Remove Claude Code branding from commit messages using output styles

UpdatedSeptember 29, 2025

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Hans L'Hoest

I write about: Software architecture and engineering, Better software better. DDD, Scala and Rust

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Hans L'Hoest

35 posts

Configuring the System Prompt

Locate the new output style file. Look for a .md file with your chosen name in the .claude/output-styles/ directory (either in your project folder or home directory) and open it in your text editor.

Replace the entire file content with a modified system prompt that excludes commit message branding. You have two options:

Manual approach: Find the system prompt yourself to remove Claude Code references
Ready-to-use version: Use my version based on the system prompt of Claude Code 1.0.85

If you're curious about the changes, view the diff showing exactly which lines were removed to eliminate Claude Code self-references in commits and pull requests.

Save the file.

In claude: /output-style should now show the updated style.

Testing the Changes

Now let's verify that our custom output style works as expected:

Before: Default Output Style

First, let's see what happens with the default output style:

> /output-style ⎿ Set output style to default > commit changes ╭─────────────── │ Bash command │ │ git commit -m "chore(claude): Add default output │ style configuration │ │ 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) │ │ Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>" ╰───────────────

Notice the Claude Code branding and co-author attribution in the commit message.

After: Custom Output Style

Now let's switch to our custom output style and try the same operation:

> /output-style ⎿ Set output style to 'no-claude-in-commit-msg' > commit changes ╭─────────────── │ Bash command │ │ git commit -m "chore(claude): set output style │ to no-claude-in-commit-msg" ╰───────────────

Nice! The commit message is now clean, containing only the actual commit description without any Claude Code references.

Conclusion

You've successfully customised Claude Code to remove its self-referential branding from commit messages. Your git history will now be cleaner and more professional, containing only the essential commit information without promotional content.

For more details on output styles, check the official documentation or my own summary.

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