Configuration

Config via file

@commitlint/cli picks up configuration from the following files:

• .commitlintrc
• .commitlintrc.json
• .commitlintrc.yaml
• .commitlintrc.yml
• .commitlintrc.js
• .commitlintrc.cjs
• .commitlintrc.mjs
• .commitlintrc.ts
• .commitlintrc.cts
• .commitlintrc.mts
• commitlint.config.js
• commitlint.config.cjs
• commitlint.config.mjs
• commitlint.config.ts
• commitlint.config.cts
• commitlint.config.mts

The file is expected

• to contain valid JavaScript / TypeScript
• export a configuration object
• adhere to the schema outlined below

Configuration files are resolved using cosmiconfig.

Config via package.json

You can add a commitlint field in package.json (or package.yaml) with an object that follows the below structure.

Config option CLI

Add the path to the configuration file. Example: commitlint --config commitlint.config.js

Configuration object example

const Configuration = {
  /*
   * Resolve and load @commitlint/config-conventional from node_modules.
   * Referenced packages must be installed
   */
  extends: ["@commitlint/config-conventional"],
  /*
   * Resolve and load conventional-changelog-atom from node_modules.
   * Referenced packages must be installed
   */
  parserPreset: "conventional-changelog-atom",
  /*
   * Resolve and load @commitlint/format from node_modules.
   * Referenced package must be installed
   */
  formatter: "@commitlint/format",
  /*
   * Any rules defined here will override rules from @commitlint/config-conventional
   */
  rules: {
    "type-enum": [2, "always", ["foo"]],
  },
  /*
   * Array of functions that return true if commitlint should ignore the given message.
   * Given array is merged with predefined functions, which consist of matchers like:
   *
   * - 'Merge pull request', 'Merge X into Y' or 'Merge branch X'
   * - 'Revert X'
   * - 'v1.2.3' (ie semver matcher)
   * - 'Automatic merge X' or 'Auto-merged X into Y'
   *
   * To see full list, check https://github.com/conventional-changelog/commitlint/blob/master/%40commitlint/is-ignored/src/defaults.ts.
   * To disable those ignores and run rules always, set `defaultIgnores: false` as shown below.
   */
  ignores: [(commit) => commit === ""],
  /*
   * Whether commitlint uses the default ignore rules, see the description above.
   */
  defaultIgnores: true,
  /*
   * Custom URL to show upon failure
   */
  helpUrl:
    "https://github.com/conventional-changelog/commitlint/#what-is-commitlint",
  /*
   * Custom prompt configs
   */
  prompt: {
    messages: {},
    questions: {
      type: {
        description: "please input type:",
      },
    },
  },
};

export default Configuration;

NOTE

CJS format is supported as well:

module.exports = Configuration;

TypeScript configuration

Configuration can also be a TypeScript file.

Relevant types and enums can be imported from @commitlint/types.

Below you can see main changes from a standard js file:

import type { UserConfig } from "@commitlint/types"; 
import { RuleConfigSeverity } from "@commitlint/types"; 

const Configuration: UserConfig = {
  extends: ["@commitlint/config-conventional"],
  parserPreset: "conventional-changelog-atom",
  formatter: "@commitlint/format",
  rules: {
    "type-enum": [RuleConfigSeverity.Error, "always", ["foo"]], 
  },
  // ...
};

export default Configuration;

Shareable configuration

Every commitlint configuration can extend other commitlint configurations. Specify configurations to extend via the .extends key, using ids that can be resolved by the node resolve algorithm.

This means installed npm packages and local files can be used.

npm install --save-dev commitlint-config-lerna @commitlint/config-conventional

commitlint.config.js

export default {
  extends: [
    'lerna' // prefixed with commitlint-config-*,
    '@commitlint/config-conventional' // scoped packages are not prefixed
  ]
}

More information can be found in the Concepts – shareable config section.

Parser presets

The parser preset controls how commit messages are parsed into their component parts (type, scope, subject, body, footer, etc.). By default, commitlint does not ship with a parser preset — it falls back to conventional-changelog-angular defaults. When you extend @commitlint/config-conventional, the conventional-changelog-conventionalcommits preset is applied, which follows the Conventional Commits specification.

