Tower 7 - The New Commit Experience

A New Commit Composing Experience

When working with Git - and version control in general - committing is a fundamental part of your daily workflow. With every new commit you save a specific version of your project. And since Git makes it easy to create very granular commits, you will work more often in the commit area. Our latest release comes with significant improvements for your commit workflow.

Write Better Commit Messages

Writing good commit messages is essential - not only when working in teams, but also for yourself to understand your intentions at a later time. Version 7 gives you the option to easily give your commits more context by directly referencing issues, commits and files.

Mention Issue Numbers with "#"

You can now search and autocomplete issue numbers when typing "#". You can use this both in the subject and the body field. Even keywords like "closes/fixes/resolves" can be used: these are common keywords supported by most services and are used to link issues in commits - and also automatically close the issue once pushed.

For this magic to work, please note that you’ll first have to configure a service account in Tower’s Services view; only then can Tower offer existing issue items from your GitHub / GitLab / etc. account.

Reference Commits with "c:"

Similar to issues numbers, you can search and autocomplete commit references by typing "c:".

Insert File Names with "\"

If you want to quickly reference specific changed files from your working copy, simply do so by typing "\".

Command Overview with "/"

For a quick overview of the list of available commands, just type "/". Tower will show you command suggestions to help you discover available completion actions easily.

Make the Commit Editor Your Own

With Tower 7 we also give you the ability to configure the commit message editor to your liking. In Tower's preferences you will now find a menu item called Editor. Here you can define a character limit for both the subject as well as the body of your commit messages and choose a wrapping mode (soft or hard wrap). This comes in handy when working with certain conventions.

Fixup and Squash

While Tower has been capable of Git's "fixup" and "squash" actions for some time already, we now offer it in an even easier way.

If you start your commit message with the "fixup!" or "squash!" keywords in the subject field, Tower lets you choose an existing commit you want to fixup or squash, respectively.
After making that commit, you can switch to your HEAD branch's history and will find a bright yellow button at the top to conclude the process.

In case you're new to the power of fixup / squash / autosquash altogether, take a look at our help docs to learn more about these very practical features!

Usability Improvements

We hope that your commit experience will be vastly improved with these new features. But wait, there's more!

• To speed up your workflow you can now simply hit "Enter" in the subject field and you will be taken straight to the body field.
• The body field itself is now both scrollable as well as resizable, giving you the space you need to craft your best commit messages.

Happy committing! 😊

If you already have a Tower account, make sure to update Tower to the latest version for free.

Not a Tower user yet? Download our 30-day free trial and take it for a spin!

PS: Did you know? Tower Pro is now free for students as well as teachers and educational institutions!