Manage, validate, and enforce git hooks with conventional commit validation.
hookguard automates the setup and enforcement of consistent git workflows across teams. It installs git hooks (pre-commit, commit-msg), validates commit messages against the Conventional Commits spec, and runs configurable linting/formatters on staged files.
- Hook Installation — Install
pre-commitandcommit-msghooks into any git repo - Commit Message Validation — Enforce Conventional Commits format:
type(scope)!: description - Pre-commit Checks — Run configured linters/formatters on staged files
- YAML Configuration — Define checks, allowed types, and rules in
.hookguard.yml - Dry-run Mode — Preview changes without making them
- Color Output — Auto-detects TTY vs piped output
- macOS Compatible — Works with bash 3.2.57, no GNU-only flags
- No Dependencies — Uses only standard macOS tools (bash, git, grep, sed, awk)
export PATH="$HOME/.hermes/profiles/mahnoor/data/agents/asad/projects/hookguard/bin:$PATH"ln -s ~/.hermes/profiles/mahnoor/data/agents/asad/projects/hookguard/bin/hookguard /usr/local/bin/hookguardcd ~/.hermes/profiles/mahnoor/data/agents/asad/projects/hookguard
make installcd your-project
hookguard init # First time
hookguard init --force # Overwrite existing hooksThis installs pre-commit and commit-msg hooks into .git/hooks/ and generates a default .hookguard.yml config if none exists.
hookguard uninstallRemoves hookguard-managed git hooks from the current repository. Only hooks that contain "hookguard" in their content are removed.
# Via argument
hookguard validate --message "feat(auth): add OAuth2 login"
# Via stdin
echo "fix(api): handle timeout" | hookguard validate
# Via commit message file (as a commit-msg hook would)
hookguard validate < .git/COMMIT_EDITMSG# On staged files only
hookguard check --staged
# On all tracked files
hookguard checkhookguard config # Show current config
hookguard config --validate # Validate config filehookguard list-typeshookguard --help
hookguard --versionCreate a .hookguard.yml file in your project root:
# .hookguard.yml
version: 1
hooks:
pre-commit:
checks:
- name: trailing-whitespace
command: "grep -rnI '[[:space:]]$'"
patterns: ["*.sh", "*.py", "*.js", "*.ts", "*.md"]
- name: merge-conflict-markers
command: "grep -rnI -E '<<<<<<<|=======|>>>>>>>'"
patterns: ["*"]
commit-msg:
allowed_types: [feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, build, ci, chore, revert]
require_scope: false
max_subject_length: 72| Field | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
version |
Config schema version | 1 |
hooks.pre-commit.checks |
List of check definitions | See default |
hooks.commit-msg.allowed_types |
Allowed conventional commit types | feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, build, ci, chore, revert |
hooks.commit-msg.require_scope |
Whether scope is mandatory | false |
hooks.commit-msg.max_subject_length |
Max subject line length | 72 |
Each check has:
name— Display name for the checkcommand— Shell command to run (receives matched files as arguments)patterns— File glob patterns to match against
type(scope)!: description
- type — One of:
feat,fix,docs,style,refactor,perf,test,build,ci,chore,revert - scope (optional) — A noun describing the section of codebase (e.g.,
auth,api,core) - ! (optional) — Indicates a breaking change
- description — A short description of the change
feat(auth): add OAuth2 login flow
fix(api)!: remove deprecated v1 endpoint
docs: update API references
refactor(core): extract validation logic
test: add unit tests for auth module
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Success |
| 1 | General error |
| 2 | Validation failure |
| 3 | Config error |
The test suite uses BATS (available at /opt/homebrew/bin/bats).
# Run all tests
cd ~/.hermes/profiles/mahnoor/data/agents/asad/projects/hookguard
make test
# Or directly with bats
/opt/homebrew/bin/bats tests/
# Run a specific test file
/opt/homebrew/bin/bats tests/test_validate.batshookguard/
├── bin/
│ └── hookguard # Main entry point (executable)
├── lib/
│ ├── utils.sh # Shared utilities (logging, YAML parsing, dry-run)
│ ├── config.sh # Config loading, validation, generation
│ ├── validate.sh # Commit message validation
│ ├── hooks.sh # Hook installation/uninstallation
│ └── checks.sh # Pre-commit check execution
├── tests/
│ ├── helpers.bash # Shared test helpers
│ ├── test_validate.bats # Commit message validation tests
│ ├── test_init.bats # Hook installation tests
│ ├── test_check.bats # Pre-commit checks tests
│ └── test_config.bats # Config tests
├── .hookguard.yml # Default configuration
├── Makefile # Build/test/install automation
├── README.md # This file
└── VERSION # Version file
- bash 3.2+ (macOS ships with 3.2.57)
- git
- BATS for testing (
brew install bats-core)
Check commands should follow the convention:
- Exit code 0 = check passed (no issues found)
- Non-zero exit = check failed (issues found)
- Output = details of what was found
MIT License
Copyright (c) 2026 AFS Agentics
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.