git-commit: add a prepare-commit-msg hook

The prepare-commit-msg hook is run whenever a "fresh" commit message
is prepared, just before it is shown in the editor (if it is).
Its purpose is to modify the commit message in-place.

It takes one to three parameters.  The first is the name of the file that
the commit log message.  The second is the source of the commit message,
and can be: "message" (if a -m or -F option was given); "template" (if a
-t option was given or the configuration option commit.template is set);
"merge" (if the commit is a merge or a .git/MERGE_MSG file exists);
"squash" (if a .git/SQUASH_MSG file exists); or "commit", followed by
a commit SHA1 as the third parameter (if a -c, -C or --amend option
was given).

If its exit status is non-zero, git-commit will abort.  The hook is
not suppressed by the --no-verify option, so it should not be used
as a replacement for the pre-commit hook.

The sample prepare-commit-msg comments out the `Conflicts:` part of
a merge's commit message; other examples are commented out, including
adding a Signed-off-by line at the bottom of the commit messsage,
that the user can then edit or discard altogether.

Signed-off-by: Paolo Bonzini <bonzini@gnu.org>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

2 files changed, 27 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/git-commit.txt b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
index c3725b2ed9..b4ae61ff46 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-commit.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
@@ -280,8 +280,8 @@ order).
 
 HOOKS
 -----
-This command can run `commit-msg`, `pre-commit`, and
-`post-commit` hooks.  See link:hooks.html[hooks] for more
+This command can run `commit-msg`, `prepare-commit-msg`, `pre-commit`,
+and `post-commit` hooks.  See link:hooks.html[hooks] for more
 information.
 
 
diff --git a/Documentation/hooks.txt b/Documentation/hooks.txt
index e8d80cfcdb..76b8d77460 100644
--- a/Documentation/hooks.txt
+++ b/Documentation/hooks.txt
@@ -65,6 +65,31 @@ All the `git-commit` hooks are invoked with the environment
 variable `GIT_EDITOR=:` if the command will not bring up an editor
 to modify the commit message.
 
+prepare-commit-msg
+------------------
+
+This hook is invoked by `git-commit` right after preparing the
+default log message, and before the editor is started.
+
+It takes one to three parameters.  The first is the name of the file
+that the commit log message.  The second is the source of the commit
+message, and can be: `message` (if a `\-m` or `\-F` option was
+given); `template` (if a `\-t` option was given or the
+configuration option `commit.template` is set); `merge` (if the
+commit is a merge or a `.git/MERGE_MSG` file exists); `squash`
+(if a `.git/SQUASH_MSG` file exists); or `commit`, followed by
+a commit SHA1 (if a `\-c`, `\-C` or `\--amend` option was given).
+
+If the exit status is non-zero, `git-commit` will abort.
+
+The purpose of the hook is to edit the message file in place, and
+it is not suppressed by the `\--no-verify` option.  A non-zero exit
+means a failure of the hook and aborts the commit.  It should not
+be used as replacement for pre-commit hook.
+
+The sample `prepare-commit-msg` hook that comes with git comments
+out the `Conflicts:` part of a merge's commit message.
+
 commit-msg
 ----------