Husky Module

The problem

A Git hook that nobody can reproduce is worse than no hook at all. Copying .husky/pre-commit from another repository usually brings three problems with it:

• it calls npm run lint even though the project uses pnpm
• it calls a tool the project does not have installed
• the prepare script is missing, so husky install never runs after npm install

The result is a hook that silently does nothing, or one that fails on a fresh clone.

The command

npx create-devflow --only husky

The full Git setup — Husky, lint-staged and Commitlint together — is one flag:

npx create-devflow --husky

Generated files

.husky/pre-commit

When the lint-staged module is also applied:

npx lint-staged

Without lint-staged, the hook falls back to a full lint:

npm run lint

.husky/commit-msg

npx --no -- commitlint --edit "$1"

.husky/pre-push

Only created when the pre-push hook is explicitly requested. It runs the type check and the test suite before the push leaves your machine:

npm run typecheck && npm run test

Packages installed

Scripts added

The prepare script is the important one. It runs on every npm install / pnpm install, which is what installs the hook scripts into .git/hooks. Without it the hooks exist as files but never fire.

Manual setup versus DevFlow

The manual version is four commands and a file:

npm i -D husky
npx husky init
echo "npx lint-staged" > .husky/pre-commit

husky init creates a prepare script and an example hook, and the rest is manual. The part that is easy to get wrong is the commit-msg hook: it needs npx --no -- so that commitlint is resolved from the local node_modules instead of being downloaded on the fly.

DevFlow writes the correct hook bodies for the tools that are actually installed in the project.

Limits

• A Git repository is required. Husky installs into .git/hooks. In a directory that is not a Git repository, the files are written but the hooks never run.
• pre-push runs the full type check and test suite. That is slow on a large repository. It is opt-in for that reason.
• The fallback hook calls npm run lint. If your project uses pnpm or yarn, install the lint-staged module so the hook uses npx lint-staged instead, or edit the hook file.
• No Lefthook. The Lefthook module is an alternative to this one; the wizard blocks the pair.

FAQ

Why does the pre-commit hook run lint-staged instead of the full lint?

Running the full lint on every commit gets slow as the codebase grows. With lint-staged, only the files in your commit are checked. Without lint-staged, the hook falls back to npm run lint.

Do I need to run git init first?

Husky needs a Git repository because it writes into .git/hooks. DevFlow writes the .husky directory either way, but the hooks only become active in a Git repository.

How do I skip the hook for one commit?

git commit --no-verify

The commit-msg hook is skipped as well, so the commit message is not validated.

Related

• lint-staged module — the fast path the hook uses
• Commitlint module — validates the commit message
• Conventional Commits with Commitlint and Husky
• ESLint, Prettier and Husky setup for React and TypeScript