diff --git a/build.gradle.kts b/build.gradle.kts
index d875ee67..0f4d4fca 100644
--- a/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/build.gradle.kts
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ intellij {
   pluginName.set(properties("pluginName"))
   version.set(properties("platformVersion"))
   type.set(properties("platformType"))
-  plugins.set(listOf("java"))
+  plugins.set(listOf("java", "Git4Idea"))
 }
 
 changelog {
diff --git a/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/actions/GenerateGitCommitMessageAction.java b/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/actions/GenerateGitCommitMessageAction.java
index 1b7faa0b..79d40759 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/actions/GenerateGitCommitMessageAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/actions/GenerateGitCommitMessageAction.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import ee.carlrobert.codegpt.EncodingManager;
 import ee.carlrobert.codegpt.Icons;
 import ee.carlrobert.codegpt.completions.CompletionRequestService;
 import ee.carlrobert.codegpt.settings.GeneralSettings;
+import ee.carlrobert.codegpt.settings.configuration.CommitMessageTemplate;
 import ee.carlrobert.codegpt.ui.OverlayUtil;
 import ee.carlrobert.llm.client.openai.completion.ErrorDetails;
 import ee.carlrobert.llm.completion.CompletionEventListener;
@@ -94,7 +95,10 @@ public class GenerateGitCommitMessageAction extends AnAction {
     if (editor != null) {
       ((EditorEx) editor).setCaretVisible(false);
       CompletionRequestService.getInstance()
-          .generateCommitMessageAsync(gitDiff, getEventListener(project, editor.getDocument()));
+          .generateCommitMessageAsync(
+              project.getService(CommitMessageTemplate.class).getSystemPrompt(),
+              gitDiff,
+              getEventListener(project, editor.getDocument()));
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/completions/CompletionRequestProvider.java b/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/completions/CompletionRequestProvider.java
index 23562a49..a4cde93b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/completions/CompletionRequestProvider.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/completions/CompletionRequestProvider.java
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package ee.carlrobert.codegpt.completions;
 
-import static ee.carlrobert.codegpt.completions.ConversationType.DEFAULT;
 import static ee.carlrobert.codegpt.completions.ConversationType.FIX_COMPILE_ERRORS;
 import static ee.carlrobert.codegpt.credentials.CredentialsStore.CredentialKey.CUSTOM_SERVICE_API_KEY;
 import static ee.carlrobert.codegpt.util.file.FileUtil.getResourceContent;
@@ -59,7 +58,6 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
 import java.util.Objects;
-import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.UUID;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
@@ -77,8 +75,6 @@ public class CompletionRequestProvider {
 
   public static final String FIX_COMPILE_ERRORS_SYSTEM_PROMPT = getResourceContent(
       "/prompts/fix-compile-errors.txt");
-  private static final Set<ConversationType> OPENAI_SYSTEM_CONVERSATION_TYPES = Set.of(
-          DEFAULT, FIX_COMPILE_ERRORS);
 
   private final EncodingManager encodingManager = EncodingManager.getInstance();
   private final Conversation conversation;
@@ -157,7 +153,7 @@ public class CompletionRequestProvider {
     }
 
     var systemPrompt = conversationType == FIX_COMPILE_ERRORS
-            ? FIX_COMPILE_ERRORS_SYSTEM_PROMPT : ConfigurationSettings.getSystemPrompt();
+        ? FIX_COMPILE_ERRORS_SYSTEM_PROMPT : ConfigurationSettings.getSystemPrompt();
 
