REGEXVAULTv2.0
Dev & Systems/Git
Verified Safe

Conventional Commit Message Regex for Go

/^(feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|perf|test|build|ci|chore|revert|wip)(?:\(([a-zA-Z0-9\-_/]+)\))?(!)?: (.+)$/

What this pattern does

This page provides a comprehensive, battle-tested regular expression for matching conventional commit message, ported and verified for Go. A rigorously tested regex reduces debugging time and protects your application from edge-case failures. The snippet below is ready to drop into your Go project — whether you're validating in a Gin handler, a gRPC service, or a command-line tool.

Go Implementation

Go
// Conventional Commit Message
// ReDoS-safe | RegexVault — Dev & Systems > Git

package validation

import "regexp"

var conventionalCommitMessageRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^(feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|perf|test|build|ci|chore|revert|wip)(?:\(([a-zA-Z0-9\-_/]+)\))?(!)?: (.+)$`)

func ValidateConventionalCommitMessage(s string) bool {
    return conventionalCommitMessageRe.MatchString(s)
}

// Example
// fmt.Println(ValidateConventionalCommitMessage("feat: add user authentication")) // true

Test Cases

Matches (Valid)
Rejects (Invalid)
feat: add user authenticationadd feature
fix(auth): resolve token expiry bugFIX: resolve bug
feat(api)!: remove deprecated endpointfeat(): empty scope
docs: update READMEfeat:
chore(deps): bump lodash to 4.17.21unknown: message type

When to use this pattern

This pattern is drawn from the Dev & Systems > Git category and carries a ReDoS-safe certification. That matters for Go developers because Go's RE2 engine is inherently safe from catastrophic backtracking, but this pattern has been additionally verified for correctness. RegexVault audits patterns against known backtracking attack vectors, ensuring you have the necessary context before using this regex in a high-stakes production environment.

Common Pitfalls

The ! indicator is separate from 'BREAKING CHANGE:' in the footer — both must be detected. A commit with feat!: triggers a major version bump in semantic-release tooling.

Technical Notes

Group 1 = type, group 2 = scope (optional), group 3 = ! breaking change (optional), group 4 = description. BREAKING CHANGE can also appear in the footer. Conventional commits enable automated changelog generation.

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