The latest articles on DEV Community by David Chinwenmeri (@david_chinwenmeri_6a0a73f). https://dev.to/david_chinwenmeri_6a0a73f https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3946869%2Fa84cc7bc-e860-44a3-a820-feff8f33e34f.png https://dev.to/david_chinwenmeri_6a0a73f en David Chinwenmeri Fri, 22 May 2026 23:13:23 +0000 https://dev.to/david_chinwenmeri_6a0a73f/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-git-cli-that-writes-your-commit-messages-for-you-cca https://dev.to/david_chinwenmeri_6a0a73f/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-git-cli-that-writes-your-commit-messages-for-you-cca <p>We've all been there. You just spent 3 hours fixing a bug, you stage your changes, and then you stare at the commit message input like it owes you money. You end up typing <code>fix stuff</code> and moving on.</p> <p>I got tired of it. So I built gritch.</p> <h2> What is gritch? </h2> <p>gritch is a free, open source CLI tool that uses Groq's free AI API (LLaMA 3.3) to help you write better commits, review your code before pushing, generate changelogs, and understand old commits all from your terminal.</p> <h2> What it can do </h2> <p><strong>Generate a conventional commit message from your staged changes:</strong><br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>git add <span class="nb">.</span> gritch commit </code></pre> </div> <p><strong>Review your code before pushing:</strong><br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>gritch review gritch review <span class="nt">--language</span> javascript </code></pre> </div> <p><strong>Explain any commit in plain English:</strong><br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>gritch explain abc1234 </code></pre> </div> <p><strong>Generate a changelog between two versions:</strong><br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>gritch changelog v1.0.0 v1.1.0 </code></pre> </div> <h2> How to get started </h2> <p>Install it globally:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>npm <span class="nb">install</span> <span class="nt">-g</span> gritch </code></pre> </div> <p>Get a free API key from <a href="https://console.groq.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://console.groq.com</a> and set it:</p> <p><strong>Windows:</strong><br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight powershell"><code><span class="nv">$</span><span class="nn">env</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="nv">GROQ_API_KEY</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"your_key_here"</span><span class="w"> </span></code></pre> </div> <p><strong>macOS / Linux:</strong><br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code><span class="nb">export </span><span class="nv">GROQ_API_KEY</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"your_key_here"</span> </code></pre> </div> <p>Then run <code>gritch</code> in any Git project.</p> <h2> Why I built it </h2> <p>I wanted to build something that developers actually use daily not another todo app or weather dashboard. gritch solves a real problem I had every single day, and I built it entirely with TypeScript and Node.js with zero paid services required.</p> <h2> Links </h2> <ul> <li>GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/dave-8bit/Gritch" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/dave-8bit/Gritch</a> </li> <li>npm: <a href="https://npmjs.com/package/gritch" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://npmjs.com/package/gritch</a> </li> </ul> <p>If you find it useful, a star on the repo goes a long way. _</p> typescript git node opensource