     var prompt = promptTemplate.buildPrompt(
         systemPrompt,
@@ -287,10 +283,13 @@ public class CompletionRequestProvider {
   private List<OpenAIChatCompletionMessage> buildMessages(CallParameters callParameters) {
     var message = callParameters.getMessage();
     var messages = new ArrayList<OpenAIChatCompletionMessage>();
-    if (OPENAI_SYSTEM_CONVERSATION_TYPES.contains(callParameters.getConversationType())) {
-      String content = DEFAULT == callParameters.getConversationType()
-              ? ConfigurationSettings.getSystemPrompt() : FIX_COMPILE_ERRORS_SYSTEM_PROMPT;
-      messages.add(new OpenAIChatCompletionStandardMessage("system", content));
+    if (callParameters.getConversationType() == ConversationType.DEFAULT) {
+      String systemPrompt = ConfigurationSettings.getCurrentState().getSystemPrompt();
+      messages.add(new OpenAIChatCompletionStandardMessage("system", systemPrompt));
+    }
+    if (callParameters.getConversationType() == ConversationType.FIX_COMPILE_ERRORS) {
+      messages.add(
+          new OpenAIChatCompletionStandardMessage("system", FIX_COMPILE_ERRORS_SYSTEM_PROMPT));
     }
 
     for (var prevMessage : conversation.getMessages()) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/completions/CompletionRequestService.java b/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/completions/CompletionRequestService.java
index f4e3a17b..6f34310f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/completions/CompletionRequestService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/completions/CompletionRequestService.java
@@ -93,7 +93,6 @@ public final class CompletionRequestService {
               callParameters.getMessage(),
               callParameters.getConversationType()),
           eventListener);
-      default -> throw new IllegalArgumentException();
     };
   }
 
@@ -115,13 +114,13 @@ public final class CompletionRequestService {
   }
 
   public void generateCommitMessageAsync(
-      String prompt,
+      String systemPrompt,
+      String gitDiff,
       CompletionEventListener<String> eventListener) {
     var configuration = ConfigurationSettings.getCurrentState();
-    var commitMessagePrompt = configuration.getCommitMessagePrompt();
     var openaiRequest = new OpenAIChatCompletionRequest.Builder(List.of(
-        new OpenAIChatCompletionStandardMessage("system", commitMessagePrompt),
-        new OpenAIChatCompletionStandardMessage("user", prompt)))
+        new OpenAIChatCompletionStandardMessage("system", systemPrompt),
+        new OpenAIChatCompletionStandardMessage("user", gitDiff)))
         .setModel(OpenAISettings.getCurrentState().getModel())
         .build();
     var selectedService = GeneralSettings.getCurrentState().getSelectedService();
@@ -134,18 +133,18 @@ public final class CompletionRequestService {
         var httpClient = CompletionClientProvider.getDefaultClientBuilder().build();
         EventSources.createFactory(httpClient).newEventSource(
             CompletionRequestProvider.buildCustomOpenAICompletionRequest(
-                commitMessagePrompt,
-                prompt),
+                systemPrompt,
+                gitDiff),
             new OpenAIChatCompletionEventSourceListener(eventListener));
         break;
       case ANTHROPIC:
         var anthropicSettings = AnthropicSettings.getCurrentState();
         var claudeRequest = new ClaudeCompletionRequest();
-        claudeRequest.setSystem(commitMessagePrompt);
+        claudeRequest.setSystem(systemPrompt);
         claudeRequest.setStream(true);
         claudeRequest.setMaxTokens(configuration.getMaxTokens());
         claudeRequest.setModel(anthropicSettings.getModel());
-        claudeRequest.setMessages(List.of(new ClaudeCompletionStandardMessage("user", prompt)));
+        claudeRequest.setMessages(List.of(new ClaudeCompletionStandardMessage("user", gitDiff)));
         CompletionClientProvider.getClaudeClient()
             .getCompletionAsync(claudeRequest, eventListener);
         break;
@@ -164,7 +163,7 @@ public final class CompletionRequestService {
         } else {
           promptTemplate = settings.getRemoteModelPromptTemplate();
         }
-        var finalPrompt = promptTemplate.buildPrompt(commitMessagePrompt, prompt, List.of());
+        var finalPrompt = promptTemplate.buildPrompt(systemPrompt, gitDiff, List.of());
         CompletionClientProvider.getLlamaClient().getChatCompletionAsync(
             new LlamaCompletionRequest.Builder(finalPrompt)
                 .setN_predict(configuration.getMaxTokens())
diff --git a/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/ConfigurationComponent.java b/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/ConfigurationComponent.java
index 24607c63..0020137a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/ConfigurationComponent.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/ConfigurationComponent.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import com.intellij.ui.TitledSeparator;
 import com.intellij.ui.ToolbarDecorator;
 import com.intellij.ui.components.JBCheckBox;
 import com.intellij.ui.components.JBLabel;
-import com.intellij.ui.components.JBTextArea;
 import com.intellij.ui.components.JBTextField;
 import com.intellij.ui.components.fields.IntegerField;
 import com.intellij.ui.table.JBTable;
@@ -29,6 +28,7 @@ import ee.carlrobert.codegpt.ui.UIUtil;
 import java.awt.Dimension;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
 import javax.swing.JComponent;
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ public class ConfigurationComponent {
     maxTokensField.setColumns(12);
     maxTokensField.setValue(configuration.getMaxTokens());
 
