How to Automatically Sign Off Git Commits

Introduction

In this guide, we’ll explore multiple ways to automate Git sign-offs at the project level, starting with commit templates as the foundation, then building on that with Git aliases and language-specific scripts. By implementing these techniques, you’ll never have to remember the -s flag again, ensuring all your contributions include proper sign-offs without disrupting your workflow.

Whether you’re a solo developer maintaining consistent practices across multiple repositories or part of a team establishing standardized workflows, these methods will help you maintain compliance with project requirements effortlessly. Consistent commit practices significantly reduce friction in collaborative development and help maintain a professional codebase.

Understanding Git Sign-offs

Git sign-offs add a signature line to your commit messages, serving multiple purposes in different development contexts. The standard format appears as:

Signed-off-by: Your Name <your.email@example.com>
Code language: CSS (css)

These signatures can serve various important functions depending on your project’s requirements:

Accountability: Creates a clear record of who authored specific changes
Organizational policies: Many companies require sign-offs for internal tracking
Project governance: Establishes a chain of responsibility in collaborative environments
Workflow standardization: Ensures consistent commit practices across teams
Contribution verification: Some projects use sign-offs to validate contributor identity
Legal considerations: In some contexts, may relate to intellectual property attribution

As noted by Linus Torvalds³, the creator of Linux and Git and one of the most influential software engineers in the world, sign-offs provide transparency in distributed development environments. This practice has been adopted by many significant projects, including:

Linux kernel⁴
Git itself
Docker
Kubernetes
Enterprise development teams

Without proper sign-offs, your contributions might be rejected by automated verification tools⁵ or during code review processes. Adding the -s or --signoff flag to your commit command generates this signature:

git commit -s -m "Your commit message"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

The resulting commit includes your signature based on your Git configuration:

Your commit message

Signed-off-by: Your Name <your.email@example.com>
Code language: CSS (css)

Using Project-Level Commit Templates

The most foundational approach to ensuring consistent sign-offs is setting up a commit template. This method pre-populates your commit messages with your sign-off information, making it nearly impossible to forget.

Setting Up a Commit Template

Create a template file in your project:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path ".git-templates" -Force
Set-Content -Path ".git-templates/commit-template" -Value "`n`nSigned-off-by: $(git config user.name) <$(git config user.email)>"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Configure Git to use your template:

git config --local commit.template .git-templates/commit-template

Now when you run git commit, the editor opens with your sign-off line already included.

Git Aliases: Building on Templates

According to research by Diomidis Spinellis⁶, a professor of software engineering and expert on version control systems, on enterprise Git adoption, aliases represent one of the most effective methods for standardizing workflows across development teams. Git aliases offer the ideal solution for automating sign-offs due to their:

Simplicity: No external scripts or tools required
Flexibility: Works across operating systems and environments
Control: Easy to customize per project or globally
Reliability: Built directly into Git

Aliases create custom Git commands that automatically include the sign-off flag, making it impossible to forget this crucial step.

Setting Up Basic Git Aliases

You can create global aliases that work across all your repositories:

git config --global alias.cs "commit -s"
git config --global alias.csm "commit -s -m"
Code language: PHP (php)

With these aliases configured, you can now use:

git cs instead of git commit -s
git csm "Your message" instead of git commit -s -m "Your message"

Additional useful aliases include:

git config --global alias.csa "commit -s --amend"
git config --global alias.csam "commit -s --amend -m"
Code language: PHP (php)

For project-specific aliases, use the --local flag instead:

git config --local alias.cs "commit -s"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

This approach ensures sign-offs only in specific projects where they’re required, giving you flexibility across different workflows.

Automating Sign-offs with Language-Specific Scripts

While Git aliases provide a simple solution, language-specific scripts offer more powerful automation capabilities, especially in projects with established toolchains. Our recommended approach uses Node.js scripts for consistent, cross-platform automation.

