❓ Frequently Asked Questions — Early Commit CLI

This page covers commit-specific behavior for early generate-commit.
For general questions (API keys, tokens, CLI install), see the Fundamentals FAQ →.

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🔁 What's the difference between generate-commit and generate-pr?

Command	Use Case	Requires PR Context	Typical CI
generate-pr	GitHub PR-based workflows	✅ Yes	GitHub Actions (PR)
generate-commit	Commit-based workflows (no PR)	❌ No	Jenkins, GitHub Actions (push)

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🧾 Can I use this CLI with Jenkins?

Yes. generate-commit works well in Jenkins pipelines triggered by push or commit events.

Make sure to:

• Install the CLI via npm install -g @earlyai/cli
• Set required env vars: API_KEY, TOKEN, COMMIT_HASH, REF_NAME

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🧪 Do I need to collect coverage myself?

No. The CLI calculates pre- and post-coverage automatically.

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🧼 Can I lint or format the output?

Yes. Use these flags or env vars to run lint/format before commit:

--lint-command="npx --no eslint $early_filename --fix"
--prettier-command="npx --no prettier $early_filename --write"

These commands run after generation and before commit.
See Configuration → Formatting.

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📁 Can I control where test files go?

The CLI scans changed files in the commit.
To adjust how/where tests are written, use:

• --test-structure
• --test-file-naming
• --test-suffix

For supported values, see Test File Settings.

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📁 Can I control where test files go?

Yes. Use --test-structure:

• siblingFolder → places tests next to source files
• rootFolder → places tests under a global xtests/x directory

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📦 Why won’t the CLI install?

See How to install CLI →

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🔐 What tokens do I need?

See Token requirements →

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🔑 Where do I get my API key?

See How to get your API key →

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💬 Still stuck?

Reach out:

• Email: support@startearly.ai
• Slack (if you're in our shared workspace)