-    systemPromptTextArea = new JTextArea();
+    systemPromptTextArea = new JTextArea(3, 60);
     if (configuration.getSystemPrompt().isBlank()) {
       // for backward compatibility
       systemPromptTextArea.setText(COMPLETION_SYSTEM_PROMPT);
@@ -101,13 +101,12 @@ public class ConfigurationComponent {
       systemPromptTextArea.setText(configuration.getSystemPrompt());
     }
     systemPromptTextArea.setLineWrap(true);
+    systemPromptTextArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
     systemPromptTextArea.setBorder(JBUI.Borders.empty(8, 4));
-    systemPromptTextArea.setColumns(60);
-    systemPromptTextArea.setRows(3);
 
-    commitMessagePromptTextArea = new JBTextArea(configuration.getCommitMessagePrompt(),
-        3, 60);
+    commitMessagePromptTextArea = new JTextArea(configuration.getCommitMessagePrompt(), 3, 60);
     commitMessagePromptTextArea.setLineWrap(true);
+    commitMessagePromptTextArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
     commitMessagePromptTextArea.setBorder(JBUI.Borders.empty(8, 4));
 
     checkForPluginUpdatesCheckBox = new JBCheckBox(
@@ -247,20 +246,19 @@ public class ConfigurationComponent {
   }
 
   private JPanel createCommitMessageConfigurationForm() {
-    var formBuilder = FormBuilder.createFormBuilder();
-    addAssistantFormLabeledComponent(
-        formBuilder,
-        "configurationConfigurable.section.commitMessage.systemPromptField.label",
-        "configurationConfigurable.section.commitMessage.systemPromptField.comment",
-        JBUI.Panels
-            .simplePanel(commitMessagePromptTextArea)
-            .withBorder(JBUI.Borders.customLine(
-                JBUI.CurrentTheme.CustomFrameDecorations.separatorForeground())));
-    formBuilder.addVerticalGap(8);
-
-    var form = formBuilder.getPanel();
-    form.setBorder(JBUI.Borders.emptyLeft(16));
-    return form;
+    return FormBuilder.createFormBuilder()
+        .setFormLeftIndent(16)
+        .addLabeledComponent(
+            new JBLabel(CodeGPTBundle.get(
+                "configurationConfigurable.section.commitMessage.systemPromptField.label"))
+                .withBorder(JBUI.Borders.emptyLeft(2)),
+            UI.PanelFactory.panel(commitMessagePromptTextArea)
+                .resizeX(false)
+                .withComment(CommitMessageTemplate.Companion.getHtmlDescription())
+                .createPanel(),
+            true
+        )
+        .getPanel();
   }
 