NPM Scripts for Git Sign-offs (Recommended Approach)

For JavaScript projects and beyond, npm scripts offer a convenient way to standardize Git operations across any project type. This approach works well in Windows 11 environments and provides clear feedback on commit status:

Add sign-off scripts to your package.json:

{
  "name": "your-project-name",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "commit": "git commit -s",
    "commit:m": "node .scripts/commit.js"
  }
}
Code language: JSON / JSON with Comments (json)

Create a Node.js commit script in the .scripts folder:

<em>// .scripts/commit.js</em>
const { execSync } = require('child_process');
const message = process.argv.slice(2).join(' ');

if (!message) {
  console.error('Please provide a commit message');
  process.exit(1);
}

try {
  execSync(`git commit -s -m "${message}"`, { stdio: 'inherit' });
  console.log('✅ Commit created with sign-off');
} catch (error) {
  console.error('❌ Commit failed:', error.message);
  process.exit(1);
}
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Now you can create signed commits with:

node .scripts/commit.js "Your commit message"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Or using npm:

npm run commit:m "Your commit message"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

This approach integrates with your npm workflow, making it natural for JavaScript developers while ensuring consistent sign-offs. The script provides clear visual feedback and proper error handling, making it ideal for both individual developers and teams.

Python Script for Git Sign-offs

For Python projects, a command-line tool can handle various sign-off scenarios:

<em># .scripts/git_signoff.py</em>
import sys
import subprocess
import argparse

def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Create Git commits with automatic sign-offs')
    parser.add_argument('message', nargs='*', help='Commit message')
    parser.add_argument('--amend', '-a', action='store_true', help='Amend the previous commit')
    args = parser.parse_args()
    
    if not args.message and not args.amend:
        print('Error: Please provide a commit message or use --amend')
        sys.exit(1)
    
    cmd = ['git', 'commit', '-s']
    
    if args.amend:
        cmd.append('--amend')
    
    if args.message:
        cmd.extend(['-m', ' '.join(args.message)])
    
    try:
        result = subprocess.run(cmd, check=True)
        print('✅ Commit created with sign-off')
    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
        print(f'❌ Commit failed with exit code {e.returncode}')
        sys.exit(e.returncode)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()
Code language: PHP (php)

Run the script with:

py .scripts/git_signoff.py "Your commit message"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

This Python script handles command-line arguments and supports various sign-off scenarios, making it versatile for different workflows.

PowerShell Script for Git Sign-offs

For Windows 11 environments, a PowerShell function provides native integration:

<em># .scripts/Git-SignedCommit.ps1</em>
function Git-SignedCommit {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param (
        [Parameter(Position=0, ValueFromRemainingArguments=$true)]
        [string]$Message,
        
        [Parameter()]
        [switch]$Amend
    )
    
    $gitCommand = "git commit -s"
    
    if ($Amend) {
        $gitCommand += " --amend"
    }
    
    if ($Message) {
        $gitCommand += " -m `"$Message`""
    }
    
    Write-Host "Executing: $gitCommand" -ForegroundColor Cyan
    
    try {
        Invoke-Expression $gitCommand
        Write-Host "✅ Commit created with sign-off" -ForegroundColor Green
    } catch {
        Write-Host "❌ Commit failed: $_" -ForegroundColor Red
    }
}

Export-ModuleMember -Function Git-SignedCommit
Code language: PHP (php)

To use this script:

Save it to .scripts/Git-SignedCommit.ps1
Import it in your PowerShell session:

Import-Module ./.scripts/Git-SignedCommit.ps1

Real-World Implementation Example

We recently implemented automatic sign-offs for a collaborative project. Here’s the exact process we followed, which combines several of the approaches discussed in this article:

First, we initialized the Git repository:

git init
git remote add origin [email protected]:example-org/signoff-practice.git

We set up Git identity for the project:

git config --local user.name "gbtilabs"
git config --local user.email "gbti.labs@gmail.com"
Code language: CSS (css)

We created a commit template as our foundation:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path ".git-templates" -Force
Set-Content -Path ".git-templates/commit-template" -Value "`n`nSigned-off-by: gbtilabs <[email protected]>"
git config --local commit.template .git-templates/commit-template
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

We added Git aliases for convenience:

git config --local alias.cs "commit -s"
git config --local alias.csm "commit -s -m"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

We created a .scripts directory for our automation scripts:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path ".scripts" -Force
Code language: PHP (php)

We created a package.json file with commit scripts:

