Remove --author flag

docs/src/content/docs/merge.md

@@ -150,9 +150,6 @@ Options:
           - tracked: Stage tracked changes only (like git add -u)
           - none:    Stage nothing, commit only what's already in the index
 
-      --author <AUTHOR>
-          Commit author (Name <email>); committer stays the ambient identity
-
   -h, --help
           Print help (see a summary with '-h')
 

docs/src/content/docs/step.md

@@ -172,9 +172,6 @@ Options:
           - tracked: Stage tracked changes only (like git add -u)
           - none:    Stage nothing, commit only what's already in the index
 
-      --author <AUTHOR>
-          Commit author (Name <email>); committer stays the ambient identity
-
       --dry-run
           Preview prompt, command, and generated message without committing
 
@@ -262,9 +259,6 @@ Options:
           - tracked: Stage tracked changes only (like git add -u)
           - none:    Stage nothing, commit only what's already in the index
 
-      --author <AUTHOR>
-          Commit author (Name <email>); committer stays the ambient identity
-
       --dry-run
           Preview prompt, command, and generated message without squashing
 

src/cli/mod.rs

@@ -613,10 +613,6 @@ pub(crate) struct MergeArgs {
     #[arg(long)]
     pub(crate) stage: Option<crate::commands::commit::StageMode>,
 
-    /// Commit author (`Name <email>`); committer stays the ambient identity
-    #[arg(long, value_parser = clap::builder::NonEmptyStringValueParser::new())]
-    pub(crate) author: Option<String>,
-
     /// Output format
     ///
     /// JSON prints structured result to stdout after merge completes.

src/cli/step.rs

@@ -13,10 +13,6 @@ pub struct CommitArgs {
     #[arg(long)]
     pub(crate) stage: Option<crate::commands::commit::StageMode>,
 
-    /// Commit author (`Name <email>`); committer stays the ambient identity
-    #[arg(long, value_parser = clap::builder::NonEmptyStringValueParser::new())]
-    pub(crate) author: Option<String>,
-
     /// Preview prompt, command, and generated message without committing
     #[arg(long, conflicts_with = "show_prompt")]
     pub(crate) dry_run: bool,
@@ -47,10 +43,6 @@ pub struct SquashArgs {
     #[arg(long)]
     pub(crate) stage: Option<crate::commands::commit::StageMode>,
 
-    /// Commit author (`Name <email>`); committer stays the ambient identity
-    #[arg(long, value_parser = clap::builder::NonEmptyStringValueParser::new())]
-    pub(crate) author: Option<String>,
-
     /// Preview prompt, command, and generated message without squashing
     #[arg(long, conflicts_with = "show_prompt")]
     pub(crate) dry_run: bool,

src/commands/commit.rs

@@ -69,9 +69,6 @@ pub struct CommitOptions<'a> {
     /// value supplied by the caller (`wt merge` resolves the guidance via
     /// `approve_commit_template_append` up front and passes it through).
     pub guidance: super::step::PreApprovedGuidance,
-    /// Explicit `--author` override (`Name <email>`), forwarded to `git
-    /// commit --author`. `None` uses git's ambient identity.
-    pub author: Option<&'a str>,
 }
 
 impl<'a> CommitOptions<'a> {
@@ -83,7 +80,6 @@ impl<'a> CommitOptions<'a> {
             stage_mode: StageMode::All,
             show_no_squash_note: false,
             guidance: super::step::PreApprovedGuidance::RunOwnGate,
-            author: None,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -145,7 +141,6 @@ impl<'a> CommitGenerator<'a> {
         show_progress: bool,
         show_no_squash_note: bool,
         stage_mode: StageMode,
-        author: Option<&str>,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<CommitOutcome> {
         // Fail early if nothing is staged (avoids confusing LLM prompt with empty diff)
         if !wt.has_staged_changes()? {
@@ -196,11 +191,7 @@ impl<'a> CommitGenerator<'a> {
         let formatted_message = self.format_message_for_display(&commit_message);
         eprintln!("{}", format_with_gutter(&formatted_message, None));
 
-        let mut commit_args = vec!["commit", "-m", commit_message.as_str()];
-        if let Some(author) = author {
-            commit_args.push("--author");
-            commit_args.push(author);
-        }
+        let commit_args = vec!["commit", "-m", commit_message.as_str()];
         wt.run_command(&commit_args).context("Failed to commit")?;
 
         let commit_sha = wt.run_command(&["rev-parse", "HEAD"])?.trim().to_string();
@@ -292,7 +283,6 @@ impl CommitOptions<'_> {
                 true, // show_progress
                 self.show_no_squash_note,
                 self.stage_mode,
-                self.author,
             )?;
 