   private ComponentValidator createTemperatureInputValidator(
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/CommitMessageTemplate.kt b/src/main/kotlin/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/CommitMessageTemplate.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f074c2c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/CommitMessageTemplate.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package ee.carlrobert.codegpt.settings.configuration
+
+import com.intellij.openapi.components.Service
+import com.intellij.openapi.components.Service.Level.PROJECT
+import com.intellij.openapi.components.service
+import com.intellij.openapi.project.Project
+import ee.carlrobert.codegpt.settings.configuration.Placeholder.BRANCH_NAME
+import ee.carlrobert.codegpt.settings.configuration.Placeholder.DATE_ISO_8601
+
+@Service(PROJECT)
+class CommitMessageTemplate private constructor(project: Project) {
+
+    companion object {
+        fun getHtmlDescription(): String {
+            val placeholderDescriptions = listOf(BRANCH_NAME, DATE_ISO_8601).joinToString("\n") {
+                "<li><strong>${it.name}</strong>: ${it.description}</li>"
+            }
+
+            return buildString {
+                append("<html>\n")
+                append("<body>\n")
+                append("<p>Template for generating commit messages. Use the following placeholders to insert dynamic values:</p>\n")
+                append("<ul>$placeholderDescriptions</ul>\n")
+                append("</body>\n")
+                append("</html>")
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private val placeholderStrategyMapping: Map<Placeholder, PlaceholderStrategy> = mapOf(
+        BRANCH_NAME to BranchNamePlaceholderStrategy(project),
+        DATE_ISO_8601 to DatePlaceholderStrategy()
+    )
+
+    fun getSystemPrompt(): String =
+        service<ConfigurationSettings>().state.commitMessagePrompt.let { template ->
+            placeholderStrategyMapping.entries.fold(template) { acc, (placeholder, strategy) ->
+                acc.replace("{${placeholder.name}}", strategy.getReplacementValue())
+            }
+        }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/Placeholder.kt b/src/main/kotlin/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/Placeholder.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9a940907
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/Placeholder.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package ee.carlrobert.codegpt.settings.configuration
+
+import com.intellij.openapi.project.Project
+import git4idea.GitUtil
+import git4idea.branch.GitBranchUtil
+import java.time.LocalDate
+
+enum class Placeholder(val description: String) {
+    DATE_ISO_8601("Current date in ISO 8601 format, e.g. 2021-01-01."),
+    BRANCH_NAME("The name of the current branch")
+}
+
+interface PlaceholderStrategy {
+    fun getReplacementValue(): String
+}
+
+class DatePlaceholderStrategy : PlaceholderStrategy {
+    override fun getReplacementValue(): String {
+        return LocalDate.now().toString()
+    }
+}
+
+class BranchNamePlaceholderStrategy(val project: Project) : PlaceholderStrategy {
+    override fun getReplacementValue(): String {
+        return try {
+            val repositories = GitUtil.getRepositoryManager(project).repositories
+            if (repositories.isEmpty() || repositories.size != 1) {
+                return "BRANCH-UNKNOWN"
+            }
+
+            GitBranchUtil.getBranchNameOrRev(repositories[0])
+        } catch (ignore: Exception) {
+            "BRANCH-UNKNOWN"
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/resources/messages/codegpt.properties b/src/main/resources/messages/codegpt.properties
index c31b2b00..a2250f20 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/messages/codegpt.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/messages/codegpt.properties
@@ -113,9 +113,8 @@ settingsConfigurable.service.custom.openai.url.label=URL:
 settingsConfigurable.service.custom.openai.linkToDocs=Link to API docs
 settingsConfigurable.service.custom.openai.connectionSuccess=Connection successful.
 settingsConfigurable.service.custom.openai.connectionFailed=Connection failed.
-configurationConfigurable.section.commitMessage.title=Commit Message
-configurationConfigurable.section.commitMessage.systemPromptField.label=Prompt:
-configurationConfigurable.section.commitMessage.systemPromptField.comment=Custom system prompt used for commit message generation.
