Git Hooked

Git hooks make for a great help in OSS maintenance and are a very practical and useful tool that a lot of organisations in the software industry can benefit from adopting but I feel there's a lack a conversation or a lack of exposure around them.

This workshop will cover how git handles hooks internally (alongwith an overview of git internals), how to write your own hooks, the pre-commit framework, a bingo of common problems you might face setting up your own hooks or sharing them and demonstrations of how I've adopted pre-commit hooks in professional settings as well as fun experiments I've done on my own personal workflows (meta-hooks, fun TUI updates).

• Introduction to git hooks

  • What git hooks are and why they matter

  • Local vs. server-side hooks (brief overview, focus on local)

  • Real-world examples of hooks in action

  • Going over Git internals relevant to hooks: how Git executes them, what chaining/limitations exist.

• Exploring built-in hooks

  • Tour of the .git/hooks directory

  • Demo: activating a sample hook

• Hands-on with Pre-Commit hooks

  • Writing a simple custom hook

  • Adding checks for commit messages, file changes, or secrets

  • Sharing hooks across a team

• Other useful hooks

  • Exploring the uses for commit-msg , pre-push and post-merge

• Leveraging the ecosystem

  • Introduction to pre-commit framework (multi-language support, shareable configs)

  • Using Husky for JavaScript/Node projects

  • Comparing custom hooks vs. ecosystem tools

• Building complex hooks

  • Either pick from a prepared list of fun/useful hook ideas or add support for a project you already use

• Putting It All Together

  • Designing a hook strategy for your workflow/team

  • Where hooks fit in modern CI practices

  • Resources to go further

• What Git hooks are and how they fit into development workflows

• Hands-on experience writing and customizing Git hooks

• How you can integrate hooks into team projects with frameworks like pre-commit or Husky

• Explore creative and practical applications to make workflows smoother

By covering projects that enable you to go beyond default IDE code-formatting and linting in general functionalities as well as in specific field examples, the workshop aims to get folks aware about adopting existing pre-commit hooks as well as to start thinking creatively in this space about how they can make hooks to work within their own specific contexts and software practices.