Thanks for the thoughtful response, Daniel.

I think the only risk in writing everything in the extended description is that it's hidden (and requires an extra click) in GitHub, but that's no different than just letting the commit title spill over into the 70+ character range. And I also like the imperative for the commit title.

But it sounds like you agree with my premise, which is it's almost impossible to write effective commit messages (title + description) in just 50 characters. Thanks again, and have a wonderful day.