You can override the parser preset using the parserPreset property. It accepts:

• A string referencing an npm package or local file (resolved via Node's module resolution)
• An object with a parserOpts property for inline configuration

Using an npm package

npm install --save-dev conventional-changelog-atom

commitlint.config.js

export default {
  parserPreset: "conventional-changelog-atom",
};

Using a local file

commitlint.config.js

export default {
  parserPreset: "./parser-preset",
};

parser-preset.js

export default {
  parserOpts: {
    headerPattern: /^(\w*)\((\w*)\)-(\w*)\s(.*)$/,
    headerCorrespondence: ["type", "scope", "ticket", "subject"],
  },
};

Inline parserOpts

You can also pass parserOpts directly without a separate file. This is useful for small adjustments like custom issue prefixes:

commitlint.config.js

export default {
  parserPreset: {
    parserOpts: {
      issuePrefixes: ["PROJ-", "JIRA-"],
    },
  },
};

Common parserOpts

The parser is powered by conventional-commits-parser. Common options include:

Option	Description
headerPattern	Regex to match the commit header (type, scope, subject)
headerCorrespondence	Array of field names matching the capture groups in headerPattern
issuePrefixes	Prefixes to match issue references (e.g. ["#", "PROJ-"])
noteKeywords	Keywords that mark footer notes (e.g. ["BREAKING CHANGE"])
breakingHeaderPattern	Regex to detect breaking changes in the header (e.g. the ! marker)

For the complete list of options, see the conventional-commits-parser documentation.

presetConfig

When using a preset like conventional-changelog-conventionalcommits, you can pass a presetConfig object to customize the preset's behavior without replacing the entire parser configuration. This is commonly used to set commit types that appear in generated changelogs:

commitlint.config.js

export default {
  parserPreset: {
    name: "conventional-changelog-conventionalcommits",
    presetConfig: {
      types: [
        { type: "feat", section: "Features" },
        { type: "fix", section: "Bug Fixes" },
        { type: "docs", section: "Documentation", hidden: false },
        { type: "chore", hidden: true },
      ],
    },
  },
};

The available presetConfig options depend on the preset you are using. See the conventional-changelog-conventionalcommits documentation for details.

Usage with semantic-release

If you use semantic-release, both commitlint and semantic-release can share the same conventional-changelog-conventionalcommits preset. Keeping parserOpts and presetConfig consistent across both tools ensures that commits parsed during linting match what semantic-release uses for versioning and changelog generation:

commitlint.config.js

export default {
  extends: ["@commitlint/config-conventional"],
  parserPreset: {
    name: "conventional-changelog-conventionalcommits",
    presetConfig: {
      types: [
        { type: "feat", section: "Features" },
        { type: "fix", section: "Bug Fixes" },
        { type: "docs", section: "Documentation", hidden: false },
      ],
    },
  },
};

export default {
  plugins: [
    [
      "@semantic-release/commit-analyzer",
      {
        preset: "conventionalcommits",
        presetConfig: {
          types: [
            { type: "feat", section: "Features" },
            { type: "fix", section: "Bug Fixes" },
            { type: "docs", section: "Documentation", hidden: false },
          ],
        },
      },
    ],
    [
      "@semantic-release/release-notes-generator",
      {
        preset: "conventionalcommits",
        presetConfig: {
          types: [
            { type: "feat", section: "Features" },
            { type: "fix", section: "Bug Fixes" },
            { type: "docs", section: "Documentation", hidden: false },
          ],
        },
      },
    ],
  ],
};

Formatter

Commitlint can output the issues encountered in different formats, if necessary. Use ids resolvable by the node resolve algorithm.

export default {
  formatter: "@commitlint/format",
};

Rules

Refer to Rules for a complete list of available rules.

Prompt

Config command-line submit interaction, works with @commitlint/cz-commitlint.

Refer to Prompt Config for details.