         // Register post-commit hooks onto the caller's announcer (respects --no-hooks).

src/commands/merge.rs

@@ -75,11 +75,6 @@ pub struct MergeOptions<'a> {
     pub yes: bool,
     pub stage: Option<super::commit::StageMode>,
     pub format: crate::cli::SwitchFormat,
-    /// Explicit `--author` override (`Name <email>`), forwarded to the
-    /// commit/squash steps' `git commit --author` and, for `--no-ff`, to the
-    /// `commit-tree` merge commit's `GIT_AUTHOR_NAME`/`GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`.
-    /// `None` uses git's ambient identity.
-    pub author: Option<&'a str>,
 }
 
 /// Build the frozen [`ApprovedHookPlan`] for the merge's covered hooks, gating
@@ -161,7 +156,6 @@ pub fn handle_merge(opts: MergeOptions<'_>) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         flags,
         yes,
         stage,
-        author,
         ..
     } = opts;
 
@@ -371,7 +365,6 @@ pub fn handle_merge(opts: MergeOptions<'_>) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             options.stage_mode = stage_mode;
             options.show_no_squash_note = true;
             options.guidance = guidance.clone();
-            options.author = author;
 
             let _ = options.commit(&mut announcer)?;
             true // Committed directly
@@ -392,7 +385,6 @@ pub fn handle_merge(opts: MergeOptions<'_>) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
                 Some(stage_mode),
                 &mut announcer,
                 guidance,
-                author,
             )?,
             super::step::SquashResult::Squashed { .. }
         )
@@ -453,7 +445,7 @@ pub fn handle_merge(opts: MergeOptions<'_>) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     });
     if !ff {
         // Create a merge commit on the target branch via commit-tree + update-ref
-        handle_no_ff_merge(Some(&target_branch), operations, &current_branch, author)?;
+        handle_no_ff_merge(Some(&target_branch), operations, &current_branch)?;
     } else {
         // Fast-forward push to target branch
         handle_push(Some(&target_branch), PushKind::MergeFastForward, operations)?;

src/commands/relocate.rs

@@ -337,7 +337,6 @@ pub fn validate_candidates(
                     false, // show_progress - already showing "Committing changes in..."
                     false, // show_no_squash_note
                     StageMode::None, // already staged above
-                    None,
                 )?;
             } else {
                 // is_main without --commit

src/commands/step/commit.rs

@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ pub fn step_commit(
     stage: Option<StageMode>,
     show_prompt: bool,
     dry_run: bool,
-    author: Option<String>,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<Option<CommitOutcome>> {
     // --show-prompt and --dry-run skip hooks and the commit itself; --dry-run still
     // mirrors --stage against a temp index so the previewed prompt matches what a real
@@ -56,7 +55,6 @@ pub fn step_commit(
     options.hooks = hooks;
     options.stage_mode = stage_mode;
     options.show_no_squash_note = false;
-    options.author = author.as_deref();
 
     let mut announcer = HookAnnouncer::new(ctx.repo, false);
     let outcome = options.commit(&mut announcer)?;

src/commands/step/squash.rs

@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ pub fn handle_squash(
     stage: Option<StageMode>,
     announcer: &mut HookAnnouncer<'_>,
     pre_approved_guidance: PreApprovedGuidance,
-    author: Option<&str>,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<SquashResult> {
     // Load config once, run LLM setup prompt, then reuse config
     let mut config = UserConfig::load().context("Failed to load config")?;
@@ -224,7 +223,7 @@ pub fn handle_squash(
             sha,
             message,
             stage_mode,
-        } = generator.commit_staged_changes(&wt, true, true, stage_mode, author)?;
+        } = generator.commit_staged_changes(&wt, true, true, stage_mode)?;
         return Ok(SquashResult::Squashed {
             sha,
             message,
@@ -348,11 +347,7 @@ pub fn handle_squash(
     }
 
