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doc: commit Signed-off-by instructions missing details #64799
Description
Situation
If linting finds a problem with a missing Signed-off-by trailer, then the logs contain the following error:
Error: not ok 6 signed-off-by: Commit must have a "Signed-off-by" trailer ()
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# Please review the commit message guidelines:
# https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/HEAD/doc/contributing/pull-requests.md#commit-message-guidelines- Your commit must contain the
Signed-off-byline with your name and email
address as an acknowledgement that you agree to the Developer Certificate of Origin.
Bot generated commits are exempt from this requirement. If a commit has
multiple authors, theSigned-off-byline should be added for each author;
and at least one should match the author information in the commit metadata.
This rule does not apply to dependency updates (e.g. cherry-picks), release
commits, or backport commits.
It does not however give the details that were in issue #62577 and that said:
How?
When you create a commit, use the -s flag, e.g. git commit -s. This will automatically add the Signed-off-by trailer in your commit message using your configured named (sic) and email address.
Suggestion
Add detail to https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/doc/contributing/pull-requests.md#commit-message-guidelines to instruct how to add a Signed-off-by trailer automatically to a commit.
Link to the git documentation:
https://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit#Documentation/git-commit.txt--s
with the git commit options:
-s
--signoff
Possibly mention also the "Signed-off-by" trailer option in the commit options menu in GitHub Desktop, added to 3.5.7, Mar 31, 2026, through desktop/desktop#21741 (Thanks to @JakobJingleheimer for spotting this function, which only seems to be documented in the GitHub Desktop release notes!)
Activity
MikeMcC399 commentedon Jul 28, 2026
I would plan to submit a documentation PR for this. Opening as issue first to collect any feedback.
bmuenzenmeyer commentedon Jul 29, 2026
how timely! this was confusing for me actually just today, as the initial linting passes on #64806 made me believe I only needed GPG signoff, only to do that and then see the trailer. This might be entirely my fault not fully reading the guidelines ahead of time, but since you above question is seeking feedback - this is a big 👍
MikeMcC399 commentedon Jul 29, 2026
git commit -s, lower case
sfor Signed-off-by, could be confused with:git commit -S, upper case
Sfor--gpg-signThat could be mentioned as well, to avoid confusion, since both options concern signing, but in different ways.
MikeMcC399 commentedon Jul 31, 2026
PR #64862 is submitted and available for review.
I didn't add information about GitHub Desktop after all and instead just kept it simple, referring only to
git commit -s. There are many different git UIs available, and it wouldn't be possible to cover them all.doc: add contributing detail for git Signed-off-by trailer
doc: add contributing detail for git Signed-off-by trailer
doc: add contributing detail for git Signed-off-by trailer
doc: add contributing detail for git Signed-off-by trailer
doc: add contributing detail for git Signed-off-by trailer
doc: add contributing detail for git Signed-off-by trailer