{
  "name": "signoff-practice",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Git Sign-off Practice Repository",
  "scripts": {
    "commit": "git commit -s",
    "commit:m": "node .scripts/commit.js"
  },
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "git+https://github.com/example-org/signoff-practice.git"
  }
}
Code language: JSON / JSON with Comments (json)

We implemented our Node.js commit script with sign-off functionality:

<em>// .scripts/commit.js</em>
const { execSync } = require('child_process');
const message = process.argv.slice(2).join(' ');

if (!message) {
  console.error('Please provide a commit message');
  process.exit(1);
}

try {
  execSync(`git commit -s -m "${message}"`, { stdio: 'inherit' });
  console.log('\u2705 Commit created with sign-off');
} catch (error) {
  console.error('\u274c Commit failed:', error.message);
  process.exit(1);
}
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Finally, we made our first commit with the Node.js script:

node .scripts/commit.js "Initial commit with automatic sign-off"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

The resulting commit included our sign-off automatically:

Initial commit with automatic sign-off

Signed-off-by: gbtilabs <gbti.labs@gmail.com>
Code language: CSS (css)

Conclusion

As Nadia Eghbal⁷, a prominent researcher and writer on open source sustainability, notes in her research on open source maintenance, automating routine compliance tasks significantly reduces contributor friction. Automating Git sign-offs enhances your development process in several ways:

Efficiency: No more manually adding sign-off lines
Consistency: Every commit includes proper attribution
Confidence: Contributions won’t be rejected due to missing sign-offs
Professionalism: Demonstrates respect for project guidelines

Based on our experience, we recommend the following approaches in order of preference:

Commit templates as the foundation to ensure sign-offs are always included
Git aliases for universal compatibility and simplicity
NPM scripts with Node.js for advanced automation and feedback
PowerShell functions for Windows-specific workflows
Python scripts for Python-centric environments

By implementing automatic sign-offs, you transform a repetitive task into a seamless part of your workflow, allowing you to focus on what truly matters—writing great code. As Jonathan Payne⁸, a DevOps researcher specializing in workflow optimization, demonstrates in his analysis of development automation, these small workflow improvements compound over time to create significant productivity gains.

Key Commands Reference

Approach	Setup Command	Usage
Template	`git config --local commit.template .git-templates/commit-template`	`git commit`
Git Alias	`git config --local alias.cs "commit -s"`	`git cs`
NPM Script	Add to package.json	`node .scripts/commit.js "Message"`
PowerShell	Import module	`Git-SignedCommit "Message"`
Python Script	Create git_signoff.py	`py .scripts/git_signoff.py "Message"`

Footnotes and References

¹ Git Project. “Git Documentation on Commit Sign-off.” Git SCM. Accessed June 8, 2025. https://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit#Documentation/git-commit.txt–s.

² Linux Foundation. “Developer Certificate of Origin.” Accessed June 8, 2025. https://developercertificate.org/. The Linux Foundation is a non-profit technology consortium founded in 2000 to standardize Linux, support its growth, and promote its commercial adoption.

³ Torvalds, Linus. “Re: Sign-off Procedure – Kernel Summit.” Linux Kernel Mailing List, July 23, 2004. Linus Torvalds is the principal developer of the Linux kernel and creator of Git. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds.

⁴ Linux Kernel Documentation. “Submitting Patches.” Accessed June 8, 2025. https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html.

⁵ GitHub. “DCO App Documentation.” GitHub Marketplace. Accessed June 8, 2025. https://github.com/apps/dco. GitHub is the world’s leading software development platform, hosting millions of repositories and facilitating collaboration among developers.

⁶ Spinellis, Diomidis. “Git Best Practices: Workflow Strategies for Enterprise Adoption.” IEEE Software 38, no. 3 (2021): 41-46. Diomidis Spinellis is a Greek computer scientist and professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business, known for his work on software engineering and open-source software. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diomidis_Spinellis.

⁷ Eghbal, Nadia. Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software. San Francisco: Stripe Press, 2020. Nadia Eghbal is a researcher and writer known for her work on open source software sustainability and digital infrastructure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Eghbal.

⁸ Payne, Jonathan. “The ROI of Development Workflow Automation.” DevOps Journal 15, no. 4 (2024): 112-128. Jonathan Payne is a DevOps researcher specializing in development workflow optimization and automation.

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