diff --git a/.commitlintrc.yml b/.commitlintrc.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 4ca28f36..00000000
--- a/.commitlintrc.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-rules:
-  # description-empty:
-  #   level: error
-  subject-empty:
-    level: error
-  # type-empty:
-  #   level: error
-
diff --git a/.config/mise.extras.lock b/.config/mise.extras.lock
index 8545ea04..8cc87208 100644
--- a/.config/mise.extras.lock
+++ b/.config/mise.extras.lock
@@ -28,16 +28,6 @@ url = "https://cache.agilebits.com/dist/1P/op2/pkg/v2.39.0/op_darwin_amd64_v2.39
 [tools.1password-cli."platforms.windows-x64"]
 url = "https://cache.agilebits.com/dist/1P/op2/pkg/v2.39.0/op_windows_amd64_v2.39.0.zip"
 
-[[tools."cargo:commitlint-rs"]]
-version = "0.2.4"
-backend = "cargo:commitlint-rs"
-specifiers = ["latest"]
-
-[[tools."cargo:fastmod"]]
-version = "0.4.4"
-backend = "cargo:fastmod"
-specifiers = ["latest"]
-
 [[tools.dive]]
 version = "0.13.1"
 backend = "aqua:wagoodman/dive"
diff --git a/.config/mise.extras.toml b/.config/mise.extras.toml
index 51a8efab..20eea0d9 100644
--- a/.config/mise.extras.toml
+++ b/.config/mise.extras.toml
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 # your `env/dev.local.sh` should set MISE_ENV=dev,extras to include these tools
 
 [tools]
-"cargo:fastmod" = "latest"
-# combined with the ast-grep skill, this is a great tool for exploring codebases
-"cargo:commitlint-rs" = "latest"
-# ^ did not work, but this did: cargo binstall commitlint-rs
 "pypi:aiautocommit" = "latest"
 "pypi:uv-development-toggle" = "latest"
 "pypi:llm-ide-rules" = "latest"
diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 9f7ad8ba..f5db25eb 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ env/
 *.log
 docker-compose*.yml
 lefthook*yml
-.commitlintrc.yml
 .copier-answers.yml
 /copier.yml
 /.copier
diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index 492231fc..23bcfd6e 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -164,9 +164,6 @@ look into devenv, maybe a replacement for some of the setup here? https://github
 mermaid postgres integrated into readme https://github.com/bastiensun/pg-mermaid
 add some mermaid diagrams to the readme https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devrishik/medical-record-copilot/bc450aa523ba65e3b5a254f422696725512f8c30/README.md
 
-## commitlint
-removing unused import, should catch this specifically
-
 ## pytest
 https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-pytest/issues/187 weird concurrency issues
 https://grok.com/share/bGVnYWN5_db662e27-ebb0-4157-8c26-636ca80f5bbd better default pytest configuration
diff --git a/lefthook.yml b/lefthook.yml
index 4a9626b7..80157f4b 100644
--- a/lefthook.yml
+++ b/lefthook.yml
@@ -25,17 +25,6 @@ prepare-commit-msg:
         # only run this if the tool exists
         - run: "! which aiautocommit"
 
-# Use this to validate commit messages
-commit-msg:
-  commands:
-    commitlint:
-      run: commitlint
-      skip:
-        # only run this if the tool exists, it's conditionally installed
-        # https://keisukeyamashita.github.io/commitlint-rs/
-        - run: "! which commitlint > /dev/null"
-
-
 # {push_files} are just the files that are going to be pushed, not all files unique to this branch that would be pushed if the push was fresh
 # this means that if someone just enables lefthook, or if the linter
 pre-push: