Git Notes

Lets you attach metadata to Git commits without changing their SHA or rewriting history. Useful when you need to track code review approvals, test results, or audit notes after the fact. The skill covers namespace management (so you can separate review notes from testing notes), how to actually push and fetch notes between remotes (which doesn't happen automatically), and configuration to preserve notes during rebases. The append versus add distinction matters more than you'd think. Notes feel a bit obscure until you've dealt with a compliance workflow that needs post-commit annotations, then they're exactly the right tool.

skills.sh installs: 1.2K
GitHub stars: 1.8K
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add neolabhq/context-engineering-kit --skill git-notes --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Git Notes

Overview

Git notes attach metadata to commits (or any Git object) without modifying the objects themselves. Notes are stored separately and displayed alongside commit messages.

Core principle: Add information to commits after creation without rewriting history.

Core Concepts

Concept	Description
Notes ref	Storage location, default `refs/notes/commits`
Non-invasive	Notes never modify SHA of original object
Namespaces	Use `--ref` for different note categories
Display	Notes appear in `git log` and `git show` output

Quick Reference

Task	Command
Add note	`git notes add -m "message" <sha>`
View note	`git notes show <sha>`
Append	`git notes append -m "message" <sha>`
Edit	`git notes edit <sha>`
Remove	`git notes remove <sha>`
Use namespace	`git notes --ref=<name> <command>`
Push notes	`git push origin refs/notes/<name>`
Fetch notes	`git fetch origin refs/notes/<name>:refs/notes/<name>`
Show in log	`git log --notes=<name>`