diff --git a/.githooks/commit-msg b/.githooks/commit-msg
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4b58d23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.githooks/commit-msg
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Commit message hook - validates Conventional Commits format.
+# PR title CI remains the merge-blocking guard for GitHub merge subjects.
+
+set -e
+
+ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+cd "$ROOT"
+
+if ! command -v npx >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "Warning: npx not found; skipping local commitlint check." >&2
+  echo "CI still requires a semantic PR title before merge." >&2
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+if ! output=$(npx --yes \
+  --package @commitlint/cli \
+  --package @commitlint/config-conventional \
+  commitlint --edit "$1" 2>&1); then
+  if printf '%s\n' "$output" | grep -qE '^(npm (ERR!|error) )?(network|code (ENOTFOUND|EAI_AGAIN|ECONNRESET|ECONNREFUSED|ETIMEDOUT)|could not determine executable)|^Error: could not determine executable'; then
+    echo "Warning: commitlint unavailable; skipping local check." >&2
+    echo "CI still requires a semantic PR title before merge." >&2
+    exit 0
+  fi
+  printf '%s\n' "$output" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-title.yml b/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-title.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91c31ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/semantic-pr-title.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+name: Semantic PR Title
+
+on:
+  pull_request_target:
+    types: [opened, edited, synchronize, reopened, ready_for_review]
+
+permissions:
+  pull-requests: read
+
+concurrency:
+  group: semantic-pr-title-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  validate:
+    name: Semantic PR Title
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: amannn/action-semantic-pull-request@48f256284bd46cdaab1048c3721360e808335d50 # v6.1.1
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        with:
+          types: |
+            build
+            chore
+            ci
+            deps
+            docs
+            feat
+            fix
+            perf
+            refactor
+            revert
+            style
+            test
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6282a5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Contributing
+
+Use Conventional Commit style for commit subjects and PR titles:
+
+```text
+feat: add workspace snapshot filtering
+fix(meta_git_cli): preserve child repo commit type
+ci: enforce semantic PR titles
+docs: clarify plugin installation
+```
+
+If you are working from an internal GitKB task, include the task wikilink in
+commit messages:
+
+```text
+fix: remove legacy meta agent workspace entry [[tasks/harmony-678]]
+```
+
+GitHub merge subjects are derived from PR titles, so the semantic PR title check
+is the merge-blocking guard for release notes. Local hooks catch malformed commit
+messages before push when installed with:
+
+```sh
+make install-hooks
+```
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f0dc7c1..f5cb1d8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -46,6 +46,19 @@ clean-plugins:
 
 rebuild-plugins: clean-plugins build-plugins
 
+# Install git hooks (commit-msg validates release-safe subjects; pre-push runs CI checks locally)
+# Uses git rev-parse to handle worktrees and submodules correctly
+install-hooks:
+	@echo "Installing git hooks..."
+	@chmod +x .githooks/commit-msg
+	@chmod +x .githooks/pre-commit
+	@chmod +x .githooks/pre-push
+	@mkdir -p "$$(git rev-parse --git-path hooks)"
+	@hooks_dir="$$(git rev-parse --git-path hooks)" && root="$$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" && rel="$$(python3 -c 'import os, sys; print(os.path.relpath(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]))' "$$root/.githooks/commit-msg" "$$hooks_dir")" && ln -sf "$$rel" "$$hooks_dir/commit-msg"
+	@hooks_dir="$$(git rev-parse --git-path hooks)" && root="$$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" && rel="$$(python3 -c 'import os, sys; print(os.path.relpath(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]))' "$$root/.githooks/pre-commit" "$$hooks_dir")" && ln -sf "$$rel" "$$hooks_dir/pre-commit"
+	@hooks_dir="$$(git rev-parse --git-path hooks)" && root="$$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" && rel="$$(python3 -c 'import os, sys; print(os.path.relpath(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]))' "$$root/.githooks/pre-push" "$$hooks_dir")" && ln -sf "$$rel" "$$hooks_dir/pre-push"
+	@echo "Commit-msg, pre-commit, and pre-push hooks installed."
+
 release: 
 	cargo build --release
 
@@ -103,4 +116,4 @@ uninstall:
 	cargo uninstall meta_rust_cli 2>/dev/null || true
 	rm -f ~/.meta/plugins/meta-git ~/.meta/plugins/meta-project ~/.meta/plugins/meta-rust
 
-.PHONY: install build run test bats release integration-test
+.PHONY: install install-hooks build run test bats release integration-test
diff --git a/commitlint.config.cjs b/commitlint.config.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0008b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/commitlint.config.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+module.exports = {
+  extends: ["@commitlint/config-conventional"],
+  rules: {
+    "type-enum": [
+      2,
+      "always",
+      [
+        "build",
+        "chore",
+        "ci",
+        "deps",
+        "docs",
+        "feat",
+        "fix",
+        "perf",
+        "refactor",
+        "revert",
+        "style",
+        "test",
+      ],
+    ],
+  },
+};