AI Features

Git Canopy uses AI to help you write better commit messages and pull request descriptions.

Table of contents

1. Getting started
2. Generate commit messages
3. AI Commit
4. Generate pull requests
5. Choose your provider
6. Custom instructions
   1. Global instructions
   2. Per-project instructions
   3. Instruction presets
7. Launch AI coding tools

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Getting started

Before using AI features, you need to add an API key.

1. Open Settings (gear icon in the toolbar)
2. Go to the AI tab
3. Click Add Key next to your preferred provider
4. Paste your API key and click Save

Your API key is stored securely in the macOS Keychain.

You can get an API key from Anthropic or OpenAI.

Generate commit messages

When you have staged changes ready to commit:

1. Click the sparkles button next to the commit message field
2. Git Canopy analyzes your diff and generates a message
3. Edit the message if needed, then commit

The AI follows conventional commit format by default (e.g., feat:, fix:, docs:).

AI Commit

For a faster workflow, use AI Commit:

1. Make changes to your files
2. Click the AI Commit button in the worktree lane
3. Git Canopy stages all files, generates a message, and prepares the commit

This is useful when you want to commit everything in one action.

Generate pull requests

When creating a pull request:

1. Click Create PR in the worktree lane footer
2. In the Create PR sheet, click the sparkles button next to the title or description
3. Git Canopy analyzes your commits and diff to generate content

For the fastest workflow, click AI Create to generate both title and description, then create the PR in one action.

Choose your provider

Git Canopy supports multiple AI providers and models:

Provider	Model	Best for
Anthropic	Claude Sonnet 4.5	Best quality (default)
Anthropic	Claude Haiku 4.5	Faster, lower cost
OpenAI	GPT-4o	Alternative high quality
OpenAI	GPT-4o Mini	Faster, lower cost

To change your provider:

1. Open Settings > AI
2. Select your preferred Provider and Model

Custom instructions

You can customize how AI generates messages.

Global instructions

1. Open Settings > AI
2. Edit the Commit Instructions or PR Instructions fields
3. Your instructions are appended to the AI prompt

Per-project instructions

For project-specific conventions:

1. Open the repository in Git Canopy
2. Click Settings in the toolbar
3. Go to the AI tab
4. Add custom instructions for this project only

Project instructions override global instructions when set.

Instruction presets

Git Canopy includes built-in presets:

• Conventional Commits (default) - Uses feat:, fix:, docs: prefixes
• Minimal - Brief, no strict format
• Detailed - Comprehensive messages with context

Launch AI coding tools

Git Canopy can open your worktree in AI-powered editors:

1. Right-click a worktree lane header
2. Select Open in Claude Code or Open in Cursor

This launches the AI coding tool at the worktree’s directory, ready to work on that branch.

You need Claude Code or Cursor installed for this feature.