commitlint failed: type must be one of [feat, fix, docs]: invalid commit type on PR

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

The commit message starts with a word commitlint does not recognize. Rewrite the message with one of the allowed types, usually fix:, feat:, or docs:, and push again. Check the repo's config first, because the allowed list varies.

The error

commitlint failed: type must be one of [feat, fix, docs]: invalid commit type on PR
input: added retry logic to the review worker
type must be one of [feat, fix, docs, chore, refactor, test] [type-enum]

Steps

1. Read the allowed types

Open .commitlintrc (or commitlint.config.js) in the repo root. Expected output: the type-enum list, for example [feat, fix, docs, chore, refactor, test].

2. Rewrite the commit message

Run git commit --amend -m "fix: describe what changed" using a type from that list. Expected output: git log -1 --format=%s shows the new message starting with a valid type.

3. Push the corrected commit

Run git push --force-with-lease if the bad commit was already pushed. Expected output: the remote branch carries the corrected message.

4. Re-run commitlint locally to confirm

Run npx commitlint --from main --to HEAD. Expected output: no errors, and the CI gate passes on the next push.

When to use

• commitlint fails with a type-enum error on a PR commit
• The commit message uses a made-up type like update: or wip:
• A contributor's first PR trips the message gate

When not to use

• Failures on scope, casing, or length rules (different rules, different fixes)
• Squash-merge PR title lint (fix the PR title, not the commits)
• commitlint itself crashing on a bad config file

Tool compatibility

• commitlint v17/v18/v19 with @commitlint/config-conventional or a custom config
• Works with husky commit-msg hooks and CI lint steps
• commitizen users pick a valid type from the prompt automatically

Variant phrasings

commitlint scope-enum failure

Same idea, different rule: the scope in fix(auth): ... is not in the allowed scope list. Either use an allowed scope or drop the scope.

commitlint subject-case failure

The subject line casing is wrong, for example uppercase when the config wants lowercase. Reword the subject; the type is fine.

header-max-length failure

The first line is too long. Shorten the subject and move detail into the body.

Why it happens

Conventional commits require the message to start with type: so tooling can parse intent for changelogs and version bumps. added retry logic has no type prefix, so the parser rejects it. The gate protects the changelog pipeline, not your prose style.

Edge cases

• Squash merges: the PR title becomes the commit message, so a valid commit history can still fail if the PR title is not conventional. Fix the title.
• Multiple bad commits: use interactive rebase to reword each, or squash them into one valid message.
• Repos without a config file: commitlint falls back to defaults that may differ from what contributors expect; pin the config in the repo.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_yoPd2N1vXf1UYLQu7qvLfw

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_yoPd2N1vXf1UYLQu7qvLfw

Thread query: commitlint failed: type must be one of [feat, fix, docs]: invalid commit type on PR

TL;DR: The commit message starts with a word commitlint does not recognize. Rewrite the message with one of the allowed types, usually fix:, feat:, or docs:, and push again. Check the repo's config first, because the allowed list varies.