     // Commit with the generated message
-    let mut commit_args = vec!["commit", "-m", commit_message.as_str()];
-    if let Some(author) = author {
-        commit_args.push("--author");
-        commit_args.push(author);
-    }
+    let commit_args = vec!["commit", "-m", commit_message.as_str()];
     if let Err(err) = repo.run_command(&commit_args) {
         return Err(restore_after_failed_reset(
             repo,

src/commands/worktree/push.rs

@@ -525,27 +525,6 @@ pub fn handle_push(
 // No-fast-forward merge
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-/// Split a `git commit --author`-style spec (`Name <email>`) into its parts.
-/// `commit-tree` has no `--author` flag, so its author identity is set via
-/// the separate `GIT_AUTHOR_NAME` / `GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL` environment variables.
-///
-/// As lenient as `git commit --author` itself: takes the name up to the
-/// first `<` and the email up to the *first* `>` after it (matching git's
-/// own author-ident parser exactly, not just "closes eventually"), so
-/// trailing whitespace or junk after that closing `>` — including another
-/// literal `>` — doesn't reject a spec here that squash/commit already
-/// accepted earlier in the same `wt merge` run.
-fn split_author_spec(spec: &str) -> anyhow::Result<(&str, &str)> {
-    let invalid = || anyhow::anyhow!("Invalid --author \"{spec}\": expected `Name <email>`");
-    let (name, rest) = spec.split_once('<').ok_or_else(invalid)?;
-    let (email, _trailing) = rest.split_once('>').ok_or_else(invalid)?;
-    let (name, email) = (name.trim(), email.trim());
-    if name.is_empty() || email.is_empty() {
-        return Err(invalid());
-    }
-    Ok((name, email))
-}
-
 /// Merge to target branch using `--no-ff` (creates a merge commit).
 ///
 /// Uses git plumbing (`commit-tree` + [`advance_target`]) to create a merge
@@ -558,7 +537,6 @@ pub fn handle_no_ff_merge(
     target: Option<&str>,
     operations: Option<MergeOperations>,
     feature_branch: &str,
-    author: Option<&str>,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<PushResult> {
     let ctx = MergeContext::prepare(target, operations)?;
 
@@ -601,18 +579,9 @@ pub fn handle_no_ff_merge(
     if ctx.repo.signs_commits()? {
         commit_tree_args.push("--gpg-sign");
     }
-    // `commit-tree` has no `--author` flag; author identity is read from
-    // `GIT_AUTHOR_NAME` / `GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL` instead. Committer is left
-    // unset, so it falls through to the ambient identity, matching
-    // `git commit --author`'s own committer behavior.
-    let author_env = author.map(split_author_spec).transpose()?;
-    let env: &[(&str, &str)] = match &author_env {
-        Some((name, email)) => &[("GIT_AUTHOR_NAME", name), ("GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL", email)],
-        None => &[],
-    };
     let merge_sha = ctx
         .repo
-        .run_command_with_env(&commit_tree_args, env)
+        .run_command(&commit_tree_args)
         .context("Failed to create merge commit")?
         .trim()
         .to_string();
@@ -648,38 +617,6 @@ mod tests {
     use crate::commands::worktree::types::MergeOperations;
     use worktrunk::testing::TestRepo;
 
-    #[test]
-    fn split_author_spec_matches_git_commit_authors_own_leniency() {
-        // As lenient as `git commit --author`: trailing whitespace or junk
-        // after the closing `>` doesn't reject a spec that squash/commit
-        // already accepted earlier in the same `wt merge --no-ff` run.
-        assert_eq!(
-            split_author_spec("Bot <bot@example.com>").unwrap(),
-            ("Bot", "bot@example.com")
-        );
-        assert_eq!(
-            split_author_spec("Bot <bot@example.com> ").unwrap(),
-            ("Bot", "bot@example.com")
-        );
-        assert_eq!(
-            split_author_spec("Bot <bot@example.com> extra").unwrap(),
-            ("Bot", "bot@example.com")
-        );
-        // git's ident parser closes at the *first* `>`, so a stray `>` in
-        // the trailing junk is discarded too, not folded into the email.
-        assert_eq!(
-            split_author_spec("Bot <bot@example.com> trailing >").unwrap(),
-            ("Bot", "bot@example.com")
-        );
-
-        assert!(split_author_spec("not-an-ident").is_err());
-        assert!(
-            split_author_spec("<bot@example.com>").is_err(),
-            "empty name"
-        );
-        assert!(split_author_spec("Bot <>").is_err(), "empty email");
-    }
-
     /// `advance_target` moves the branch and worktree together while leaving
     /// non-overlapping uncommitted changes — staged entries included — exactly
     /// in place, and refuses atomically otherwise: an overlapping dirty file