The seven rules of a great git commit message

1. Separate subject from body with a blank line
2. Limit the subject line to 50 characters
3. Capitalize the subject line
4. Do not end the subject line with a period
5. Use the imperative mood in the subject line
6. Wrap the body at 72 characters
7. Use the body to explain what and why vs. how

(...)

A properly formed git commit subject line should always be able to complete the following sentence:

If applied, this commit will your subject line here

For example:

If applied, this commit will refactor subsystem X for readability
If applied, this commit will update getting started documentation
If applied, this commit will remove deprecated methods
If applied, this commit will release version 1.0.0
If applied, this commit will merge pull request #123 from user/branch