# Work Unit Commits

> Plan commits as reviewable work units. Trigger: implementation, commit splitting, chained PRs, or keeping tests and docs with code.

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-gentleman-programming-gentle-ai-work-unit-commits`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [Gentleman-Programming](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/gentleman-programming)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [Gentleman-Programming](https://github.com/Gentleman-Programming)
- **Source:** https://github.com/Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai/tree/main/skills/work-unit-commits
- **Website:** https://gentle-ai.gentlemanprogramming.com/

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-gentleman-programming-gentle-ai-work-unit-commits
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

## When to Use

Load this skill when deciding what belongs in each commit or PR.

Use it for:

- Splitting a feature into reviewable work.
- Preparing commits before opening a PR.
- Turning a large change into chained or stacked PRs.
- Keeping reviewer cognitive load healthy.
- Applying SDD tasks without accidentally producing a PR above 400 changed lines.

## Critical Rules

| Rule | Requirement |
|------|-------------|
| Commit by work unit | A commit represents a deliverable behavior, fix, migration, or docs unit. |
| Do not commit by file type | Avoid `models`, then `services`, then `tests` if none works alone. |
| Keep tests with code | Tests belong in the same commit as the behavior they verify. |
| Keep docs with the user-visible change | Docs belong with the feature or workflow they explain. |
| Tell a story | A reviewer should understand why each commit exists from its diff and message. |
| Future PR-ready | Each commit should be a candidate chained PR when the change grows. |
| SDD workload guard | If SDD tasks forecast a >400-line change, group commits into chained PR slices before implementation. |

## Work Unit Checklist

Before committing, confirm:

- [ ] The commit has one clear purpose.
- [ ] The repo still makes sense after applying only this commit.
- [ ] Tests or docs for this unit are included when relevant.
- [ ] Rollback is reasonable without reverting unrelated work.
- [ ] Focused test command and exact result are recorded.
- [ ] Runtime harness command/scenario and exact result are recorded, or explicit `N/A` explains why no runtime boundary exists.
- [ ] Rollback boundary names the exact files/behavior removable without unrelated work.
- [ ] The commit message explains the outcome, not the file list.

## Split Examples

| Weak split | Better work-unit split |
|------------|------------------------|
| `add models` | `feat(auth): add token validation domain model and tests` |
| `add services` | `feat(auth): wire token validation into login flow` |
| `add tests` | Tests included with each behavior commit |
| `update docs` | Docs included with the user-facing change they explain |

## PR Relationship

Use work-unit commits as the foundation for chained PRs:

1. Build the smallest independent work unit.
2. Include verification for that unit.
3. Commit it with a Conventional Commit message.
4. If the PR approaches 400 changed lines, promote commits or groups of commits into chained PRs.

## SDD Relationship

When `sdd-tasks` produces a Review Workload Forecast:

- Low risk: keep work-unit commits inside one PR.
- Medium risk: commit by work unit and monitor changed lines before PR creation.
- High risk: follow SDD `delivery_strategy` — ask on `ask-on-risk`, auto-slice on `auto-chain`, require `size:exception` on over-budget `single-pr`, or record accepted `size:exception` on `exception-ok`.
- Count authored additions plus deletions for the `>400` threshold. Exclude generated goldens from that authored count, but include every generated file in complete snapshot identity and receipt validation.

Each SDD work unit should map cleanly to a commit or PR with:

- clear start state,
- clear finished state,
- verification in the same unit,
- rollback that does not remove unrelated work.

Its implementation evidence MUST include:

- Focused test command and exact result.
- Runtime harness command/scenario and exact result, or explicit `N/A` with reason.
- Rollback boundary stated independently of commit creation; uncommitted work units still require it.
- When fixing a bounded review ledger, group atomic work units inside the single correction transaction; work-unit count never creates another fix budget.

## Commands

```bash
# Review the story before committing
git diff --stat
git diff --cached --stat

# Check recent commit style
git log --oneline -5
```

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [Gentleman-Programming](https://github.com/Gentleman-Programming)
- **Source:** [Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai](https://github.com/Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://gentle-ai.gentlemanprogramming.com/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-gentleman-programming-gentle-ai-work-unit-commits
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/gentleman-programming
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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