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chore: update commitlint subject-case rule to allow sentence-case #43

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Description

@wz-gsa

Problem

The current commitlint.config.js enforces strict lower-case for commit subjects:

'subject-case': [2, 'always', 'lower-case'],

This causes valid commits with proper acronyms (CLI, API, SQL, etc.) to fail CI. For example, PR #42 fails with:

⧗   input: docs: restructure quickstart with sbx CLI as primary path
✖   subject must be lower-case [subject-case]

Context

  • Conventional Commits spec only mandates lowercase for the type field, not the subject
  • Acronyms like CLI, API, SQL are proper nouns that should remain capitalized per technical writing standards
  • The current rule forces incorrect capitalization ('cli' instead of 'CLI')

Proposed Solution

Update commitlint config to use sentence-case which allows proper nouns and acronyms while maintaining structure:

'subject-case': [2, 'always', 'sentence-case'],

Or alternatively, allow multiple cases:

'subject-case': [2, 'always', ['sentence-case', 'lower-case']],

Consensus

This was reviewed by a 3-agent consensus vote (architect, security, scope-steward) with 100% approval:

  • Improves readability without weakening enforcement
  • Aligns with Conventional Commits spec (which doesn't mandate lowercase subjects)
  • Low risk, high value configuration fix

Related

Testing

# After change, this should pass:
echo "docs: restructure quickstart with sbx CLI as primary path" | npx commitlint

Activity

  1. added a commit that references this issue on May 27, 2026
    af7dccf
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