{"slug": "i-built-a-free-ai-powered-git-cli-that-writes-your-commit-messages-for-you", "title": "I built a free AI-powered Git CLI that writes your commit messages for you", "summary": "The article introduces **gritch**, a free, open-source CLI tool built with TypeScript and Node.js that uses Groq's AI API (LLaMA 3.3) to automate Git tasks. It can generate conventional commit messages from staged changes, review code, explain past commits in plain English, and create changelogs between versions. The tool is designed to solve the common developer problem of writing poor commit messages and requires only a free API key from Groq to operate.", "body_md": "We've all been there. You just spent 3 hours fixing a bug, you stage your changes, and then you stare at the commit message input like it owes you money. You end up typing `fix stuff`\n\nand moving on.\n\nI got tired of it. So I built gritch.\n\n## What is gritch?\n\ngritch is a free, open source CLI tool that uses Groq's free AI API (LLaMA 3.3) to help you write better commits, review your code before pushing, generate changelogs, and understand old commits all from your terminal.\n\n## What it can do\n\n**Generate a conventional commit message from your staged changes:**\n\n```\ngit add .\ngritch commit\n```\n\n**Review your code before pushing:**\n\n```\ngritch review\ngritch review --language javascript\n```\n\n**Explain any commit in plain English:**\n\n```\ngritch explain abc1234\n```\n\n**Generate a changelog between two versions:**\n\n```\ngritch changelog v1.0.0 v1.1.0\n```\n\n## How to get started\n\nInstall it globally:\n\n```\nnpm install -g gritch\n```\n\nGet a free API key from [https://console.groq.com](https://console.groq.com) and set it:\n\n**Windows:**\n\n```\n$env:GROQ_API_KEY=\"your_key_here\"\n```\n\n**macOS / Linux:**\n\n```\nexport GROQ_API_KEY=\"your_key_here\"\n```\n\nThen run `gritch`\n\nin any Git project.\n\n## Why I built it\n\nI wanted to build something that developers actually use daily not another todo app or weather dashboard. gritch solves a real problem I had every single day, and I built it entirely with TypeScript and Node.js with zero paid services required.\n\n## Links\n\nIf you find it useful, a star on the repo goes a long way. _", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-git-cli-that-writes-your-commit-messages-for-you", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/david_chinwenmeri_6a0a73f/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-git-cli-that-writes-your-commit-messages-for-you-cca", "published_at": "2026-05-22 23:13:23+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-22 23:33:26.820765+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "open-source", "developer-tools", "products"], "entities": ["gritch", "Groq", "LLaMA 3.3", "TypeScript", "Node.js"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-git-cli-that-writes-your-commit-messages-for-you", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-git-cli-that-writes-your-commit-messages-for-you.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-git-cli-that-writes-your-commit-messages-for-you.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-git-cli-that-writes-your-commit-messages-for-you.jsonld"}}