+configurationConfigurable.section.commitMessage.title=Commit Message Template
+configurationConfigurable.section.commitMessage.systemPromptField.label=Prompt template:
 configurationConfigurable.section.inlineCompletion.title=Inline Completion
 configurationConfigurable.section.inlineCompletion.systemPromptField.label=Prompt:
 configurationConfigurable.section.inlineCompletion.systemPromptField.comment=Custom system prompt used for inline code generation (Fill in the Middle (FIM) template).<br/>The {pre}, {suf} and {mid} are replaced depending on the used Model's FIM template.
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/CommitMessageTemplateTest.kt b/src/test/kotlin/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/CommitMessageTemplateTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fe57cc8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/ee/carlrobert/codegpt/settings/configuration/CommitMessageTemplateTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package ee.carlrobert.codegpt.settings.configuration
+
+import com.intellij.openapi.components.service
+import git4idea.commands.GitCommand
+import org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat
+import testsupport.VcsTestCase
+import java.time.LocalDate
+
+class CommitMessageTemplateTest : VcsTestCase() {
+
+    fun `test commit message system prompt construction`() {
+        git(GitCommand.INIT)
+        git(GitCommand.CHECKOUT, listOf("-b", "feature/my-cool-feature"))
+        registerRepository()
+        service<ConfigurationSettings>().state.commitMessagePrompt = buildString {
+            append("Branch: {BRANCH_NAME}\n")
+            append("Date: {DATE_ISO_8601}")
+        }
+
+        val systemPrompt = project.service<CommitMessageTemplate>().getSystemPrompt()
+
+        assertThat(systemPrompt).isEqualTo(
+            buildString {
+                append("Branch: feature/my-cool-feature\n")
+                append("Date: ${LocalDate.now()}")
+            }
+        )
+    }
+}
+
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/testsupport/VcsTestCase.kt b/src/test/kotlin/testsupport/VcsTestCase.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bc3f84e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/testsupport/VcsTestCase.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+package testsupport
+
+import com.intellij.openapi.components.service
+import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.ProjectLevelVcsManager
+import com.intellij.openapi.vcs.VcsDirectoryMapping
+import com.intellij.openapi.vfs.LocalFileSystem
+import com.intellij.testFramework.HeavyPlatformTestCase
+import git4idea.GitVcs
+import git4idea.commands.Git
+import git4idea.commands.GitCommand
+import git4idea.commands.GitLineHandler
+import git4idea.repo.GitRepository
+import git4idea.repo.GitRepositoryManager
+import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
+import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
+import org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat
+import org.junit.Assert
+import java.nio.file.Files
+import java.nio.file.Path
+
+open class VcsTestCase : HeavyPlatformTestCase() {
+
+    private lateinit var projectDir: Path
+
+    @Throws(Exception::class)
+    override fun setUp() {
+        super.setUp()
+        projectDir = tempDir.createDir()
+    }
+
+    fun git(command: GitCommand, parameters: List<String> = emptyList()) {
+        val checkoutHandler = GitLineHandler(project, projectDir.toFile(), command)
+        checkoutHandler.addParameters(parameters)
+        service<Git>().runCommand(checkoutHandler).throwOnError()
+    }
+
+    fun registerRepository(): GitRepository =
+        ProjectLevelVcsManager.getInstance(project).run {
+            directoryMappings = listOf(VcsDirectoryMapping(projectDir.toString(), GitVcs.NAME))
+            Files.createDirectories(projectDir)
+            Assert.assertFalse(
+                "There are no VCS roots. Active VCSs: $allActiveVcss",
+                allVcsRoots.isEmpty()
+            )
+            val file = LocalFileSystem.getInstance().refreshAndFindFileByNioFile(projectDir)
+
+            runBlocking(Dispatchers.IO) {
+                val repository = project.service<GitRepositoryManager>().getRepositoryForRoot(file)
+                assertThat(repository).describedAs("Couldn't find repository for root $projectDir")
+                    .isNotNull()
+                repository!!
+            }
+        }
+}
\ No newline at end of file