Pre-commit and Pre-push Hook Setup with Husky

Intermediate15 minTrending

Automate code quality checks with Git hooks using husky and lint-staged to run linters, formatters, and tests before commits and pushes.

Prerequisites

-Node.js and npm installed
-A Git repository with a package.json
-ESLint, Prettier, or another linter configured

Steps

Install husky and lint-staged

Install husky for managing Git hooks and lint-staged for running linters on only staged files, keeping hooks fast.

$ npm install --save-dev husky lint-staged

Initialize husky

Sets up the .husky directory and adds a prepare script to package.json so hooks are installed automatically when anyone runs npm install.

$ npx husky init

Configure lint-staged in package.json

Define which commands to run on staged files by file extension. This runs ESLint and Prettier on JS/TS files, and Prettier alone on JSON/MD/CSS.

$ npm pkg set lint-staged.'*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}'='["eslint --fix", "prettier --write"]' lint-staged.'*.{json,md,css}'='prettier --write'

Lint-staged only processes files that are staged for commit, making hooks fast even in large repositories.

Create the pre-commit hook

Create a pre-commit hook that runs lint-staged. This will lint and format only the files being committed.

$ echo 'npx lint-staged' > .husky/pre-commit

Create a pre-push hook for tests

Add a pre-push hook that runs the test suite before allowing a push. The --bail flag stops at the first failure for fast feedback.

$ echo 'npm test -- --bail --watchAll=false' > .husky/pre-push

Pre-push hooks that run a full test suite can be slow. Consider running only critical tests or tests related to changed files.

Test the hooks with a commit

Make a small change and commit to verify the pre-commit hook triggers lint-staged, which runs ESLint and Prettier on the staged file.

$ echo '// test' >> src/index.ts git add src/index.ts git commit -m "test: verify pre-commit hooks"

If a hook fails, the commit is aborted. Fix the issues reported by the linter and try committing again.

Full Script

full-script.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# git-hooks-setup.sh — Set up husky + lint-staged hooks
set -euo pipefail

echo "Installing husky and lint-staged..."
npm install --save-dev husky lint-staged

echo ""
echo "Initializing husky..."
npx husky init

echo ""
echo "Configuring lint-staged in package.json..."
node -e "
const pkg = require('./package.json');
pkg['lint-staged'] = {
  '*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}': ['eslint --fix', 'prettier --write'],
  '*.{json,md,css,yml}': ['prettier --write']
};
require('fs').writeFileSync('package.json', JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2) + '\n');
"

echo ""
echo "Creating pre-commit hook (lint-staged)..."
echo 'npx lint-staged' > .husky/pre-commit

echo ""
echo "Creating pre-push hook (tests)..."
echo 'npm test -- --bail --watchAll=false' > .husky/pre-push

chmod +x .husky/pre-commit .husky/pre-push 2>/dev/null || true

echo ""
echo "Git hooks setup complete."
echo ""
echo "Hooks installed:"
echo "  pre-commit: lint-staged (ESLint + Prettier on staged files)"
echo "  pre-push:   npm test (full test suite)"
echo ""
echo "To skip hooks in an emergency: git commit --no-verify"

FAQ

Discussion

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#!/usr/bin/env bash # git-hooks-setup.sh — Set up husky + lint-staged hooks set -euo pipefail echo "Installing husky and lint-staged..." npm install --save-dev husky lint-staged echo "" echo "Initializing husky..." npx husky init echo "" echo "Configuring lint-staged in package.json..." node -e " const pkg = require('./package.json'); pkg['lint-staged'] = { '*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}': ['eslint --fix', 'prettier --write'], '*.{json,md,css,yml}': ['prettier --write'] }; require('fs').writeFileSync('package.json', JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2) + '\n'); " echo "" echo "Creating pre-commit hook (lint-staged)..." echo 'npx lint-staged' > .husky/pre-commit echo "" echo "Creating pre-push hook (tests)..." echo 'npm test -- --bail --watchAll=false' > .husky/pre-push chmod +x .husky/pre-commit .husky/pre-push 2>/dev/null || true echo "" echo "Git hooks setup complete." echo "" echo "Hooks installed:" echo " pre-commit: lint-staged (ESLint + Prettier on staged files)" echo " pre-push: npm test (full test suite)" echo "" echo "To skip hooks in an emergency: git commit --no-verify"