integration as well. This is extremely annoying if you also have a tendency to add gitmojis into the beginning part of your commit message ALONG with a Jira ID so something like :construction_worker: JIRA-12345 is already 32 of your 50 characters.

[rdouma]

Ok, I've been playing a while, but for me it doesn't serve its purpose. If I post a commit to Slack I want to see it all, not clipped at some arbitrary length. Compare the two presentations below for the same commit. I hope it's clear the first is preferable. So although I like the look & feel of BitBucket Cloud, I'm going to switch it off and keep using the original solution that doesn't clip.

Good luck with the plugin!

[robsumo]

The integration I used prior to Bitbucket Cloud was one that used Slack webhooks but there were some issues with that (missing notifications) so on advice from Atlassian support I moved to your Bitbucket Cloud integration. 

This issue, of the comment being too short, is a backward step. With the old integration it would display about 380 chars and with a "show more" link. Click that link and you got the entire message along with "show less".

I'd like that functionality please - because it's the "Right thing to do"®

There's obvious use cases - I get notifications on my phone of commits which I can evaluate completely in Slack without clicking through to Bitbucket - very convenient. Also, we have some admin team members who can see our Slack #commit channel but do not have a bitbucket login - this is good!

[robsumo]

Also, I'm not aware of an "issue" with messages wrapping in the Slack UI - let them wrap - and please give me the entire commit message - thanks. 

[rdouma]

Did you try it recently @robsumo? Because we're not seeing these shortened messages anymore.

[robsumo]

Hi @rdouma - yes - I only started using the integration yesterday and I'm seeing truncation at 200 chars (is that what you mean by "shortened messages"?). I need to see the entire message.

[rdouma]

Ok, for us they generally fit now. I agree I don't see the reason for truncation in the first place.

[Ana Retamal]

Hi Remco! Are you using this integration? If so, it's been created by Slack, so it would be a better idea to contact them and ask if there's a way to show the full commit message when using their integration. 

Hope that helps!

Ana

[rdouma]

Hi Ana, I'm referring to this integration. According to Slack it's made by you!

So the top one is the one made by Slack and I'm looking at replacing it with yours it seems, but the clipped commit messages are a bit of a dealbreaker for me.

[rdouma]

Did you see my answer @Ana Retamal?

[Mathieu Cruts]

I am experiencing the exact same issue.

[rdouma]

At least I'm not alone @Mathieu Cruts! Let's hope @Ana Retamal will respond again...

[Janne Husberg]

Same here, what's the ETA on an update?